And I'll form...the Head!

Can you explain your role in a previous project that you worked on that required the efforts of a team to complete?

Yes, you can answer this question with a class project but work experience is preferred. This question wants to find out a few things about you:

• Are you a leader or a follower?
• Are you a bully or a consensus-builder?
• Did you complete the project on time and within budget?

I'm not going to kid you: very few librarians get to be leaders right out of the launch bay, but, supposedly, this question is looking for leaders. You should show that you know when to lead (you know what you are doing) and when to follow (you have another role you can do better), a concept I was recently introduced to as kinetic leadership. In a kinetic team you are the leader when you have the skills and you are the follower when the current leader needs a plan executed. Show that you know your role and that you contributed what you knew, not that you were a Schrute constantly undermining your colleagues.

You should also not come across as too bullish when a lighter, china-smoothing touch was needed. It is also important to explain if the project was completed on time and if you spent all of your money without exceeding a limit. If you missed either mark, can you account for it? Explain how, in a future situation, you would not need elasticity in time or money.

This question wants to know about your management skills, both when managing and managed and if you can deliver the desired package.

How to pick a career book

Because I work in a library with a specialized collection--career advising and counselling, a subsection of business and organizational management--I can tell you a little bit about the career books genre. There are four different types of book in this genre: profiles, samples, advice/coaching and instruction.

• Profiles: are books that describe a potential career and give a day-in-the-life snapshot, as well as a "how do I get this job" map. Profiles are the most useful if you don't know what a person in specific career path does, such as you want to be a proof reader, but is that as cool as a copy writer? Profile series include books from McGraw Hill, such as the Careers for or the Opportunities in series. The best examples of occupational profile books are in the series Career Opportunities in from Facts on File. You can also look at occupational profiles from NOC (Canada) or ONET (US) , but these are far more general than the industry or sector information found in the print resources. JIST makes a good series on Top Careers based on the data from BLS.
  
• Samples: are just that, lists or samples of types of information. Most often you are looking for resume samples, or lists of interview questions, just so you can have some minimal guidance. Samples are most useful if you just need a clue. Many sample books, such as Best Canadian Resumes, will also include some instruction as well as the samples.
• Advice and coaching: You're a comeback mom who wants to return to work, or you want to be self employed and need some intrepid, peppy heroism, or you are a new grad who keeps falling asleep at your desk at 3 o'clock like an overclocked kindergartener since your employer cruelly makes you stay awake until 5pm. You need an advice or coaching book. Advice and coaching books include information on career management within a holistic, life context. What Color is Your Parachute is an advice or coaching book, and Brazen Careerist is an advice/coaching blog.
• Instruction: can't network, your public speaking technique is sweating silence or you need to interview like a top MBA? You are looking for an instruction book, a coupling of advice and samples that avoids telling you what to do with your eggs.
  

If you're a librarian recommending a career book, it isn't enough that career is in the title. Ask: do they need advice or do they need a sample? Some career books have agendas, religious or political, that your reader may not have on his agenda. The popular books are also usually written by middle class white people who know a lot about middle class, college educated whiteness and not a lot about the culture of the person who you are recommending the book to. Some of these writers love being your Aunty Agony (read about the egg thing if you don't believe me). So suggest with caution and ask yourself what you need before you buy: instruction, direction or advice?

Too technical

If you show up for the interview and the whole Best Buy handheld devices section slides out of your briefcase, can you look like a tech addict? If HR googles you and discovers your blog, your Flickr stream, your Facebook, your MySpace, your tweets, before they find your capping exercise/thesis, could you look too techie, and too troublesome?

When I had my first internship placement, I got a mid-placement evaluation and my supervisor said that I tended to use the Internet too much. Now, this was the early days of the millennium, and there was still a lot of suspicion about the Internet and its non-fun/non-porn value for libraries, but I did listen to her and repented and used more print resources. (I wonder how much of that stuff is only accessible as a database now?) But I think, to her, I looked like too much of a techie, too quick to look for the power button before the table of contents. I wonder if tech savvy is not read sometimes by HR as tech savagery: we look too high maintenance, like a temperamental wireless router.

I have thought of my technical skills as a benefit, since I am not afraid of any new items that we want to introduce, nor any project--and there are more of them lately--that require some knowledge of the internet and its many languages and gestures. I am also aware of the eye-rolling when I gush over my blackberry or get excited about extra USB ports and I do try to tone down my excitement. But it does make me think: Are too many internet or technical skills a deficit?

