What I Wish I’d Known in Graduate School, by Kate Kosturski

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I went to graduate school part time, while working full time (at least for the first two years of school) at a law firm. This meant I took an extra year to complete my degree (three years instead of the normal two) but it had its benefits. I was able to avoid graduating in the worst of the economic downturn; to get some very practical experience in the law firm’s library when our librarian went on maternity leave; and to study at a pace which was comfortable for me.

There were also, unsurprisingly, downsides. Because I worked full time, I was limited to classes on evenings and weekends. Several of the great classes and great instructors held their courses in the afternoon, and I missed out on courses in areas of personal interest, like information architecture, research methods, and user experience.  One of the worst things was that going to school this way made my days very long. On class days, I was leaving my house at 7 AM and not getting home until 11 PM. (Did I mention I was living and working in New Jersey and my library school was in New York City? It took me roughly an hour to get to and from school. On a bus.) Most of my then-friends were well-established in full time jobs, and never really understood why I went back to school, why I could not go out on the weekends because I had to write a paper.

In 2009, shortly after the New Year, my law firm announced they were moving out of their urban home in Newark, NJ to western New Jersey that fall. Later that afternoon, administration called me in to their office and told me that they really didn’t see this move working out for me - in short, a 9 month layoff notice. For the first time since college, I would be working part time or not working at all.

By the time the move took place midway through my final year of school, I was able to secure a part time job that was 10 minutes from home, and I took my first ever afternoon (3:30 PM) graduate class. For the first time in three years, I was getting home at a reasonable hour two days a week. With money I saved from working full time, I wasn’t held to a 40 hour work week. If I needed to take a day off to write a paper, I could with little financial impact. For other reasons unrelated to school, those friends that gave me grief about going back to school weren’t around either (and still aren’t).  No more cramming in work on weekends, lunch hours, and during the work day when I needed to look busy. No more worrying about money. No more feeling like a bad friend for missing a party for homework.  I could devote myself even more than before to an education that would be my future, and simultaneously regain my life.

So, the one thing wish I had known in graduate school? That it was okay - financially, mentally, emotionally - to go back to school full time. I wish I had done it sooner.  

Kate Kosturski is JSTOR’s Institutional Participation Coordinator for the UK and Northern Europe, where, in her words, “I tell people in Europe how awesome JSTOR is and then hopefully they buy some.”  A 2011 ALA Emerging Leader, Kate received her MLS from Pratt Institute in 2010 and is the co-founder of ALA CraftCon, a relaxing crafting hour at the Midwinter and Annual Meetings. In her spare time, she enjoys crafts, reading (duh), cooking, baseball, running, photography, politics, and technology.  View her blog at blog.katekosturski.info and follow her on Twitter @librarian_kate. 

Bricker-Bracker, Firecracker; Or, Being Your Own Cheerleader

I like Bugs Bunny a lot, and truly, I wish I were more like him. Besides having a great sense of humor about himself, BB has many other admirable qualities. Here are few:

1. Bugs doesn't start fights, but he will finish them.
2. No matter how lost he gets, Bugs always manages to make the best of any situation.
3. And, as we can see above, he's quite adept at being his own cheerleader. Heck, he's even good at getting others to join in.

It's the third item in the list that I want to address today. It took me some time to develop that skill, but being able to sing my own praises is something I already have in common with B-squared. However, I know a lot of people in general, and in libraries in particular, who don't always feel comfortable singing their own praises. Now, I'm assuming that you already know why it's important to talk yourself up. I can list at least ten reasons off the top of my head if you want, but I think "how" is more important than "why" at the moment. So, let's move onto a few simple techniques I've used in the past that might work for you:

If you're not comfortable in the spotlight, think about sharing it: "I got this idea from Ms. A. Awesome and tweaked it and the result was really successful" or "Really, it was a team-effort, but it worked for us." You're still saying good things about yourself, but you're also saying good things about others.

