Your Professional Brand - Thing 3

Thing 3 is all about the professional brand. Not something I have given a lot of thought to but a worthy question.

Do I really need a brand? I'm not convinced I do. I already had a Linked In profile, albeit an incomplete one but I don't think I have suffered professionally because of it or the lack of a more complete profile. 

Anyway, in the honour of Rudai23 and Thing 3, I brushed off the Linked In profile (once I had remembered the username and password) and set about updating it. 

• Create a linked in profile - complete
• Develop your professional brand, including a photo and information - complete
• Join Rudai23 group and introduce yourself - I have sent a request so hopefully it'll be accepted.
• Write a blog post about your experience - in the middle of it.

I will of course write a supplementary post about what I thought about the whole activity and how I found Linked In as a platform or tool, but my initial thoughts are here:

I adopted an incognito approach to searching for me on Google Chrome. Slightly scary that this is possible but a useful tool.  Of all the social media tools I use, the only one that was even slightly visible was my profile on twitter. I had no Google+ information appearing, the Facebook profile was locked down and the Linked In profile wasn't even me.  Who'd have thought that there was more than 1 person with my name? All of this is fine. I'm quite a private person so I'm pleased that Google+ wasn't there and Facebook was locked down. One of the common factors I realised was that none of the tools had a photograph of me - some didn't have anything while others had an avatar. This is something I mentioned in a previous post and still need to rectify. I also might need to lighten up slightly on the privacy thing; maybe slightly but not completely.

Once the Linked In profile was dusted off, I searched for a photo. I know that there is a better more professional photo of me in my workplace, but I didn't have access to it at the time. This can easily be rectified at a later stage. I filled in my experience and education, sorted out my URL and added other bits and pieces to the profile. Linked In can easily lead you through all the steps; however I found the whole experience complete torture. I found the tool quite un-userfriendly and struggled to fill in sections. In fact I had to pull out old job applications to get dates and job information correct. I'm still not sure what the difference is between companies and groups, and as for some of the suggestions of people that Linked In thought I might want to connect with - some of them don't even work in the same field and I can't see what the connection is. At the time of blogging, I'm still waiting to receive confirmation that I'm accepted to the Rudai23 group but it has only been an hour. Once that arrives, I still need to introduce myself. I'm not sure how to do that and I feel that Linked In hasn't given me the knowledge to do so.

In short, it felt too much like homework. Not many people in my workplace use it so it isn't really in the culture in my work. I also think that selecting your own skills etc isn't something that comes naturally to librarians as a group - we don't usually like 'blowing our own trumpet' (a bit stereotypical, I know but it's true!). I'm still not convinced that I need a brand or that I can use it as a tool for networking. I'm sorry to say that after a lot of work (and it was a lot of work), Linked In and I are not new BFFs.

Reflection on Thing 2

Thing 2 was all about writing your first post, based on something we are all interested in. How or why you became a librarian.

I found the approach to writing this post interesting. First of all we were asked to think of 7 questions we would like to ask our favourite author, actor or celebrity about how he or she ended up in their chosen career. Then we had to pose the same questions to ourselves. All in all there were 5 small tasks involved with this bigger task, and each was to take no more than 15 minutes.

Rudai 23: writing your first blog post 

I can see why the 15 minutes limit was set as you could easily go off at a tangent and still be there hours later. I'm sure it was also to restrict what was posted - answers to the questions as opposed to a life story. I liked the idea of the questions element to help focus what you were going to post about but the time element didn't sit well with me. I felt under pressure because of the time allocated to each task. I find it hard to think on the spot. I like to think about things and reflect on them before saying anything. Usually at meetings, I'll be the one that voices little opinion at the meeting only to have a thunderbolt moment 1 hour after the meeting has finished. I know that everyone learns and thinks about things in different ways and this is the way I think.  So having that time element added extra pressure on me to come up with the goods. I know that no-one was watching me and I could have spent all day on the task but I did try and stick to the task in hand. 

I also found it a bit difficult to pick out the 5 tasks from the blog post. A summary at the end would have been helpful and I see that this has been added to the Thing 3 post. The next task is about professional branding; something I touched on in my previous post about Thing 1 and the need for me to update my Google+ profile.

