Another job change....

I've been following threads on several lists regarding job changes and how long one should stay in a bad situation. Well, at 19 months in my current position, my last day was yesterday. It is not something I expected to do when I took the job, though in the end it worked out for the better for me.

I accepted the job with great excitement and anticipation. I was returning to Texas and would be able to buy a house and settle in and grow my career. It didn't work out that way. In fact, I walked into a situation that most people couldn't even imagine. I certainly didn't. I've worked for almost 20 years and in several different industries and in some toxic environments. None of them prepared me for the situation I walked into. I wouldn't term it toxic, but it definitely wasn't in my best interest. I bounced back and forth between sticking it out and making the best of it to stay in an area I enjoy or looking for another job and literally starting over again. Fortunately, I don't have anything to hold me back in the moving department, so that was an option.

Then, I saw the job. I knew it would be a great job for me and as a bonus, would allow me to return to Civil Service. So, I applied. And, got the job! There is always the fear of walking into something worse. I worried about that when I took this job and it proved to be true. Actually, my concern was giving up a relatively enjoyable work environment for something that could prove to be worse. So, this time I'm cautiously optimistic and very much looking forward to starting my new job, in Maryland, at the beginning of September.

My advice to those in "bad" jobs. Take a good hard look at the job. What exactly is bad about it? Does it allow for career growth? Do you like your co-workers? Are you challenged? Are you accpeted? Are you supported in trying new ideas or methods? Is your input valued? Do teams work well? What I learned comapring this job with my past jobs, is that any number of these things can be off and it's still not a bad job; there are worse out there, as I found out. However, if it's detrimental to you personally and emotionally, it's probably time to start looking, regardless of how long you have been there. If there is no chance of growth and you're not ready to retire (I've got more than 25 years before I can retire), then it's time to consider looking for another job.

I knew the first day of this last job, yes the first day, that I'd made a mistake. I didn't heed some of the the warning signs I saw when I interviewed and I paid for it. When you interview, remember to evaluate them as they are evaluating you. Look at how they interact with each other. Watch body language. Ask about projects between departments (especially if interviewing at a large university/organization). Ask if the position is new (mine was and it's not necessarily a good thing. Those duties came from somewhere and most likely, someone). My favorite question: "What do you like about working here." Pay careful attention to how this question is answered. Second favorite: "What don't you like about working here?" I've gotten some really honest answers to this question, which I appreciated.

If they offer the job, how do they offer it? Can they tell you the salary and the benefits? Believe it or not, I was offered a job and the library director couldn't tell me the salary; told me to check the announcement, which was a range, then said it would be the first step, which isn't a range or what was implied in the ad. There didn't seem to be much enthusiasm. It was a job I would have enjoyed, however, given the vagueness of the initial offer and after a lot of consideration, I turned it down. Not an easy thing to do, but easier to do when you have a job, even if you desperately need to get out. If you're going to move for a job, make sure your comfortable with the offer and the organization. Listen to your little voice and don't be afraid to turn down a position. I'll reiterate - you're evaluating them as much as they are evaluating you.

No matter how bad your job is, there are worse ones out there. Carefully evaluate the jobs you interview for and keep in mind that the goal isn't simply to leave a bad job, but to find a good one - one that will make you want to get up in the morning and go to work.

Almost a year in a new job

Rules, Regulations, Laws, Statutes, Codes, Travel Documents, Monthly Statistics, Grants, Purchasing Guidelines, Hiring Processes

Wow... and that's all beyond showing up, doing training, managing a team of six, consulting with libraries, implementing projects, and learning the agency. It has been a whirlwind year. I am hopeful that within the next couple of months we will have hired someone to fill the Library Technology Consultant position. This will allow me to stop doing two jobs and finally settle into the manager role.

I have experienced times when I felt completely clueless and inept. Recently, I have actually had moments when I catch myself talking to someone and realize I sound like I know what I'm doing. It has been quite encouraging. I know I still have a long way to go to be the employee that I want to be, the program director that my boss would like me to be and to be the manager that the team needs me to be.

Someone told me many years ago that when you make a move, whether it's job or location, it takes a good year to get to a point where you feel like you have a clue what you're doing. My revision is that it takes a year to clue and longer to feel comfortable.

Me, an expert??

Well, this past month I had the opportunity to be interviewed by a graduate student. She was taking an instructional technology class and had to interview a consultant. Her field of interest is libraries. So when she googled, she found me.

I found the experience refreshing and revitalizing. I was able to share the experiences I've had in the past being an independent consultant AND what it is like to be attached to an organization. I certainly hope that she not only does well on her assignment but that something I said was helpful.


A link to her project

Tools for moving...

As a fairly recent MLS graduate and having also moved for both of my professional positions, I'm not only familiar with the job search, but also with gathering information on potential cities. I don't like to apply for positions unless I'm fairly certain it's a place I'm willing to relocate to. Thanks to a blog I frequently read, I've discovered a new resource to help with moving, neighboroo. It's a very cool site, providing information on housing, demographics, cost of living, schools, safety, health, climate and a couple of other statistics in a map format. And, you can get the information down to the zip code level. I checked out my current zip (having just moved here) and found the information interesting. So, check it out if you get a chance.

