Campaigning for a Library Job: Maximizing Professional Development Opportunities to Differentiate Yourself From Other Applicants

In tough economic times it can be daunting to even get interviews, much less land a job. The library field has been heavily impacted by budget cuts and the stagnated economy. How can new librarians navigate the limited opportunities and still differentiate themselves from the hundreds of applications many HR departments are receiving for one position? Within this presentation, the co-presenters will talk about their ???campaigns??? to find full-time professional librarian positions in two different types of institutions and how they augmented their resumes with professional development activities such as association and committee involvement, publications and speaking engagements to differentiate themselves from other applicants. The presentation will also address the importance of professional development involvement to the future of the profession. Suzanna Conrad was recently hired as Digital Initiatives Librarian at California State Polytechnic University, Pomona (Cal Poly Pomona). After graduating from University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign in December 2011 with her MLIS, she worked in temporary positions as Associate Librarian, Document Management at Sierra Madre Public Library and as a Taxonomy and Search Specialist at Guitar Center Corporate. She has completed internships with the Data Curation Profiles Toolkit team at Purdue University, with Technical Services at Monterey Park Bruggemeyer Library and with the Digital Reference team at Library of Congress. Prior to attending library school, she worked in product management and business development for telecommunications and new media companies in the U.S. and abroad including RTL interactive, GlobalStep and Mobile-XL among others. Suzanna is the current chair of the Information Technology Interest Group for the California Library Association. Amanda Bjorling is the new District Media Specialist at Deer Creek Mackinaw School District in Mackinaw, IL. For the past three years she served as the District Media Specialist of the Pana School District in Pana, IL . During her time in Pana, she served on the District Technology Committee, District Technology Policy Sub-Committee, and various school improvement committees. Through Illinois School Library Media Association she completed a two year cycle on the Scholarships and Grants committee. This coming year she is chair of the Programming Committee for the 2013 ISLMA Conference and a member of the Monarch Award committee. Amanda graduated from the GSLIS program at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign in May 2011