After being at home for so long – what next?

In this post, I talk about some of the practical activities you can do to get started in library work after being at home a long time. It is in response to private messages from librarians who have qualified but have not acquired much experience due to caring responsibilities.

As this can be such a difficult area to navigate, further suggestions from readers are gratefully received. 

1- Get some recent experience

I really appreciate that this is a lot easier said than done. It seems almost impossible to get a job with little or no library experience. You will have to consider a wide range of employment options and draw upon every resource you can think on, national and local. Information professional jobs website and recruitment agencies, e.g. CB Resourcing, Sue Hill Recruitment, TFPL. 

For example, if you had to have library experience as a prerequisite for library school is there someone you know who still works there that you could approach for advice? What about the people that were on your library course? Are you in touch with them now? Peers from your course could be good sources of advice and know of job opportunities. Did your library department offer internships or other employment opportunities? (We will continue to discuss experience below.)

2- Build up your professional network

You definitely need to build up your network so that you start to hear about job opportunities locally. The range and frequency of what you will see advertised will depend on where you are based in the country. It can feel like you live in the wrong part of the country sometimes with interesting posts being advertised 300 miles away while it feels like nothing has been advertised in your region for a year. (Many public library authorities, for example, are placing a freeze upon recruitment this year. Some are entering their successive year in this state.)

If you can afford to, you might be able to find a local library that accepts volunteers. For a specific number of hours to suit you and the library, you might be able to build some experience. It can be a tricky area because the use of volunteers in public libraries is controversial for many librarians (hopefully their presence has not compromised service provision or replaced paid employment in any way). Volunteering, while unpaid, may tick both ‘experience’ and ‘build up your professional network’ boxes as you could potential expand both as you assist.

Increase your search to include a wider geographical area if you can, don’t limit it to one library sector and consider using your LIS skills outside a traditional LIS workplace. (A part-time customer service role elsewhere might help you get a frontline library position, for example.) You should also consider applying for part-time, flexible or paraprofessional roles. While it is a commonly held belief that people with library degrees should not apply for positions that don’t require them, personally I’ve found that job seekers in a similar position (qualified mums with a gap in their experience or a lack of recent experience) are likely to be recruited at the lower end of the scale, i.e. more like new entrants to the profession, in terms of status and pay. The qualification still holds value, but yes, it can feel that experience holds more. However, don’t write off your transferable skills. The experience you’ve gained caring and working in other roles can be taken into account.

If you are a member of CILIP consider attending events locally and nationally, and using the Members area of the website (Social Link) to utilise training and help cut down on prohibitive travel costs.

 

3 – Get yourself a fresh CV

and

4 – Join LinkedIn

Here is a blog post on the site showing how I’ve come to use LinkedIn – LinkedIn for Library Returners. Although LinkedIn has been available for some time and I have connected with it at different phases of my career, I have only recently realised how the service might really work for me (and I think I have only found out now how I should be using it to develop a professional online identity and achieve value). This came about in developing my CV for my Chartership portfolio and approaching the LinkedIn service and the CV document as all part of the same career story.

From the professional reading I have done to date and the training I have taken my personal preferred pattern for a career break CV is as follows:

Name
Mobile Number	Home Number
Professional Summary
Key Skills
Career Highlights
Career History
Education
Membership of Professional Bodies
Professional Training
Personal Details
References / Recommendations

 

Name and phone numbers aside, my CV is organised into nine sections. It addresses the career break within but places importance on key skills and career highlights as an information professional.

Disclaimer: this is only detailing a personal preference and I’m afraid does not guarantee a job at the end of it all!

Further help with creating CVs for women returners however can be sought from webinars. These are a useful tool for us career returners and you only need a computer, a set of headphones, a comfortable chair and the length of time it takes to work through the presentation.

An upcoming webinar that may be worth your time is being offered by City CV & Women Returners Professional Network:

“How to create a winning CV” 

 

5 – Reconnect professionally

You might’ve switched off from the profession in order to concentrate on what has been happening at home. I found I was happy to continue some things but let other professional commitments lapse. I reconnected with Twitter after having my third child and found it a great platform for updating me on what was going on in the library world in a manner I could control. At the start I was happy to lurk in the background and as my confidence grew I began to make the odd comment. I established at my own pace which people were interesting or influential.

Social media is great and overcomes so many barriers for library returners who may face challenges in terms of childcare to attend events on a regular basis. But sometimes nothing can beat face-to-face. If you can overcome the (travel & course) cost barrier – which again can be a major issue for returners who may be on no or low incomes – you may be able to attend the CILIP career day in March (27^th, 2019).

To sum, stay positive! Working at the five action points above will be exhausting at times. (I know, I’ve been there.)

Be confident and you’ll get there!