Citizen journalism

I don't think this is her dream career, but Shelby Monroe has left her library jobs to become an embedded journalist in Iraq. From the article it appears that she has done this very much on her own nickel, an example of a citizen journalist. Her blogs are Spirits Up, Heads Down (2008) and 101 Days With The 101st Airborne Division: The Sequel.

There are plenty of other, less dangerous ways, to become involved in citizen journalism, if you have a call to write and report on the news in your neighbourhood. The Independent Media Centre, though strongly political, is one of the early examples of the movement in North America; citizen journalism is also extremely popular in Asia, with OhMyNews (English site, Korean is here) or JasmineNews. Citizen journalism may take off in other areas, with services such as Backfence or the EveryBlock service, the outgrowth of Chicagocrime.org.

Of course, any of these efforts could just devolve into a Twitterous-tumult of JuicyCampus postings, more hurtful gossip than news, but alternative community newspapers could also piggy-back on the success of Craigslist and it would be wonderful if the library, or librarians, were the hub of the movement.

You can follow Shelby Monroe and become an active correspondent or you could offer services, such as how to write programs or editorial services to citizen journalists, whether at the library you work at or as a freelance editor since we all want to look good in print.

Commericial for Jason Alba's Teleseminar

I also want to give a shout-out for Jason Alba's free teleseminar (participation is limited to 200) tomorrow about the differences between LinkedIn and Facebook and how to get the most out of these technologies, career-wise. Jason Alba is the author of I'm on LinkedIn--Now What? and co-author of I'm on Facebook--Now What? as well as the excellent JibberJobber blog.

The new IT girl

When I entered library school, I knew how to use a computer; when I left library school, I loved and adored them. I immediately sprang into a second program that I could use to learn how to teach with technology, combining two loves, that I was so glad I could meet with in librarianship.

If you love the tech, there are plenty of careers for a librarian; there are also plenty of regular "books 'n' bricks" library jobs that need the ability to jiggle the cord. IT World Canada has an article on tech careers that you never dreamed of, and though "librarian" isn't a job title, many of these jobs are jobs that techy librarians can and will do, especially if they perceive themselves on a management track.

This gun for hire

Yesterday, I spoke on a panel for alternative librarian careers. Since I consider myself very much a librarian, my career is not really an "alternative". But I'm not really concerned about that in this post.

I'm concerned about a comment that I overheard about how unsteady it is to be a freelancer and that the person really felt they needed a pay check. I like my pay check too, but I really like my work environment more. I don't think you could pay me enough to stay in work that sucks, but I have an advantage that most freelancers also have: we know what we can do that makes money.

Have you ever sat down and really thought about the things that you can do that people will pay for? These can be library-related like specialized collection development, or on the peripheries of library work (or stuff not always part of every librarian's job) such as editing, proof-reading, teaching, or skills that you have, not necessarily library-related that you can make money at, like installing a wireless network or translating from English to another language. Who would pay you for them and how would you market them?

Can you make money with them in libraries? For example, could you offer a paid workshop on how to give directions or greet people in Mandarin? I know a few librarians that might sign up for that as an online class, just for their own career development. How many people within libraries know what you know and if they don't know it, would they pay to learn it or use it to accomplish a task?

If you know what you can sell and what the market is like for your skills, I think you can make a reasonable living. And let's not kid ourselves: some entry-level library jobs are not a reasonable living and you may need to make some freelance cash to survive, or supplement your income. Sit down and figure out what you can do for money. The next step: how much money would you need to make at it to survive?

For a primer on freelancing, yesterday's WSJ put a loose plan together that you can use to stimulate your thoughts. And seriously think about it: even if you don't make it as freelancer, you still need to know what you can do and how to offer that to an employer.

The separation was amicable

Why did you leave your last job?

As a student, you can usually get off lightly with this one: you had a student job and once you were no longer a student, you have to move on. A simplified, no-fault divorce. But some of us are leaving positions for other reasons, some with fault and some merely uncontested. This question is trying to find out just how much fault and acrimony is on your side.

• The best answer is to just want a career change. You are interviewing for a position with more responsibility and you hope to learn more about your profession.
• A mediocre answer is to describe that the writing is on the wall at your old job: your beloved supervisor is moving on, positions are getting whacked with cutbacks, your contract has not been renewed. In these cases, do your best to phrase your answer to this question as if the circumstances were unexpected but you are taking charge of your career.
• Bad, bad answer: I wanted to set their clothes on fire on the front lawn. We leave jobs sometimes because we 1) hate our boss; 2) hate our colleagues; 3) hate the clients we serve; 4) hate the work environment. Hate may seem strong, but we sometimes cling to a pay check much longer than we should, irritating ourselves past irrationality. Additionally, you could have been fired or had your contract unexpectedly, not renewed. In these cases, your answer comes with a lot of bile and you sound like a victim, rather than a proactive, take charge survivor.

