Career Reinvention or; Learning how to start over again without wincing

Who ever said re-inventing one's career was easy certainly never undertook the endeavour. Then again, if it were so easy, many more people would be leaving their current careers in pursuit of another and there would be fewer and fewer unhappy workers.

For the past five months, I have been attempting to reinvent myself, more proactively lately as the last of the summer warmth drains from the day and the chill of fall stirs one back to reality. Harsh reality. Long time readers know about my decision to transition from archives to another field. It's well documented.

The reinvention journey, or quite simple, how to start over again without wincing at the sudden shift in your life, is one I had anticipated as being difficult but not this hard. But there is a learning experience in all this, thankfully. One big lesson: Check your ego at the door.

Why let go of your ego? Well for one thing, when you start over, you are no longer a name, but rather a number. No more Mr. Digital Archivist. It's now, Hello, Applicant #S6009767. Your network? Well, that too changes. Case in point: I cold called (or cold emailed) a local organization, figuring, hey, maybe there is an available part-time job there. Instead, I received this sobering response:

Hello,
Thank you very much for your CV. Please note that currently we have no vacancies. However, I have forwarded your CV to our recruitment section.

Now if this poor soul only knew what I had accomplished and what I can do, he probably would have re-considered. Ahh...there's that ego again. Check. Check. Check.

Then there are those application exams that one must pass. Exams? To get a job? Have any of the Presidential candidates written exams to get to where they are now? Nope. I doubt it.

Uhmm...politics. Now there's something to consider.

Singapore Bound

Yes, it can now be revealed, I, no no....wait....

I received an email from a good friend and fellow library school graduate a few weeks ago in which he told me he had accepted a Cataloguing/Metadata Librarian position. That's great, I thought. I must admit, however, I was a little puzzled by the news since he had only two years earlier accepted a similar position at a very prestigious university in California.

He told me the position was in Singapore. I thought I read the email incorrectly. Nope, I read correctly, it's Singapore.

Originally from Hong Kong, this move from California to Singapore would be for him and his wife more of a coming home, or at least closer to the region and the people they are most familiar with.

He will start in late August as Cataloguing/Metadata Librarian at Singapore Management University Library. After visiting the university website and library site, think about how the world is changing, how through technology, the world is truly becoming a more connected place.

Postscript to Why I Blog

I want to thank both new and long time readers for stopping by and reading and commenting on the three-part series on why I blog. When the idea came to write on this topic, I was seeing in my mind the post growing longer and longer, because I saw several stories surfacing that needed telling. This is gonna be too long, I figured.

Unsure on how to proceed, I arrived, unexpectedly, on a website article called "How to write for new media" on a blog called thePuckWrites. In the article, the author advises writers of blogs and new media to follow a few simple guidelines, including breaking down long posts into a series. Voila!

In short, I wrote this 'long blog post' to shed an objective light, and perhaps derive some insights, on a peculiar work experience. Presently, the situation remains in flux, full of unknowns, and marked with further inward reflection. The act of blogging, however, is action. Positive action.

Why I Blog: Part 3

In Part 2 of the series on why I blog, I discussed the evolution of The DIGITAL Archive blog from a humble blog chronicling a research project to a public platform expressing personal and professional thoughts, opinions and observations. Moreover, the struggle to find a new direction after the research project ended became its primary content.

In this third and final part, I will clarify the reasons why I blog in light of this unconventional history.

Towards self-discovery

In a weird way, The DIGITAL Archive is living up to its name. It is an archive, a digital one, containing thoughts, opinions and observations, not all well-organized as it should be but good enough, I guess.

I write to communicate. I am not the best writer in the blogosphere, but I have the passion, the patience, and the risk-taking instincts to sit my butt on a chair and type and to do so honestly.

The words I choose to write and publish on The DIGITAL Archive are in many ways stories about self-discovery. They are not weepy talk show stories to be psychoanalyzed. Rather, they are stories about someone proudly working in a field, actively writing about the field, about the impact of larger forces on the field, and in the course of doing so, seeing himself in a new light and writing about the bigger picture, the forces causing change, and, more importantly, the possibility of discovering his own passions.

That said, faithful readers (yes, all three of you), if you are looking for a hardcore archives blog, then this blog is not for you. While I am pleasantly surprised and thankful that The DIGITAL Archive appears on the All About Archives, Blogs by archivists section of a much larger archives-focused wiki, this blog does not attempt to represent the field or cover issues of urgent concern to archivists.