Own up to the mistakes you made as you talk: "Well, it didn't work at first. But then we [specific tweak] and that seemed to do the trick." Admitting to being human in the middle of discussing your success might dim the spotlight a bit, but it's still shining light.

If nothing else, stop using so much conditional language: "It definitely worked better without [specific tweak] in the way." This isn't about singing your own praises as much as it's about tamping down the self-doubt, but it's a step in the right direction.

So there are a few techniques, but I'm wondering about what else we could be doing. How do you talk yourself up? Or do you just not do it? Is there something specific holding you back? If you have a hard time with this, I recommend working on it. Even if you only ever do this in a job interview, you have to be able to say nice things about yourself.

On Authenticity, by Andrew Colgoni

Here’s the thing: inauthenticity stinks. I mean that quite literally. People can smell it when you act like someone other than yourself (excepting the best sociopaths, of course). There was a reason that your mom always told you to “just be yourself”. It wasn’t because acting is hard, it’s because everybody has a finely tuned radar for fakers (fadar?). In fact, I’ll bet that when you are inauthentic, you can smell it on yourself, too. It’s like that time you stepped in dog poop, and then were sitting at the park bench wondering “what’s that smell?” Happily, you could wipe your shoes furiously on the grass before you had to walk on carpet.

Ok, so why am I spending so much metaphorical language on inauthenticity? I want to relate this to teaching. Some of the finest tuned fadar there is exists in students. Those clever kids just know when you are trying to be hip with the youth. Remember back in the 90’s when everyone tried to blend hip-hop with anything else to give it a veneer of cool, but it just seemed off? That’s how you look when you go up in front of a class and try to be something other than yourself. Now, I’m not advocating that you shouldn’t be a little more enthusiastic than normal, that’s ok. But you shouldn’t be so over-enthusiastic that it makes people question your sanity, especially if you’re normally subdued.

The same goes for using youth ‘props’. We seem to think that we need to connect with the youth by ‘speaking in their language’ (a topic I could rant about at length). So, we think, “Great! I’ll look up what the youth are into, and co-opt that!” We show up to class with a bag of internet memes and rage comics and use that to illustrate our points. But here’s the thing: if you don’t usually make memes, it shows. The students know it, you know it, and everyone’s a little weirded out.

The lesson here isn’t simply don’t use memes, or don’t get rowdy. Rather, if you are actually into memes or are naturally freaky, then go for it**. If you like horrible puns (the man who fell into an upholstery machine is now fully recovered*) roll with that. Big into sci-fi? Then reference that, fellow browncoat. What happens when you do this (what we call “being yourself”) is that your actual excitement and passion will show through, and you will bring your students along with you. And, hey, isn’t bringing students along with you what teaching is all about?

So, before you go into that classroom, wipe your shoes furiously on the grass.

Andrew Colgoni is the Science Fluencies Librarian at Thode Library at McMaster University. He tweets @colgoni.

*Borrowed shamelessly from @omgthatspunny.

**One exception: if you are really into clip art, and I’ve seen lots of librarians that are, don’t go for it. Try a different passion.

Two Years of Letters to a Young Librarian

Can you believe it? LtaYL is two years old! Two years old and going strong - I still have plenty to say, and plenty of you listening. To celebrate this anniversary, and to thank you for continuing to read, I'm going to have another contest. Just like last year, it's about...

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You will win a donation in your name to a book- or library-based charity/entity of your choosing. The amount will vary depending on whether you want me to make a cash donation or buy an actual book (there will be an upper limit - I am a librarian, after all, not a bazillionaire). The beneficiary can be the library where you work, your MLIS alma mater, First Book, etc.

To enter, you must, before midnight on June 17, 2013 (EDT), leave a comment on this post in which you:

1. ...give me feedback about the blog. What's your favorite thing about LtaYL? Your least favorite? Is there someone who you really want me to get for a guest post? A topic you haven't seen me cover yet? A topic that has been covered, but for which you'd like an update? So long as it's constructive feedback, it counts.
2. ...let me know how to get in touch with you. I'd prefer an email address, but a Twitter handle or a Google+ link will work as well if you don't want to advertise your email address publicly.