If you have a bad, bad answer to this question, I strongly recommend some practice with this question before trying to answer it. Even in circumstances beyond our control, you should do your best to sound as though you understand what happened and that you are taking steps to find a new position and give your best work to the new employer.

This question, though on the surface simple, can elicit some interesting responses from people who have not reflected on their role in their job loss or who are not very good at planning their career moves.

Creating your own summer job

It is possible to create your own summer job or internship, if the postings coming up at your school don't match with what you want to do for the summer. Here are some of the steps you will need to take:

1. Write an employment proposal. What are you going to do for this organization? What do they need from you? This means you need to look at the librarian tasks that you are qualified to perform and explain how they would help your target organization. Your resume should also be part of this package.
   
2. Find an organization or sector to send your proposal to. You can use a directory like the Canadian Company Capabilities Directory or CHIN to find an organization to work for. I would also suggest trying to meet with them in person, so see if you can find contact information for their human resource person or find out if they are going to be in attendance at any upcoming career fairs. If they aren't hiring librarians, ask them if they have accepted employment proposals in the past and if they may be amenable to receiving yours.
   
3. Figure out how you will get paid. There are subsidies for employers, like STEP in Alberta or some of the Sector Councils have money available, whether in grants for a project or wages, that the employer could apply for so they can pay you while you work for them. I recommend the paid route: volunteering is great, but once you are on the books and in the budget, people tend to remember what you were there for.

This summer job solution won't work for everyone, but for the entrepreneurial amongst us, you just need to have an idea, a written plan and the courage to ask.

Recovering from an illness

From today's Career Q&A in the WSJ, Perri Cappell gives advice on how to disclose a recent, life-threatening illness to an employer when it led to extended time off. The person who asked the question has received treatment and is in remission, but he wants to know how to deal with an employer who might be concerned about his...longevity?

I agree with Cappell that you can disclose it to an employer--and if you look at recent cancer statistics, you may be across the desk from a survivor, or a person who may have an invisible, chronic disease--and who will understand that part of healing and living means returning to work.

Personally, I feel if you have been treated and are "healed", that you need not disclose unless you are reasonably sure that it may have an impact on your job performance. But disease is nothing to be ashamed of, either in refusing to disclose or deciding to lay it out there.

Hating BDI Questions

Nick Corcodilos--author of the long-running newsletter, website and book of the same name, Ask the Headhunter--disdains Behaviour Descriptive Interview questions. In his recent foray into blogland, he has even sprung out a hate-on for BDI questions. Though I agree, somewhat, with many of his arguments, like past behaviour doesn't always express future success and that the BDI interview can be rigged in favour of the glib, there is one enormous problem with shedding BDI questions: what else are people going to ask?

Well, more intelligent questions that are trying to elicit information about skills, such as:

• Give me an example of a collection development project that you worked on: how did you plan it and what was the outcome. -Or-
• Give me an example of a time when you accepted a teaching assignment with very little time to prepare.

Wait, those are both skills-based and BDI questions. Could it be that BDI questions aren't bad but are just selected and delivered by people with little or no interview experience?

I would also beg you not to throw the BDI out with the bathwater since we have scripted interviews for very good reasons:

• for the unimaginative, scripts are good
• for the grandiose and easily distracted, scripts are better
  
• we need to measure fairly and objectively
• an unstructured conversation can also favour the glib
• structured interview questions, with rules, also allow the candidate to think logically and reflectively about her presentation and delivery

BDI is part of the proportions of a mix of interview questions, but it shouldn't make up all of the interview questions.

Here's my card

Do you need a business card? If you're a freelancer or contractor, yes, definitely. You should have the services that you offer--editing, research, indexing, etc.-- and contact information so the person who receives the card can get in touch with you.

It is very helpful to have a card ready for conferences, since there are draws and networking events. I was once asked to put my book proposal on the back of my business card and place it in a fish bowl, so you never know.

You can make up your own card if you have the following:

• Stable contact information, including a personal homepage.
• A specific service that you could sell and proof of your work.

You would use the business card so the person could engage these services.

Try to avoid any slogans or taglines in the card. Personally, I think branding is for cattle or pop, so I would scoff mockingly at any business card with a double-J of readers' advisory.

I would avoid handmade business cards since they look like an arts project and macaroni doesn't fit in a wallet. You could do something like a MOO card if you have some good pictures, but be careful because these could come off looking cutesy and not like a real business card.

Generalist cards are the easiest to make, but also the easiest to discard and if you are looking for a "general" library job, your resume is a better letter of introduction.