What you see me doing, isn't what I do / Who I am, isn't really who I am

Jill-Hurst Wahl, who blogs over at Digitization 101, wrote a blog post called “What you see me doing, isn’t what I do.” A very thought-provoking piece, it had a significant role in prompting this series on why I blog. (Blog ideas, like story ideas, rarely occur in a vacuum.) In her blog post, she focuses on a book whose chapter examines the contrast between what people do to earn a living (make money) and what they do to fulfill creative urges. In a brilliant paragraph, she describes herself using this work-life/creative-life paradigm:

I am a consultant, a speaker, an author, an adjunct faculty member, and a trainer. I used to describe myself as a corporate librarian. Many years ago, I describe myself with words that talked about my work in information technology. And many, many years ago, I worked in radio as well as with children in a local park. What you are likely not to see is that I'm also a wonderful gardener, a person who cares about the environment as well as friends and colleagues, and a good cook (all parts of the creative me).

What you see me doing, isn’t what I do. Think about that for a second. The work we do, to earn money, to pay the bills, is often not the complete picture of what we do or who we are. The other parts are often revealed in our creative endeavours. Now let's tweak that zen-like sentence a bit. Who I am, isn't really who I am. A business card or job title will state who you are in the context of work: Archivist, Librarian, Records Manager. But the actual work that one does may be very, very different from the work typically associated with those job titles.

The work I did over the years in the archives field, which I accomplished successfully and which was well-received by employers, was not the work of a traditional archivist. The work I performed established foundations and structures (workflows and procedures, to be technical) where none existed before. I was and still am the first wave, the Marines, if you will, the first pair of boots to tackle a large-scale project, be it a website re-design, research project, digitization initiative or digital preservation.

That said, I am seeing myself more and more as an archives advocate and general consultant and less and less as an archivist. I feel I can have a greater impact and more fulfilling experience by working in another capacity. And this is my new direction.

A third reason why I blog

In Part 1, I said I blogged for two reasons; having come this far telling this story, I believe I blog for three reasons. Besides blogging to voice opinions and to share them with others and to partake in a community, I blog to beat back cynicism incurred by chronic unemployment.

A contractual employee, like me, experiences the unknown every time his or her contract comes to an end. It is a frustrating, repetitive cycle: being hired, working hard, completing assigned task, delivering excellent results, and then out the door in one or two years. Forget about professional development. Hello professional stagnation.

Therefore, I blog to beat back the cynicism and the frustration that naturally arise from these experiences. I blog, that is, I create something in the face of negativity in order to believe (or convince myself) that there is still hope.

Consider this three-part blog series an abridged version of eight unconventional years in the archives field. In the end, I am faced with a career paradox: I am stuck, but I am free. I am bound when I believe I am bound, but I become unbound when I think otherwise.

If past mistakes, poor decisions, or whatever else from your past plagues you, remember this: We are not defined by our past. We define ourselves--who we really are--only in the present moment.

I blog in order to stay in that moment.

Why I Blog: Part 2

From then until now

In Part 1 of this series on why I blog, I provided an overview about why I blog. 1) To share information and 2) to participate in the community of bloggers.

I also discussed how this blog, The DIGITAL Archive, was born out of the need to communicate and share information on an electronic records management and digital preservation project that I had been researching at the university where I worked and how starting the blog allowed me to connect with others with similar interests.

For the second part, I will examine the new direction the blog took after the e-records management/digital preservation project ended.

What next? My concerns become content

Once the project ended, I found myself—and this blog—in a momentary vacuum. What do I blog about now, I thought. For a while, I continued to blog about the research project, adding some personal perspective to the findings. That was fine, for the time being, but I knew deep down I had to find a new direction.

The struggle to find a new blog direction, that is, what would I write about, became the motivation to continue writing The DIGITAL Archive and the subject matter of several blog posts. This struggle, and subsequent blog posts about it, began to take a new shape, innocently enough, causing me to wonder about pursuing a new direction altogether, in life and career.

In the months between the end of the research project and the day I resigned from my position at McGill, I took tentative steps to expand the scope of the blog. While I discussed email management and digital preservation with some zeal, I also peppered the blog with concerns about preserving blogs, technology predictions, and the future of the Web, subjects I found closer to my heart and mind.

Moreover, in an unplanned move, I also discussed concerns and doubts about the career I found myself in because I wanted to give voice to these concerns and wondered if anyone else felt the same.

When I resigned from the university, I wanted to continue blogging because I had found an ingenious communication medium and had established a very small community of readers (judging from the occasional comment, I figured I had some readers).

I realized that it took time and persistence to find a ‘blogging voice’ and a central theme around which blog posts revolved. I figured I was still a teenager whose blogging voice was changing, maturing. The blog’s voice, as well as its author’s voice, was clearly changing. The DIGITAL Archive, once heavily focused on archives, became a kaleidoscope of ideas that only alluded to archives.