The rest of the rules are simple:

• One entry per person.
• The winner will be selected, as randomly as I can manage, from all entries.
• I reserve the right to tweak the rules as necessary.

Once I've picked the winner, I will contact him/her for details of the charity. After that, I'll announce the winner.

Now it's your turn. How can I improve this blog? What should I never change?

I'd write this blog, no matter what, but it's so much nicer knowing that there are people actually reading it.

First Thursday's Just For Fun: We're Going to the Zoo Zoo Zoo How About You

Hi. My name is Jessica Olin, and I'm a zoo-aholic. I love zoos so much that I can (and regularly do) visit them alone. I've only lived in this area since the end of January, but I've already been to two different zoos. And before you start talking about how sad it is to see animals in cages, I agree. I especially have a hard time  watching cheetahs pace back and forth. However, zoos really are helping preserve and bring back endangered species, so I still see them as a good thing.

Here are some of my favorite pictures I've taken at zoos.

I love it when they pose so prettily for me. This giant otter is at the Philadelphia Zoo.

Andean condors look like society matrons to me, with their ruffed collars. This fellow lives at the Brandywine Zoo in Wilmington, Delaware.

This koala looked very Yoda to me. She lives at the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo.

Okay, so this is another from the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo, but s/he posed so prettily I couldn't not share this bald eagle.

How about you all? Any other zoo lovers out there? What's your favorite animal to visit? And what's your favorite zoo?

Leading Change as a Library Administrator

Being part of the Frye Leadership Institute (now Leading Change Institute) was one of the best opportunities of my career so far, and it keeps reverberating. The most recent impact is the article I just wrote for EDUCAUSE Review Online: "Leading Change as a Library Administrator."

Recruitment-From the Other Side of the Table, by Kathy Bradshaw

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Recently, I attended ACRL in Indianapolis and I volunteered to do resume reviews. While I was waiting for resumes to review, I noticed there were several books about resume writing, cover letter writing, career preparation, etc. If you go to Amazon.com, there are literally pages and pages of books advising people on the “correct” way to apply for a job. There are countless websites devoted to this topic, as well. So, with all this help available, I wonder then why so many applicants don’t seem to heed any of this advice.

In my position, I serve on all librarian search committees and coordinate the hiring for non-librarian employees. From all this experience, I can tell you that search committees and hiring managers want to get a large pool of qualified applicants. People who are responsible for evaluating job applicants want to have a difficult time selecting candidates to be chosen for telephone interviews and in-person interviews. This usually does not happen. I’d like to change this, so here are some suggestions to increase your chances of getting an interview (which is the first step to getting hired). Although I work in an academic library, many of these tips are applicable to all types of libraries.

