Balancing summer @ libraryreturners.com
Unfinished business
Recently I have researched subjects, organised information and prepared arguments for several blog posts.
But after reaching a certain point in the development process, I give up before I complete them – they’ve become too big, too unwieldy, they resemble a university course assignment rather than an article for a blog. Instead I save them, file them away for another day until life seems less busy, work seems less arduous.
The hectic run up to the holidays
I think this has something to do with the time of year. Although I work in a public library my day-to-day domestic life is very much tied up with the rhythm of the academic year and the 2018-2019 school year is just about to end.
Like the build up to the Christmas holiday season, I find the last two weeks before the summer break increasingly hectic. This doesn’t appear to be getting any easier as either parents or children get older. Which is why I welcome the holidays and the prospect of a break from the inflexibility and rigidity of the school routine, even if it means there will be a little bit of childcare juggling.
Life on hold
Summer holidays do, of course, provide the opportunity to spend time with family.
But if previous summers are anything to go by, almost everything else is put on hold. Such as
- Finding a job
- Working on qualifications
- Training
- Developing skills
- Professional registration
- Networking
- Reading – though there is no excuse to take a little light reading on holiday I suppose! Slip a copy of Information Professional in the bag or access it online?!
Take ONE action
This year, I’m accepting the distraction of home and family. I’m armed with advice from a recent blog post from career coach and counsellor, Sherry Bevan, and I’m looking to take action on ONE thing. So what will I be doing between now and September?
Photo by Bram Naus on Unsplash
Review my CV
Well, if I have a moment to myself I’m going to review my CV. I’ve already started this process as part of building the portfolio for chartership and this seems like a good distinct activity that can be realistically completed over the summer and which is not dependent upon anybody else and their precious time.
Reflect back
I’m also going to take a moment to reflect back upon what has been achieved with library returners. The blog has grown consistently, been read widely and I’ve been amazed at the number of people visiting from such a range of countries. Having formerly worked with university students I’ve really enjoyed the contact with people from all over the world who have been willing to discuss their career break stories with me.
- libraryreturners.com – Articles on job searching, the lack of professional part-time opportunities and how to restart your career after a break have performed particularly well over the last nine months. Items on webinars and LinkedIn have worked effectively with the library returners readership too. The ‘Rejection hurts’ piece written by guest blogger, was recognised by Artefacto and made it onto the Newslet for Libraries issue 122.
- Facebook – There is a Facebook page that is growing steadily. Much of the social media presence has been on Twitter so this is a new development.
- Your voices – There have been guest bloggers and a new project set up. Going forward I’m really interested in hearing more library career break stories being shared openly on the libraryreturners blog. If interested, please send an email to libraryreturners@gmail.com
Oh heck, isn’t that TWO things. It’s unravelling already! So how do you find the run-up to the school holidays? Is it a very busy time for you as well?
That’s it for now from me. Until next time!
Further reading
Bevan, Sherry. “How to Use your Holiday to Change your Career.” 9th July 2019. http://theconfidentmother.co.uk/how-to-use-your-holiday-to-change-your-career/
Ten2Two. “Have you Planned your Summer Childcare?” June 2018 https://www.ten2two.org/how-to-plan-summer-childcare-work/
3 thoughts on “Balancing summer @ libraryreturners.com”
Even without children I have always had ‘grand plans’ for the summer at work. But the quieter summer months were as mythical as the quieter Christmas period, and, suffered from my perennial combined problems of trying to do too much and not being realistic about time.Plus procrastinating. So I liked your approach of just focusing on one thing over the summer. The six weeks holiday will fly by anyway, so it seems more manageable to have one project on focus on – do you have a specific goal in mind for your CV? I did start to wonder where the one goal was then merging into a list of other things you could do…! I’m pleased it all seems to be going well.
Hello Alyson,
Many thanks for taking time to leave comments on the blog.I really appreciate it.
For the summer I’m specifically looking to compile my full CV for my portfolio. Like any other CV it allows you to demonstrate your skills and experience. However it’s seen as slightly different from the one you might use for a job as it’s not restricted in size and can be annotated. The majority of the portfolio will be based on the current job I do and only the past few years in which I have done it. So for me this is the rare chance to show my pre-career break work experience.
I’ve been refreshing my knowledge about CV writing since returning and I’ve made use of the free webinars offered by CILIP. I’ve even made use of a free CV checking service. What has been interesting is that after reading the books and the websites there are some key differences in the information given, for example, one highlighted the use of tables to make information appear clear while for another, this is a big no-no as anything in tables will not get picked up by ATS software (Applicant Tracking System – a way of scanning the CV and matching it against the job description).
As a career break applicant, if I was doing a CV for a job I would tailor a skills-based CV. Most of my job searching requires application forms but I find working on the CV helps me get my individual career story sorted during the application process.
Any tips and advice on writing application forms most welcome though as I do get asked that a lot!
Thanks again!
Hi Susan, ah, we are similar! I have a ‘Full CV’ too, one that has EVERYTHING in it that I can think of. I even included all my primary school sports day certificates… I had to bring it up to date last autumn after my big career change, and from there, made a short but fairly generic new CV that could be adapted as the need arose. I would agree that tailoring a skills-based CV would be suitable for most jobs and keeps you focused. I’m happy to look at any application forms for you, but not sure if I have many tips as I haven’t done a lot of writing applications TBH! Main tip is to keep it very focused and have an example for each point, and to check, check and check again that you have specifically answered each question/point. Good luck with the updating!