How do referral programs work?

There is a post on ERE.net today about getting more bang for your buck out of referral programs on college campuses. If you aren't sure what a referral program is, here is how it works:

• Your friend or family member works for a company that regularly disseminates job postings throughout the company--or they make a habit of checking an internal job board with offerings.
• There is a notice that the employee will get a referral bonus if a candidate that they recommended for the position applies, interviews, receives an offer and accepts a job. The referral bonus is usually cash and can range from $50 to $2000, depending on the position and how hard it is to staff. (If you know anyone in nursing, they are bombarded with offers).

Just to be clear, the referrer gets the bonus, not the person that was hired--but once the new hire is on staff, they can start sending out postings to their friends and family.

If you are looking for work in special corporate library, or an information position with a corporation, you need to talk to your friends about where they are working and ask them to include you in the postings they send out to friends and family. If they don't know what you do, or what you want to do, explain what you are looking for. Take a look at their company's website and get an idea about the types of positions that they post by what you can definitely do and what you could kinda do.

There are a few reasons to be wary of these referrals: if you blow off the offer, will your friend be mad? Maybe. It could also take time for the bonus to pay out--up to six months in some cases, and usually not before your probationary period ends. But this is a good way to get job postings delivered to your in-box, and if it all works out, your friend might be very very happy. And you'll be employed.

Check out the H3 network to get an idea about how this service might work on the web. I received a recommendation to use this service from someone on LinkedIn, and though I haven't found anyone for a position, I am still hoping it might work for people in my network.

I also feel like I am referring people (I'm your really weak tie) to postings when I put up the Yahoo! Pipe for library jobs and the Career Jet widjet, though I don't expect any back scratching for it.

Pecha Kucha Night

I'm off to my first Pecha Kucha Night. I'm really curious to see how this would work and if it could be effective for portfolios or for finding freelance work.

Pecha Kucha Night is special event for designers (or other freelancers with portfolios) where each presenter is allowed 20 images and 20 seconds to make their point about each image. These events are international and you need only check on the website to see if a Pecha Kucha Night is coming up in your area.

How to decline a job

If you have to say "no" to a job offer, you should say it to a person's face, or if you live outside of the city, by phone. But it should be in your own voice and not on paper or email.

When you say no, you should say, I'm grateful for your offer, but I cannot accept it at this time. You can supply a reason, such as, I have received another offer in this city, or my partner is not able to move with me to accommodate this new job. You don't have to say anything about the offer, if it was full-time, where their offer was part-time, or if the career just fit you better, you can just say, I have accepted another offer--but don't turn around and reapply in less than six months to the same organization.

If you just don't want to accept the offer--there was something weird about the interviewers, or they were rude or inhospitable, and you are afraid to put your career future in their hands, just stop with, I must decline the offer. Don't elaborate with, if you had only brushed your teeth, or your assistant wouldn't validate my parking, or your no flip-flops dress code is too restrictive, just save it. Tirades are for your friends.

You can follow up with a thank you letter, but if you tell them on the phone or face-to-face, politely and with real regret, you will have declined in a way that still leaves the door open for another application at a later date.

Need a tutorial?

If you need a quick fix or a skills brush-up, use Tutsearch to find a tutorial online. It worked for resume writing, job interviews and php (just in case you need a technical skill polishing). Good example of a vertical search engine that you can harness for your professional development. You might also consider submitting your tutorial(s) if you have one.

Keep the light shining

Keep The Light Shining: 3 Unemployment Survival Lessons From Your Canadian English Teacher

I liked the optimism in this piece, but I can also understand the hesitation of the students. Having encountered the same attitude as an ESL instructor (I can't change, I had more before) I can also understand the writer's frustrations. If you suffer from these obstacles (usually called "barriers to employment") realize that everyone has to climb over them.

Complete an inventory to prep for an interview

I have slowly been adding interview questions that might appear in a library interview, but you could take a personal inventory to prep for an interview (and not wait for my sluggish self to post 1001 questions). How do you take an inventory? Anita Bruzzese posted an inventory, 20 Questions You Need to Ask Yourself if You Want to Smarten Up About Your Career, which, if you look carefully at them, can easily be rewritten as interview questions. For example, no.5, Who is the most difficult person for me to get along with at work? can be transformed into How do you deal with difficult patrons/co-workers? or Who is the worst boss you ever had, and why?. Using the questions in her inventory, you could easily prepare a sheet that will help you with most interview questions that are meant to assess "fit", collegiality or career plans.