I believe a blog is organic, like a tree that starts life as a tiny twig; it grows into a complex repository of opinions and ideas, with shoots springing forth into other blogs, bearing fruit now and then. Sometimes, however, especially when the blogger’s situation is precarious, the blog grows in ways the blogger never anticipated.

Why I Blog: Part 1

Rationale, Reasons

The act of blogging is, in a way, similar to a person standing on a street corner sounding off on an issue of personal importance, hoping that someone passing by will stop and listen. The blogger writes and publishes blog posts, hoping his or her words will find an audience. Like raising a child and watching them grow and leave, the blogger releases his words never sure of their destiny.

Taken to one extreme, the act of blogging becomes a narcissistic activity, where the messy details of a blogger’s life become blog post fodder, an indiscriminate exposé of daily life. In an ideal, more balanced form, however, the act of blogging is as a two-way communication street and a social networking hub, whereby the blogger expresses and shares opinions, observations and ideas to those reading, and allows for—in fact, encourages—the community of readers to respond, react and generate further discussion, thus building new ideas, new knowledge, and a stronger community.

I hope my blogging activities, that is, The DIGITAL Archive, falls somewhere between narcissism and idealism.

So why do I blog (against all odds, some might add). I blog for two reasons:

• To give voice to personal thoughts, opinions and observations on the news and current events that I care about and;


• To partake in the community of bloggers, whether the common thread is based on locality, interests, or profession

Like layers in an onion, however, there is more to the story.

About a project called digitalpermanence

I opened a Blogger.com account in early 2004, but I only started blogging in March 2005. In 2004, the McGill University Archives (where I worked at the time) embarked on a large, ambitious project called digitalpermanence, the university’s attempt at a comprehensive electronic records management and digital preservation strategy.

In January 2004, a small team of McGill archivists was assembled, including me, and tasked to conduct a campus-wide survey of the university’s electronic records and to devise a preliminary e-records management plan and digital preservation strategy. The first phase of the project ran between January 2004 and November 2004, with the second phase--reviews and discussions-- starting in early 2005 (about the time I started blogging). For those interested, the full story of the project is available online on the McGill University Archives’ digitalpermanence sub-site.

In March 2005, with a ton of research information sitting on my desk, I wanted to chronicle the findings of the project.

While our team produced official reports, I, personally, wanted to share information about the project, thus fulfilling that academic urge to share and build upon existing knowledge. I started blogging because the medium intrigued me and because I felt I was conducting important research and no one (outside of McGill) knew about it. I felt I had no one (aside from the already swamped archivists) with whom I could relate this information to, so I started a blog and called it The DIGITAL Archive, explaining in a note that it was an ad hoc, unofficial university blog, not associated with the university.

My first blog post was called “All Systems Go!” Like that lone voice on a street corner, I hoped the words I wrote on electronic records management and digital preservation would reach someone. Discreetly, I blogged about the project, what had taken place and what findings, if any, were being discovered. It was a great learning experience on two fronts: the research on e-records management and digital preservation proved fruitful, on one front, and the hands-on blogging experience taught me much about this new publishing medium.

By blogging, I had a voice, or at least the project had a voice. In a few shorts weeks, at least two or three other blogs made direct references to the blog. Now not only had I a voice, but I was becoming part of a community of bloggers who also shared in some of the project’s discussions. Slowly, the blog’s audience grew and I, the blog’s author, began to connect with other bloggers in the blogosphere.

As the blog was hitting its stride, however, the digitalpermanence project--second phase--came to a halt. This was about fall 2005. The reports I had written were filed away—archived, I would like to think—and the small team assigned to the project moved on to other projects and some to other endeavours.

But The DIGITAL Archive blog, born out of a now dead project, still stared and blinked at me with life and potential. But I was not sure what I was going to do with the blog; in fact, I was not sure what direction my career would take after this large-scale research project ended.

You see, I was a contractual employee working in the archives on a project-by-project basis, the majority of which focused on supporting Web and digitization initiatives. With web and digitization projects under my belt, I welcomed such a large research project. But now the research project had ended as well, and I was confronted with the reality that this was perhaps the end of the line.

Curiously, this struggle to find a new direction, in career and in life, played a pivotal role in the future of The DIGITAL Archive blog.

[Part 2 to be published tomorrow and Part 3 the day after]

10 Secrets of Highly Unproductive People; Or Warning Signs!

I started following tech geek blogger (and former Microsoft employee) Robert Scoble and his vast line-up of online content a few weeks ago, and every so often he writes or broadcasts material that resonates with me.

On July 11, 2008, Scoble's Workfast.tv web program hosted Matt Rissell, a web entrepreneur and founder of TSheets.com. Rissell talked about his on-going research on the principles that highly productive business people follow and described them during the show. Rissell also posted his list of principles on his blog.