1. In your cover letter, please state the title of the position for which you are applying; don’t make us guess. Often times we have several positions open, so sending us a cover letter and resume will not help your chances for being selected without telling us the specific position you want.
2. Follow the instructions in the posting for submitting your materials. If the ad says to include contact information for three professional references, don’t go overboard and submit letters of recommendation. If the posting says submit your documents in PDF format, then that is what you should do. And so on.
3. Make sure that your cover letter and all its references are for the position at my institution. You might be surprised at the number of applications I receive that are addressed to a different institution or have been used for a previous job application. Since most open positions receive anywhere from tens to hundreds of application, not taking the time to proofread to ensure your cover letter is actually for the job that was advertised at my institution is a good way to get your application materials to be put in the “Not Considered for an Interview” pile.
4. In addition to making sure your cover letter is addressed to the correct institution, proofread your application documents. Better yet, have someone else proofread your materials for you. Job hunting is time consuming, so it is very easy to overlook small mistakes such as typos. Those are the things that will get you (fair or not) branded as careless and reduce your chances of being seriously considered for the position.
5. Your cover letter should also specifically address the qualifications that are listed in the posting. Descriptions of your terrific work ethic, long sentences that promote that you learn quickly, are a self-starter, and had a 4.0 grade point average in your MLS program, will not help your chances of getting an interview if you have not addressed the required qualifications of the position posting and described how can perform the duties outlined.
6. If you have been selected for an interview (which, in most libraries, will likely be conducted by telephone) in order to increase your chances of being invited to a second round, make sure to prepare. A recent LIS grad I know got hired for an academic librarian position after interviews at several institutions. After the first couple of interviews, she noticed that the questions were very similar at each institution. So she kept refining her answers to the questions and eventually received an offer. The questions in the interview will (or should be) based on the type of position available.  For example, for a position in archives interviewers will often ask about familiarity with a specific format, such as photographs or paper and/or ask about trending topics within archives. Candidates should also be prepared to answer questions about the ability to successfully work in a team; the ability to successfully juggle multiple priorities; knowledge of technology and customer service skills. Applicants who don’t answer those questions well don’t get invited for in-person interviews.
7. Search committees and hiring managers want to speak with candidates that have researched our library. In your cover letter, and especially in your interviews, let the interviewers know that you have done your homework. Our search committee once interviewed a candidate by phone that looked like they met all our qualifications based on her CV and cover letter. When we spoke with her on the phone, she did not really know where we were located (she lived in a different state and would have had to relocate to take the position) other than the general region of the country. Based on her answers over the phone, she knew nothing about our library, let alone our institution. It is perhaps needless to say that she didn’t move forward to the next round of interviews.
8. In all interviews (especially in a telephone interview, where people can’t see you) express enthusiasm for the position. While enthusiasm does not translate to competence, hiring committees are usually looking for candidates that seem to want to work with us.
9. Interviewers want candidates to ask us questions. When I am interviewing a candidate, I always make a note of the questions the candidate has for us. Good questions tell me that the candidate has done some research and wants to learn more information about the position and to determine if the job is a good fit for him or her. I can’t post everything about the job or the library or the institution in a job posting. Remember, as candidates you are interviewing the interviewers.
10. Not all questions are appropriate, however. It’s not a good idea to ask about salary, benefits, or relocation during an initial interview. During the initial interview process, hiring committees are often interviewing numerous candidates. Candidates who demand a specific salary up front (or ask immediately what the position pays) or tell us that you need relocation expenses probably won’t progress further in the hiring process.
11. While many candidates (and interviewers) will use social media to research the library and the people who work there, be careful about sounding like a stalker. Mentioning the award the library has won that was mentioned on the library’s Facebook page is fine; this may be an opening to ask a question. However, attempting to “friend” a search committee member on Facebook or connect on Linked In is not a good idea.
12. Speaking of social media, clean up your web profile. Lock down your privacy settings, and delete pictures or references that may tag you as unsuitable for the position. Drinking over age 21 is legal; however, pictures of you drinking in public places repeatedly may harm your chances of being hired for a position such as a school media specialist. You are not breaking the law, but the hiring committee may see you in a negative light. Is that fair? No. No one will come out and say that you were not hired because of your Facebook wall, but it can happen. 

I know what you might be thinking, but no, I did not exaggerate in my examples.  Most of the applications I receive contain generic cover letters and resumes/CVs that are not tailored to the specific position. It is then hard to assess how that applicant is suitable for the position and if hired, can make a contribution to the library.  That being said, only one person can be hired for each opening. Often when a person sees a position posting, they may feel they are the perfect candidate. Maybe they are, but the applicant is operating from one perspective: that of the candidate. Candidates have no idea who else applied for the position and the qualifications of the other candidates. Even if an applicant meets all the qualifications advertised, the hiring committee may still select someone else for any number of reasons. However, those applicants that take the time to submit customized materials for positions for which they are suitable (I’m a librarian, but I have no experience in cataloging, so applying for a cataloging position would be a waste of time for me) should eventually get an interview and eventually receive an offer. In other words, it’s worth your time to put in the effort.

Kathy Bradshaw is the Human Resources Librarian at the University of North Carolina – Greensboro. She can be reached at akbradsh@uncg.edu.