The best part about an inventory like this is that your notes should help you prepare for several types of interview questions and that you can do it yourself, again and again, prior to a new job search cycle with a round of interviews. The questions on this inventory are so open that you could take them in any direction, and your answers will probably change the next time you do them--and with more self-knowledge as you grow as a professional.

September might not be a bad time to look for a job

Is there a good time to look for a job?

Now, Job Bait is looking for "executive" jobs, classed by salary, but their analysis of monthly hiring trends (from 2004-2006 data) does show that there are certain months were more upper-level jobs are posted. It also means that Fall is still a good time to look for a job. This data may also be helpful if you are looking for special library job, so you have to follow the hiring cycle of that industry, not the "academic" hiring cycle (i.e. if you want to work for an engineering firm, they will post according to their hiring cycle, which is right now.)

First spotted on Career Hub.

I'm new here

How do you become accustomed to a new workplace? What are the steps you take to become familiar with the work environment?

An interviewer will ask this question for two reasons:

1. Time is short to get you up to speed, such as a contract position or a summer job, and he wants to make sure that you can organize your time effectively to get accustomed to the new environment, and complete the project you have been hired for, and
   
2. Because he wants to know about your work habits, how you learn new things, and where getting to know your co-workers will fit on your list of priorities.

Obviously, responding to this question effectively requires a bit of self-awareness, and the ability to recognize, not only your habits, but also the knowledge that you already possess that you could apply to the new workplace. They will also like to hire someone who not only gives a self-aware answer, but someone who learns in a similar style to the other people in the workplace. Since you can't know what learning style is preferred--unless you have already worked there--you can only answer this question by stating what you have done in the past, how you will apply it on the first day on the job, and how you will look for direction from your new supervisor and coworkers.

What kind of manager do you have?: Jung or Nardelli?

Cut Costs like Avon--Not Home Depot is from the Harvard Business Publishing blog. The post describes the difference between the admired CEO of Avon, Andrea Jung, and the non-so-esteemed former-CEO of Home Depot, (though he has moved on to Chrysler) Bob Nardelli. And in a time of cutbacks--though not a reduced need for library services--it might be a good idea to find out who you are working for: Nardelli or Jung?

Oddly, these companies do have something in common with libraries: they have similar customer base (women), they depend on knowledge networks to spread the word, and their customers use their products to improve their lives. But look at what happened when Nardelli cut back:

"The original Home Depot strategy depended on extremely knowledgeable service staff who would go that extra mile for customers and who could really help them understand how to accomplish their own goals. In the name of efficiency, Nardelli cut coverage, replaced quite a number of the experienced old-timers with part-timers, and put the whole organization on a tight, numbers-driven, almost military program. Again, many of his changes were for the better - yet the cultural, network, and experience losses eventually caught up with the company and Nardelli was replaced."

Libraries, like Home Depot, depend on their community connections (we call them "patrons" not "contractors") and undermining the core service, such as reducing the number of workers that have "know-how" is just bad for business.

So who do you work for? Nardelli or Jung?

Looking for a place to stay in NY

If you have an interview in NY and need to breeze in and breeze out, check out Roomorama which has listings for short term rentals. You can use it to look for an actual room, or if you are comfortable with this option, a couch surf. You can also pay online via PayPal and not worry about bringing lots of cash to a strange place. Listings are currently limited to NY, but the site does promise listings for Boston and Toronto.

You can combine this "cheaper" (really depends on listing and what you can afford) with a discount bus line, for true job seek economy travel.

I need to be able to walk to work

I can walk to my workplace, but it takes about an hour and fifteen minutes one way. I have done it a few times in the summer, on weekends, since I like sleeping more and because the train is so accessible from my home. I do not drive my car to work, but I also live in the outer-inner city in my town.

But is the ability to walk to work on your shopping list for an employer? Is that just being too picky?

Some people are going to great lengths to avoid traffic or to save money on gas, according to this article from the WSJ. Have you thought about becoming one of them?

Day in the life of an academic librarian

Day in the life of an academic librarian. More teaching, interacting with students face to face. Maintenance, currency, collection development and customer service.