After reading the list, which I recommend everyone should do, I could identify with certain items on the list - and in some twisted way, I saw how the opposite of these productivity tips were active in my life.

So without further ado and with tongue in cheek and satire stick in hand...

10 Secrets of Highly Unproductive People

1. Boredom

You are bored with your work. You feel indifferent on most days. You could not care less if the work you did or the company you work for suddenly curled up and died.

2. Surround yourself with cynical people

There is no better way to become more unproductive than by surrounding yourself with cynics, naysayers, and complainers. Observe how your innovative ideas are laughed at and then skillfully tossed aside to be replaced by the notorious 'same old same old' or the dreaded 'business-as-usual'.

3. Create an environment where shallowness prevails

There are many types of work environments. Some are energized, innovative and focused, while others are discouraged, depressed and demoralized. Be sure to pursue the latter environment to become unproductive and as mentally deep as a kiddie pool.

4. Complicate!

This is a tricky one to achieve since most folks want to simplify their careers. But to be truly unproductive, complicate your career. Make sure your employer and the entire company do not understand what you do, so that way you end up doing a whole bunch of stuff (and not get paid extra for it). You'll certainly do a lot of stuff, but you'll never become proficient at anything. Just another graduate chasing the four winds. Perfect.

5. Know your motivation and then throw them out the door

Yes, there are moments when you want to be the best, to deliver the best, to make sure the user is satisfied, that you feel satisfied. These are the correct motivations to steer you in the proper direction. But hold on, motivation, values, work ethic, there's that productivity nonsense again. You're at work to collect a pay check, thank you, and walk out the door at 5:00 pm sharp and look forward to the weekend. Period.

6. That "Special Something"

If you have a desire to provide excellent service to the community, to communicate and help others, to make a difference; in other words, if you possess that special something that you can bring to the table, well, in those immortal words, you know, fugetaboutit!! That's right. Forget it. Your career does not need your special something, so leave it at the door.

7. Don't make decisions

You are on a committee, either the Chair or member, and the committee has convened five or maybe six or more times on the same blasted topic and no decision has been made yet. While some folks will get restless, and others will be bold enough to make a decision, why not sit back, sip a coffee, and wait. And wait. And wait some more. Maybe in 2-3 years things will change and a decision will simply fall in your lap. Now that is un-productivity at its finest!

8. Unbalance

Besides simplicity, some of us strive for balance, making sure our days are rich and complete with a variety of personal and social activities. How boring! Become unbalanced for once and watch your days grow longer and nights get shorter. Soon you'll be so exhausted, becoming unproductive will be inevitable.

9. Talk talk talk and no action

To see this tip in action is truly a thing of beauty. To become proficient, observe the masters. They are often seen talking, and talking, and talking. They talk endlessly about superfluous nonsense that is wrapped nicely in a symphony of buzz words. But in the end, no one rolls up their sleeves and no one delivers the goods.

10. Don't pay attention to successful people and their silly principles

Successful people, smart people, rich people - each are probably doing something that we unproductives are not doing. But why bother listen to them? Their philosophies are so convoluted, anyway, they'd never work. Stay true and stick to what is familiar and comfortable.

Hope you enjoyed this week's Friday Abstract.

Unemployed? Archivists Take Note

Kate Theimer blogging over at ArchivesNext revealed the results of her survey question "Will you be attending SAA this summer?" While the complete results can be viewed on her blog, the majority of respondents (48%) said Yes, they will be attending SAA and that their employer will be paying all or part of the expense.

On the heels of this survey question, Kate is launching another: "Does your job title have the word “archivist” in it?” Be sure to take a few minutes to respond.

Speaking of job titles and jobs, I conducted a survey back in May asking people in the fields of libraries and archives what was their employment status. The results revealed that 66% of respondents had a permanent position with a benefits package.

Now, taking Kate's survey on SAA attendance, which I will categorize in my mind as professional development, and my own survey on employment status, something clear emerges. At least it does for me.

Unemployed and underemployed archivists or other records related professionals should demand more from their future or current employer. First, if having a permanent position is important, then unemployed archivists should seek out permanent positions. I know, there are bills to pay now, but short-term contracts without benefits simply short-change us professionals in the end. As I often remind myself, "Short-term gain, long-term loss."

Second, if professional development and attending conferences are important, then archivists should request and make it clear to employers that professional work is a two-way street. A professional cannot give and give and receive nothing in return. There must be opportunities to learn.

These requests are not pie-in-the-sky unattainable. Hardly. Look at the survey results again (here and here); as small a sample as they were, relatively speaking, they still revealed evidence that permanence and professional development are elements that unemployed and underemployed archivists can no longer set aside.