A couple of other sites that I like are: epodunk.com for city information, Find Your Spot, provides really nice city profiles and recommended cities based on a profile you complete, and the Move Salary Calculator, for finding out just how far your salary will go in potential future city.

Do you know your Mission?

As mentioned previously, I started a new position in January. This week I had my new job "orientation." Naturally, I did the univeristy's orientation shortly after I started. My current library also has a new employee orientation. Sounds hokey and in a way, it is. On the other hand, it was good. Basically, it's spread over 2 days for about 2 1/2 hours each day. The first day, the Dean and Assc Director meet with us and give basic information. We also hear from the Staff Assocation (this library has about 120 employees) and visit the other libraries (Science & Engineering and Architecture & Fine Arts). Day two involves visits to and overviews from each of the different library departments. I had a lot to do, so was I bit stressed about losing a couple hours for a tour of my workplace (especially since on day two when I lost my whole morning just trying to get onto our network due to issues related to the latest storm). However, it was a good thing. I know what departments there are, but it completes the picture to hear from them what they do.

One of the most interesting aspects for me though was on the first day, when the Dean of the Library went over the Library's Mission Statement. I'm pretty sure I saw the Mission Statement for the library I worked at previously, but I can't tell you anything about it. The one here is one sentence. Short and to the point followed by statements for supporting the mission. One of the ways they support the mission is to "hire and develop knowledgable staff." This spoke to me. I'm sure other mission statements do this, but it was cool to see staff development as a way to support the mission. It seems basic, but I think a lot of places tend to overlook this. You can offer everything under the sun, but if the staff can't support it or isn't knowledgable about it, what good is it?

The Mission Statement naturally led to the Values Statement. Again, one item stood out. "Respect - an understanding and appreciation of the individual skills, abilities, opinions, and diversity of our users and staff." Too often, respect is no where to be found. I once had someone say to me "she'll just have to do it the new way" in regards to someone I supervised and our transition to a new system. My theory about this was whatever works for her. I can't ignore a new system and must use what the university uses (so must she), however, if adapting includes something someone else might not do or might seem odd to someone else, who am I to say she shouldn't as long as the job gets done (and she did it very well). It might not be the way I would do it, but then I'm not the one doing the job. My dad once told me I was washing the dishes wrong. I can't see how one can do that wrong as long as they come out clean, but the big lesson I learned from that was everyone does things differently and no method or way is wrong as long as it accomplishes the job. So, to see "Respect" in a Value Statement really jumped out at me. I've not been here long enough to say "yes, they practice this," but I haven't seen anything that says they don't either.

A brand new world...

It's been a little while since my last post. Mostly this is because this April finds me in a new job. Having had a number of personal changes in my life, I sought a new start. Many things helped me to find my current position - and thus the topic of this entry.

Networking, networking, networking!
I put the word out to every possible librarian that I knew that I was looking for a new opportunity. I attended trainings, conferences, workshops, and got involved. The key thing to this I see is not stopping those activities now that I'm settled. In order to retain one's network it is mandatory that it be a way of life, not just something you use when you need something.

Mentors
I had developed some mentors along my path. People that although they may be sad to see me move on were still encouraging me every step of the way. My two cents on finding one is to see who's in your environment, your sphere of influence that you respect and admire. Do not be held back by thinking they may be too busy or too important to spend time with you. What I found was that these were exactly the people MOST willing to be a mentor.

Job Buddy
I had a couple of friends/colleagues that I was able to continually talk with about the job hunt. They were the people that encouraged me when potential employers were taking forever to respond. They were the ones that helped remind me WHY it was I was going through this job change. Finally, they were the ones that helped me evaluate not only my own resume, but also the job postings that sounded most interesting.

I wish you luck on your next job hunt! Feel free to contact me if you need that extra boost to get started or keep going!

New job learning curves....

As mentioned in an earlier post, in January I moved to accept a new job. The new job is in the state I lived in prior to accepting my first full-time librarian position, so the area is familiar and comfy. As in a previous career, job changes are kind of wonky. You know how to do the job, but you have to learn the "way" your new organization does it. And, in my case, it's hard not to compare the two. I'm learning to take on functions in different ways and to let go of things I did in my previous job (and enjoyed) while acknowledging that it is somebody else's job here. A key difference for me is the new position is in a much larger library. So, more departments and more distinction between groups and the role they play in the overall scheme of the everyday running of the library.

One of the biggest differences is in the collection development aspect itself. Here the librarians do the selection. Faculty requests are almost always purchased, but the main selecting of materials is done by the librarians - both by "manual" selections and with approval plans. Some will nod their heads and say "yeah, isn't that how it's done?" In my previous position, the majority of the materials budget was given to the departments, thus the majority of the collection development was done by the faculty. We weren't alone in this approach. Some say they are in a better position to choose. Recieve a couple of list from Amazon's Listmania and you'll start to wonder about that. Another downside is some faculty will select based on their research interests and not necessarily to support the courses being taught. I had come to the conclusion that, at a minimum, a combination of the two approaches should be used. So, I'm looking forward to doing the process from the other side.