NACE Salary Calculator

The National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE) has released salary calculators for both job seekers and employers. The employer version requires purchasing credits to get the salary data, but the one for job seekers is free.

And yes, it works for librarians.

To use it, you need to indicate the region where you are looking for work, the type of work you are looking for, the education that you possess and the amount of experience you have in the field. The calculator reports the amount of compensation you can expect to receive. If available, it also tells you how many salaries it used to come up with this figure.

For example, I tried Librarian in Flagstaff, Arizona and gave the minimum requirements of required degree and less than one year of experience. The response told me how many librarians were employed in the region (80), provided the starting salary $23,370 and suggested that a librarian with this level of experience was most likely to be offered a salary of $28,200. The calculator also reported that the salary information does not include any other compensation information, such as benefits.

This is a useful tool not only for recent graduates and current librarians but for our clients that are researching salary information to plan a move or to include this information on a cover letter.

Canadian Housing and Mortgage Corp, Housing Information Analyst

This is an interesting position for an experienced librarian--they are looking for some with 5+ years experience in reference--to work for the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation. Yeah, that's the site you go to to find out about the ins and outs of buying a house in Canada. I think this would also be a position to check out if you are thinking that business reference will become your calling.

To see the posting on their site, you have to create a profile, so I added it to this post. I'm guessing that the CCCC code under languages refers to the language assessment for Government of Canada jobs (scroll down to see what C means.)

I like the "commitment to official languages" functional skill. Points for vagueness. Does it mean you're BFFs with a language? That you pinky swore your faith? Maybe it only makes sense in French? Just so you know, I do appreciate bilingualism, but I also appreciate clarity.


Housing Information Analyst, Canadian Housing Information Centre - Level 08 (temporary assignment up to 17 months)

Description
The primary objectives of this position are:

• To manage the housing information services of the Canadian Housing Information Centre ensuring the delivery of timely, accurate and comprehensive (verbal and written) responses to complex housing information enquiries received from CMHC staff, the housing industry and research community, members of the public, and government officials at all levels and jurisdictions in Canada and abroad.
• To develop, implement and manage self-service reference and research tools for the use of CMHC researchers and external clients.
• To plan, develop and deliver training programs and presentations.
• To manage copyright requests for CMHC information products.

Qualifications

Education/Experience

• Masters Degree in Library and Information Science and a minimum of 5 years of reference/research experience with increasing responsibility or an equivalent combination of education and experience.
• Demonstrated experience in negotiating and reaching agreements on issues and deadlines.
• Demonstrated experience in project planning/scheduling and strong project management skills.

Knowledge/Skills

• Proven abilities in the analysis of information.
• Broad knowledge of the complex fields of housing, construction and community development, and the information resources related to these fields.
• Demonstrated knowledge in accessing, searching and delivering information electronically.
• Responsive in dealing with client service issues and requests.
• Able to manage effectively multiple priorities at one time and to delegate appropriate assignments with authority.
• Good presentation, training and public speaking skills.
• Strong team player and demonstrated ability to lead teams.
• Proven ability to work independently and without supervision.
• Demonstrated decision making and effective problem solving skills.
• Knowledge of CMHC's organization, policies, programs, and business activities would be an asset.

Competencies Core:

• Client focus
• Entrepreneurial/Innovative
• Valuing and Respecting Individuals

Functional:

• Analytical Thinking
• Commitment to Official Languages
• Communication (presenting and influencing)
• Efficiency
• Flexibility
• Project Management
• Relationship Building

Candidates must meet the language requirements to be considered. A language test may be
required. Please note that test(s) may be administered. If so, candidates will be advised in advance.

Job Field Marketing
Primary Location ON-Ottawa
Organization Corporate Marketing

Job Posting Apr 23, 2010
Closing Date May 11, 2010

Security Requirement: Reliability Status

Eligibility for Overtime Compensation: Yes
Eligibility: Open to casual, contract and regular employees (including probationary employees) and to external recruitment
Position number: R2399
Minimum Salary ($) 57,564
Maximum Salary ($) 71,942
Language Designation of Position: Bilingual
Language skill levels of position (Read/Write/Understand/Speak): CCCC

Library Voices

I don't think there is a librarian amongst them, but they are a great band out of Regina and, well, it's Friday and it has been a week. Enjoy!

Step Off the Map and Float



Drinking Games



You can also listen to more from Library Voices, with much better quality, on CBC Radio 3.

Last year, they also had their gear stolen in Vancouver and they made an appeal on youtube to get it back. Watch what they reveal at the end about their band name:

Gender and the Recession

Emily Bazelon and Rebecca Traister discuss the effect of the recession on the depiction of gender, [hetero] relationships and the pay gap. This video-dialogue is from early March, but it is still full of good stuff that people are thinking and feeling, and how the recession continues to be depicted in major media.

Great Place to Work Canada

The Great Place to Work Institute has released their list of the best places to work in Canada. The list is selected based on employee surveys. The detailed pdf from the Globe and Mail explains the metrics that they used to determine the best workplaces. It also has a different list based on the size of the organization.

The Greatest Place to Work is Environics Communications, a public relations firm. They have offices in Toronto, Montreal and Washington D.C. This is their recruitment video. Get this: they want a person with a sense of humor.



Video from The National last night (sorry, they won't let me embed) briefly explains the survey and has requisite clips from The Office, cuz you know, that's the only office.

Potential changes to the hiring of graduate students into US Federal positions?