4 Steps to Building an Online Profile

As more users participate in the social web, partaking in social networks for personal and often professional reasons, I think it is important to write a simple, practical, and representational online profile, particularly if users are seeking to attract new clients or potential employers.

The following are guidelines I developed to help you compose an online profile. To remember them quickly, think "The 4 F's": FORMAL, FACTS, FUNCTIONS, and FUN.

Let's start!

1) FORMAL: State who you are, in either first or third person, using either your current job title or your professional title, giving some emphasis to your area of speciality. Briefly.

For example:

I am an electronic records manager, focusing on managing digitized records and enterprise resource planning data;

OR

Robert Grant is an electronic records consultant, supporting clients transition from paper to digital records

2) FACTS: State your educational qualifications and work experience. Briefly.

For example:

I have a B.A. in History, B.Sc. in Computer Science, and a Master of Library and Information Studies, with 4 years work experience in an educational institution and a medical library

3) FUNCTIONS: State what you have done in those years of education and work experience. Briefly.

For example:

I designed and implemented a new taxonomy and trained staff and senior administration;

OR

Robert Grant has re-designed several websites, improving navigation and content accessibility, and making these websites the hub of information delivery

4) FUN: Express your personality using the most succinct and passionate words that describe you, while explaining how these qualities enrich your work. Ask family, friends, professors, employers (past and present), if necessary.

For example:

I am a creative, innovative, and team-oriented individual, whose passion for people, technology and libraries direct my decisions and work ethic.

Use The 4 Fs wisely, and add your own uniqueness to them, and I am certain your online profile will get noticed.

How Blogs Can Save Your Career

Earlier this week I had lunch with a friend, a fellow library school grad. We had a conversation about professional development…or the lack thereof. We both graduated in the same year and we both had a roller-coaster ride during our first years in the library and information field following graduation.

While he has found himself as a librarian in a documentation centre and I continue to carve out a new career path altogether, we both agreed that professional development in the field (or any field, for that matter) had to improve.

“Aside from attending a few local conferences,” he explained, “I haven’t done much or learned much. I just do what I have to do at work. That’s it.”

I was shocked by his indifference. “So what do you do to stay current?” I asked.

“I read a few journals, but that’s about it.”

I told him that I had attended roughly 4 conferences / seminars / workshops in my 8 year career. And I bemoaned the fact that I had I wanted to attend more to learn, to connect, to meet with my peers, but was thwarted by a number of setbacks, including the usual limited budget.

Placing the blame on the usual suspects, such as limited funds, indifferent employers, or the limitations imposed on contractual positions, can often alleviate the frustration, but it does not erase the truth: professional development is a must.

In 2002, Barbara Quint, editor of Searcher Magazine, wrote a very insightful column in the July/August issue of the magazine. In reflecting on her career path, and offering advice to her readers, she stated boldly:

“When an information professional stops learning, they start dying, or at least their career does. And any information professional in this day and age, with all the changes upon us and more coming, who does not or cannot allot a significant portion of their work time to learning and study will not be able to perform well the job they have now for much longer, much less the future jobs they should have.”

I agree 100% With contractual positions, as I have been in over the years, the employer’s interest, for better or for worse, is to ensure the work he or she has planned gets done, not necessarily to support the professional development of the person hired.

So what should one do?

As I walked down the bustling streets, I was caught in my thoughts, wondering how I have managed to stay current (more or less) despite being on contracts or, more recently, unemployed.

One word kept surfacing: blogs.

Seriously, if it were not for the many library and archives, Web 2.0, new media, digitization, digital preservation bloggers and social networkers on the Web, I would be far, far behind the curve.

It is thanks to those who, in the spirit of sharing, write and talk about their work, projects, ideas either daily, bi-weekly, weekly or monthly that I have been able to stay current in the field.

I hesitate to list the blogs I read, so as not to alienate anyone, but my blogroll is to the right, and I continue to add to the list.

I believe in the power of blogs, their immediacy, their intimacy, and their uncanny ability to auto-generate communities, because I know I have benefitted from them and learned from them. And continue to do so.

For example: How did I find out about Twitter? Through a podcast I heard. How did I find out about the latest happenings in education and libraries? Through several bloggers whose daily commentaries are food for thought. What prompted me to be concerned about blog preservation? The many mil-blogs out there whose posts chronicle the story of soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan. There are many more examples.

Professional development involves participating in several areas. Make sure the blogosphere is one of them. You never know who you are helping.

Job Search: Interview Questions

In the course of searching for employment, there comes a time (or, if you're fortunate, several times) when one is called in for a job interview. In a job interview one or two staff members, or perhaps even a large committee, sits you, the applicant, down in a room and asks you some fairly standard questions about yourself, your skills, your strengths and weaknesses in addition to your past achievements and future plans.

