This week's first task was to update my LinkedIn profile. At first I thought that this would only take me a few minutes as I already had a profile with various areas filled in. However, after looking at the tips provided by the Rudai23 blog as to what a good professional profile should look like, I realised that I had a lot of work to do.
I tried to fit in as much as my experience as possible but felt as though I still had a lot more to say. I suppose the character limits are there in order to prevent waffle, but I still found it limiting. Nevertheless, adding skills to the profile can also showcase capabilities.
I can see how LinkedIn is important in terms of making connections, building a personal brand and creating an online presence. I think it definitely resonates in terms of potential career opportunities.
Rudai 23
Wednesday, 15 July 2015
Monday, 13 July 2015
A Librarian: the Beginnings!
I remember going to the local library as a
child. My mother used to bring my
younger sisters and I to it on a weekday evening maybe once a month, and we
would return and take out books. It
seemed like a great novelty at the time.
My love for browsing began there!
In some primary school classes also, we had small collections of books that
would be referred to as a “library”, and we could take out books and return
them as we pleased. In the latter part
of my teens then, I spent two summers working in the same local library that I
used to go to as a child. However, it
wasn’t until two years after I had completed my undergrad that I began to
seriously consider working in a library as a career.
I guess the factor that influenced my decision to
embark on this career was the fact that I had worked in a library before and found
it to be an enjoyable experience. I found
great pleasure in flicking through books and finding out interesting titbits of
information that I hadn’t come across before.
I had had my share of work experiences that weren’t altogether that
enjoyable and knew that if I was going to spend 40-odd years of my life doing
something, I had better get some sense of satisfaction from it! What appealed to me the most during those two
summers of work experience in my local branch library was that the library
itself was very much a community hub.
Events, exhibitions, and public readings were regularly held there. That, and the library team’s main aim was to
always help the patrons in any way possible, whether it was searching for or
recommending a book, or spending time aiding some of the older patrons with
computers and the internet. The library
also had a small archives section which interested me to no end! I still have a fascination for items that come
from a different time!
After completing an undergraduate degree in
Arts (English and History), I took a break from study for a number of years. I figured it would be a good idea to get out
into the workplace, save some money, and spend some time thinking about what
kind of career I would like to embark on.
I definitely had a good idea of what I didn’t want to be, but when it
came to what I wanted to be, things were much hazier. One week I would consider zoology, the next psychology. At different points over those in-between
years I had considered many things from journalism to teaching, and loads in
between! I finally realised that I had
an interest in knowledge in general, and becoming a librarian seemed to fit
with this. So in early 2013 I applied to
UCD for the Master’s Degree in Library and Information Studies and began the
course the following September.
The course was very work-intensive
and difficult at times, but it was enjoyable.
I had been so long out of college that I had almost forgotten how much I
enjoyed learning new things, and finding new perspectives. Upon finishing the course I admittedly wasn’t
prepared for the difficulties I would face in securing work in my chosen
field. I had begun to lose hope on
securing anything in Ireland and started making plans to move to London in
order to find experience. About a
fortnight before I was due to leave I got an interview for a 5 month contract
in the University of Limerick, and was delighted when I was informed that I had
secured the job. I am now more than half
way through my term in UL, and I am hopeful that I will secure employment in
Ireland again. Nevertheless, London
still remains and option “just in case”.
Although I am still only very much at the beginning of my career, one thing I am certain of (and my experiences so far in the Glucksman
Library in UL has compounded this for me) is that I am in
the right career!
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