These two articles appeared on a message from WRK4US and I felt that they may be helpful to some librarians, and librarians who help grad students research work options.

• Agencies urged to hire more graduate students non-competitively
• OPM launches tool to cut red tape in hiring

SimplyHired New Grad Job Search

The vertical search engine SimplyHired has opened a new portal specifically for new grad jobs. Yes, it works for librarian.

In Canada, the vertical search engine Eluta, offers a similar new grad search filter, with Library and Info Studies in the Master of Science menu selection.

Library Internships

At first glance, ALA Connect is dominated by professional development (i.e. for fee courses) but there are several library internships listed within the opportunities exchange. A few are highlighted under the New Opportunities menu on the left-hand side of the page.

Other internships:

• Idealist.org Internships search
• United Nations Human Resources (search both Internships and Information Management)
• Canadian Library Association Internship and Work Experience Programs in Canadian Libraries
• With summer upon us, you better be on the board for FSWEP (limited to Canadians)
• Canadian Heritage Information Network: Jobs in Heritage
• National Gallery of Canada Internships
• NPR Internships
• Presidential Libraries Internship Opportunities
• Go Abroad: Library and Info Science Internships 

Of course, the library association chapters, state and provincial libraries, as well as international library associations all post internship opportunities.

Book Review: Wild West 2.0: How to Protect and Restore Your Online Reputation on the Untamed Social Frontier

The authors of Wild West 2.0: How to Protect and Restore Your Online Reputation on the Untamed Social Frontier include the CEO and Chief Counsel of ReputationDefender, a company that specializes in online reputation management. Though the book does advertise the services of their company, they also lay out a plan that a reader who understands the nature of the tactics described could use to protect their online reputation. Their plan could also be used to create documentation in case a question every arose about the veracity of the information in the attack, or may prove useful to law enforcement should an online reputation attack veer from malice to harassment or RL violence.


The authors explain the reasons why strangers, acquaintances or customers may use a search engine to look for information on a person. Verifying identity, reputation and claims of expertise may be the most common reasons. Employers, for example, will perform an online search to verify claims and credentials. Since a great deal of public information has moved online, it makes sense to conduct a search via Google, if only to satisfy curiosity.

The authors try to explain the motives of people who destroy online reputations—unfortunately, there may be no reason for wrecking a reputation except boredom—and they describe some of the tactics and tricks that reputation thieves use. Some of the tactics include:

• Googlebombing involves manipulating search results so that a search for other terms will lead to this person’s profile. The example the authors used is the “miserable failure” search leading to the biography of then-President George W Bush.
• Googlestuffing where top level search results are filled with erroneous information about the person searched for.
• “False flagging”, or becoming a double. Some examples include impersonating someone in a forum, blog—as in Fake Steve Jobs—or in a social networking site, like Facebook. Some of these impersonations have highly sinister overtones, especially if they masquerade as a family member.

There are also mistaken identity issues that can lead to online reputation smears. There are cases where a person may deliberately assume your identity online, but the authors also recommend periodic checks to look for “doppelnamers”, people with the same or similar name as yours, who have criminal histories, are a little dodgy or lack good sense. You can use some tactics to distinguish yourself from “dopplenamers”, such as adding your middle initial to your digital footprint, but it is also useful to be aware that these people may end up showing up in your top level search results. It would also be a good idea for any employers who are looking for information online to verify that they do indeed have the correct “Jesse James”.

The book does recommend for fee services, a few affiliated with ReputationDefender, for managing online reputation. However, there is a plan laid out in the book that person, who has read the entirety of the book and who understands the nature of online reputation attacks, can use to protect their personal and professional reputations. Reputation checking will require ongoing effort and it is worthwhile to document attacks and their clean up, in case there are questions about the attack or you need to submit a file to law enforcement.

If I have one big problem with the book, it is that I discovered that the site listed in the references, http://wildwest2.com, does not lead to a companion website for the book. The index/home page leads to the Amazon listing of the book. The links provided in the references at the end of each chapter, such as http://wildwest2.com/go/813 found on page 147, lead only to a broken links. Now a researcher will be able to find the actual references, but the implication of providing links like this is that, well, they will work and will lead the reader to useful resources.

Librarians who are looking for work may want to use the information outlined to check up on their online reputation--and I know for a fact that libraries are checking out their applicants online--and they may need to use it to defend the online reputation of their library. Sadly, only about an hour after finishing this book, I did have to recommend it to a client who was facing personal attacks online; though I was sorry about the attacks, I was glad to be able to give the person a resource to use so they could understand the nature of the attacks and how to resist them effectively.

Wild West 2.0: How to Protect and Restore Your Reputation on the Untamed Social Frontier

The Bonus Battle (or you really can explain anything with pictures)

Dan Roam, the author of the Back of the Napkin, explains to bankers why the public is so mad at them. (um, duh). Anyway, when I watched it the first time and he mentioned "murders and acquisitions" I also enjoyed a Freudian mishear.

A Library Writer's Blog

If you're looking for some opportunities to do some professional writing the field, subscribe to Corey Seeman's Library Writer's Blog. There are a wide range of opportunities from conference papers, calls for chapters, contests, very diverse.

How to set up a networking group

Virginia Henry of LIKE has provided a basic article about how she and other knowledge professionals in London created their own networking group. She also provides some advice on how to create your own informal group.

They use LinkedIn, but you could also use MeetUp, though MeetUp is far less formal (better for book clubs) and doesn't include the professional credentials and resumes of group members.