With preparation and practice, one can become very confident in answering these questions honestly and positively.

However, one part of the questioning that often disrupts my flow is the one where the interviewers ask me if I have any questions.

Naturally, the applicant should ask about salary, benefits, vacation time, etc. But this, I believe, should come a little later. First, there must be some clarifications concerning the job itself.

After some brainstorming, I've developed a few questions that could be asked of the interviewer. Send me your comments if you have additions.

1) What is/are the main role(s) and responsibilities of the position?

2) Describe for me a typical day for the person in this position?

3) What are the primary and secondary goals and objectives of this position?

4) What is the budget for projects, such as hardware and software?

5) What is the budget for attending conferences, workshops, etc (i.e. learning opportunities)?

UPDATE: Via Michael Stephen's Tame the Web blog, I found an interesting article in Library Journal written by Michael Casey and Michael Stephens. It is about finding a library job that fits your values. Whether you are contemplating a library or a factory, the article brings up some good points. I am glad the authors mention the importance for library administrators to promote staff development, among other things. Please do read the article.

Job Search: Network Network Network!!

It's weird--in fact, it's kind of ironic--that in this time of the Social Web, where information professionals are blogging, social networking, Twittering, flickring, and generally connecting and collaborating with each another in a variety of ways, the act of searching for work (a long time hobby of mine, tragically) remains a very solitary endeavour.

There's the long hours of searching through job postings, online, offline, etc; revising one's resume; writing cover letters, tailoring each to the specifics of the job in question; and on occasion, being interviewed by a search committe. And on and on it goes. All solitary.

Making matters more challenging is the decision I made to transition from the purely archival field to the field of web communications and new media.

A few friends have suggested taking a long, long sabbatical, that is, a vacation away from searching for work. Take up another hobby, they say, adding that searching for work should not be considered a hobby. Get fit. Lay off the laptop. Hit the outdoors. Take more pictures. (Practice makes perfect, they say.)

Another astute friend, however, suggests I network network network. (If I recall, she did indeed say network thrice.) Contact colleagues, ex-colleagues, professors (if they actually remember me). Just network, let people know you are looking, and, like karma, something good will come your way.

(network + network + network) + good karma = job

To those unemployed (and I know who you are since you responded to my employment survey), let me know if this equation works.

5 Things I Want in My Next Job

Being unemployed after successfully completing a contract fills me with a sequence of emotions: pride, reflection and conflict.

I feel pride because I am satisfied with having achieved the objectives of the contract. Whether 6 months, 12 months, or 24 months, I feel pride with my accomplishment.

Then I enter into a state of reflection when the last day of work arrives and I must, albeit reluctantly, start planning my next step.

And, finally, more often than not, I feel conflict, inner conflict, that is, an uneasy, nagging sense that the hard work and excellent performance I have thus far produced and delivered are not coalescing into a structured, developing career path of satisfaction and professional growth, like many of my library school peers and former colleagues now seem to enjoy.

In an effort to resolve these repetitious mixed feelings (and perhaps help others in the same situation at the same time), I put together a list of wants and needs, professionally speaking, that I want to see in any future job offer.

The list items are personalized, in some ways; but feel free to tailor them to your needs, if necessary.

Moreover, I want to hear what you think about these items. Am I too idealistic? Am I missing the point? Or am I hitting the nail on the head, so to speak?

Here they are:

1. Hired as a Professional, not as a Jack-of-all-Trades

2. Work in a University or other well-funded Institution

3. Attend Conferences, Seminars, Training Sessions

4. Work with a Team, and in a Healthy Environment

5. Work / Life Balance


1. HIRED AS A PROFESSIONAL, NOT AS A JACK-OF-ALL-TRADES

I have a BA in History/Religion and a MLIS degree, plus I have close to eight years experience working in this field, focusing on web design and content development, digital preservation research, and digitization projects. As such, I want to be hired as a professional (no, I am not the department’s “web guy”). I want to be hired because of my skills and abilities, and not because the employer needs a Jack (or Jane) of all trades who will act as a warm body in boring meetings, pitch in when there is a huge backlog, fill in for the front office administrative assistant, or troubleshoot that virus-infected, spyware-saturated public access computer workstation. No, I have heard from enough colleagues to say this practice needs to stop.

2. WORK IN A UNIVERSITY OR OTHER WELL-FUNDED INSTITUTION

An academic setting seems ideal for someone in the library and archives profession. The edenic campus grounds, the quiet library buildings, the youthful energy of hungry minds. But positions in academic settings are not easy to find. While I believe the academic environment would be perfect, I am still willing to accept a position at a well-funded institution. By well-funded, I mean an institution with sufficient resources to fund people and projects, and not just talk about them and sound hip.

I know the usual line in the library and archives field is that there is no money, there is no funding. But ironically there is money to pay for salaries of senior level staff and to fund a project or two that will make the department look good and therefore increase visibility and perhaps boost further funding prospects next fiscal year.

Listen: There is money; it is time to start using it wisely. Good professionals want to contribute, but also want good compensation (and benefits).

3. ATTEND CONFERENCES, SEMINARS, TRAINING SESSIONS

I want to attend conferences, seminars, and training sessions. I want to do so because I want to come in contact with other professionals, share and discuss ideas, form connection and perhaps fuel future collaboration. I want to be part of a greater community of professionals to learn, contribute and grow as a professional.

I want to attend training sessions—to learn something new—because there is nothing worse than professional stagnation. Any professional, regardless of field or years of experience, needs to be fed and supported by his or her institution. There are no excuses.

[Interestingly, there is a blog post by a librarian at Princeton University Libraries that discusses the issue of attending conference and giving speeches and who should cover the costs. The Princeton librarian also cites Meredith Farkas’ recent blog posts on the same topic, here and here.]

Many of us will never attain the frequent flyer miles as some of the more prominent professionals in the library field, or the opportunity to attend gaming and education conferences, or the technological ticket to attend a conference in Second Life. But as an optimist (or simply to stupid to know when to quit), I will never say never.

4. WORK WITH A TEAM, AND IN A HEALTHY ENVIRONMENT

Some of us like to work alone, while others like to work with a large team. I fall somewhere in between, preferring the solitude in times of project planning and welcoming a team when the time comes to execute the plan. I do not want to work any more in isolation, carrying the weight of a large-scale project. It is neither good mentally or professionally. We need each other to support our strengths and overcome our weakness. We need each other to get the job done correctly.

I also want a healthy work environment. Sadly, far too many archives offices are located below ground, in basements, in windowless rooms with poor ventilation systems. No more. Been there, done that. I need windows, sunlight.

5. WORK / LIFE BALANCE

I work hard, I put in the time required to complete the task. I know work is something we all do that consumes a large of amount time on a weekly basis. But at the same time that does not mean I wish to have my life outside the job to suffer or be limited. There is a line between work and personal life. I need to draw that all important line early on.

There it is.

Boomers and Scarcity of Library Jobs

It is a holiday today in Canada, and depending on your political, social, cultural background, it is either Queen Victoria Day, Dollard Day, or Patriots Day. For me, it is a rainy and dreary day - perfect weather, I say, to read the Annoyed Librarian. Yes, she/they is/are still blogging in spite of what seems to be a deliberate slowdown in her/their usual prolific output.

In light of my recent survey on the status of employment among librarians and archivists, whose results revealed many librarians/archivists have permanent positions (contrary to my own thoughts), I found the Annoyed Librarian's blog post, "Those Darn Boomers," rather interesting. Of course, the AL is to be taken with a grain of salt (or with a martini), but she/they usually infuse(s) her/their posts with some truth.

In the blog post, the AL argues:

• Library grads have no reason to moan and groan about the scarcity of library jobs (AL writes: "If you went to library school because you were told jobs were plentiful, then you were duped.");
• Library grads should not assume that permanent positions belong to some exclusive group (AL writes: "Some new library school graduates seem to have been under the impression that librarianship was a non-competitive field.");
• Library grads use faulty logic if they complain that boomers in the profession are the ones responsible for the library job shortage (AL writes: "Are these boomer librarians not people who deserve jobs, too?")

After many years of being in the field, roughly seven years, these are valid points. Like any other profession, there is strong competition, there are more candidates than positions, and professionals in the field with senior titles are not likely to retire any time soon. So what should one do if one still finds him or herself underemployed or unemployed?

As my survey revealed, there are still many with contractual or no jobs at all. So, honestly, what should one do??

FOLLOW YOUR PASSIONS!! (...even if that means stepping outside your comfort zone...)

God, that was hard to write. I tried to be as eloquent as the AL. But sometimes bluntness rather than eloquence is best. And more truthful, too.

Survey Analysis

"As a librarian or archivist, what is your employment status?”

In total, 66 readers of The DIGITAL Archive responded to the survey. I want to thank them for participating and for writing comments (thanks to Heidi and the Lone Arranger for their unique comments), and to thank those who promoted this survey on their blogs.

By the numbers, the votes revealed the following:

• 44 people (66% of the vote) indicated they had a permanent position with a full benefits package;




• 9 people (13% of the vote) indicated they were unemployed;




• 7 people (10% of the vote) indicated they had a contractual position with a full benefits package;




• 6 people (9% of the vote) indicated they had a contractual position but with no benefits package

For the sake of transparency, I would be part of those unemployed.

While Blogger surveys are not formal, nor the most scientific vehicle to gather such complex information, and while my survey question had a few holes in it—I should have asked how long the respondents took to find or land a permanent position, for instance; or what career path they had chosen, librarianship or archives; or whether they were recent grads or those who had been in the profession for many, many years—I was still able to conclude that:

1. There are a large number of people with permanent positions;

2. There are still a sizeable amount of people with no jobs or with contractual jobs

I was surprised such a large number of people had permanent positions. I was really surprised. I was also surprised there were more unemployed librarians and archivists than those with contractual positions.

In reading the poll results, I also concluded, on a personal note, that I need to revise my career strategy, or more specifically, my job search strategy and then my career planning.

After 8 years in this field, after working at various locations in mainly contractual positions, each with its own share of opportunities and challenges, I still find myself no closer to a permanent position. The survey numbers reveal that there are permanent positions, but thus far these positions have remained elusive to me and the 22 other respondents.

Surveys, opinion polls, and statistics can draw different conclusions, depending on the perspective, biases of the individual analyzing the data.

What conclusions can you draw from these numbers? Were you surprised or shocked or indifferent by the numbers?

Polling Closed: Analysis Soon

The employment survey is closed. But look at those results. The number of responses was larger than I expected and the results are very interesting, to say the least.

Polling Update

The response to the poll ("As a librarian or archivist, what is your employment status?") has been nothing short of incredible. The number of respondents and the responses themselves are making this poll a success in many respects. So much for the idea that I had but two readers. Thank you to those you have participated - and if you still haven't done so, go ahead, select a status that matches and push the VOTE button.

In retrospect, I may have to fill the gaps with a few additional questions, such as: How long before you landed a permanent position? Such data could eventually paint a more complete picture.

Sugar, We're Going Up

A week ago today, I took a flight from Washington, DC, back to the familiar plains of the North, leaving behind the U.S. capital after 13 months of living and working in the city by the Potomac river.

It was a touch difficult to leave; afterall, 13 months in a city, some form of connection or even affection begins to take root and mature.

But as the Air Canada plane soared above the electric green National Mall and its stunning monuments and the behemoth Pentagon over there in Arlington County, Virginia, I waved farewell to the city that had become my home away from home.

To avoid stumbling into any further cliches, I'll leave it at that since I figure most of you reading--yes, the two of you--probably know the feeling.

Back now on Canadian soil, I am not sure what the future holds. As usual. But perhaps when the future seems unclear or blurry, it is best to enjoy and be grateful for the present. And that is what I will, or at least try to, do.

Departures and Starting New

The news is circulating around the office, so I feel it is now proper to share the news with readers of this blog. I notified my employer that I will not be renewing my contract with the institution. After much soul-searching and discussions with family and close friends, I have decided the time is right to take a long break from the archives profession. I will complete my contract and fulfill my contractual obligations, and will certainly miss the people I have been working with over the past 11 months, but will not pursue the archives field at this time.

There are several reasons behind this decision. But there is one central theme: A strong need to close this chapter, of life and of career, and to start another, completely different one, one that truly reflects my skills and knowledge and values.

My interest in and love of history and stories of the past remain as do my curiosity and involvement in web technology and content development and new media. But something new has materialized in an unfortunately still vague manner: A strong desire to learn, explore, chronicle, create, share, teach, and to help. I can honestly say that in my current contractual capacity I cannot achieve this level of authentic satisfaction without changing careers.

The DIGITAL Archive, thankfully, will continue to blog along with news and stories and tid-bits of interests, as it has done before when I moved on from my previous employers.

In the coming weeks, I hope to blog about my adventures in Washington, DC. A kind of retrospective look back at the past 12 months.

It's Friday, It's Funny Friday

So the Annoyed Librarian is up to her/their freaky Friday blog posts. This time around, it is a humorous look at the five things she/they like most about being a librarian. You can read all five here.

For now, my personal favorite:

"Third, it's not busy, busy, busy all the time. If librarians were busy all the time, there wouldn't be so many librarian blogs, now would there? Busy librarians don't have time to blog so much. You can tell those librarians without much to do by the frequency of their blog posts. Show me a librarian who posts every day to two or three blogs, and I'll show you a librarian who's mastered the art of looking busy without working very hard. I'm not making fun; these librarians are to be imitated. Master that art, and your work life will be much improved." [Emphasis mine]

If you have been reading my most recent blog posts regarding the Social Web and Real Work (here and here), I think you would have to agree that this is one heck of a statement. And as the AL writes, imitate these librarians, "and your work life will be much improved."

Merry Christmas, Annoyed Librarian. I hope all three, four or five of you have a nice time off. Cheers!