I've also partially completed another task I set myself in my previous post about customising the look of my blog. I think I'm nearly there. Perhaps a few additional tweaks and once I get the chance to look at other people's blogs, I might come up with a few other ideas. It's probably time as well to start introducing pictures and videos etc in order to move away from a lot of text. So nearly there...

Best wishes, 
A.

Reflection on Thing 1

Hello again, 

I thought that it was maybe time for a bit of reflection on the Thing 1 task and to keep up with the regular blogging.

Thing 1 was all about creating your blog.  The actual creation of the blog didn't take too much time once I had decided to go for it.  The hardest part in fact was choosing between WordPress and Blogger.  That's what I like. A straightforward task for Thing 1.

Or was it?

Now I have the blog set up and have posted a couple of items, I now find myself thinking about the blog. I want it to look better, flow better and have a few followers at least. So I have been back to look at the Rudai 23 Thing 1 post. I remembered that there were some helpful videos about how to customise your blog. I have only watched two of them so far:

• How to follow another blogger via email
• How to change the layout and appearance of your Blogger blog

 But both had some useful tips about how to stay on top of my favourite blogs, and more importantly how to make my blog more appealing.  As you can see, I haven't put that into practice yet but I'm hoping for a bit more time tomorrow to play about with the template, look and layout. I've also jotted down some ideas for future posts; things that I know I'll be doing and I'll want to write about.

I've also been thinking about the blogs that I want to follow. I spend a fair amount of my day in front of a PC and while I'm not keen to do the same when I get home, there are some interesting blogs out there that I want to subscribe to both from a personal and a professional point of view. 

 I also need to create a better profile on Google+. At the very least get a photograph or avatar so I don't continue to look like a blue person in a circle but I don't use Google+ for alot of activities. I could be missing out. Something else to be explored.

So on reflection, I don't think it was a simple Thing 1. It has prompted a lot of thinking on my part - what blogging platform, how to blog, what to blog, how it looks, content, my profile and blogs that appeal to me. Maybe that was the whole point of Thing 1 or perhaps I'm overthinking the process. Whichever it is, I'm grateful. If I continue like this about all the Things, then I have a whole lot of reflection ahead of me.

Best wishes,
A.

Why I became a librarian - Thing 2

Growing up I did not want to be a librarian. No way, not on your life, despite being a particularly fast reader and a great borrower from the local public library.  I wanted to be a teacher - in particular a biology teacher. Surprising considering I wasn't overly good at sciences, but I dutifully took the A-level in Biology along with Spanish and Geography for good measure. So not even interested in English or History which seem to be popular choices among Library and Information Science graduates. However after taking my A-levels, I decided that not only did I not want to go away to university (I wanted to stay in Northern Ireland), I didn't want to do Biology. A wise decision, given the A-level result. Instead I wanted to do Geography and be a geography teacher.

I did very well in my geography degree, something I am very proud of, but by then I had realised that working with any age group of children wasn't something that I was overly keen on or suited to. I had spent much of my final year in the library and had really enjoyed the environment. I'm a quiet person and I don't like a lot of noise. I also like to have rules to follow - yes, my secret is out. I'm a rule-follower, not a rule-breaker. I hadn't interacted an awful lot with the library staff, though I do remember some lurking behind bookshelves waiting to catch you out for eating or talking (not that I ever did - rule-follower, remember?). So I had no idea what a librarian would be like. I just thought it would suit me. I like order, things to be organised, lists, quiet though I have no particular fondness for tweed, hair in buns or glasses. To investigate this a bit further, I travelled home each weekend from university and did some voluntary work on Saturdays in my local public library. This worked out quite well as not only did it give me the necessary experience in a public library, it also gave me paid employment over the summer months.  In short, I changed track after graduation and applied to complete a Masters in Library and Information Science (MLIS) at University College Dublin (UCD).

While writing up my thesis, I was applying for any library post that came up in my home locality; public, school, academic, special, government. I didn't really care which type of library I worked in, I just wanted a job like most graduates. Towards the end of that summer, I hit lucky and was offered a library assistant post in a local grammar school. Again surprising considering that I didn't have any natural affinity with children of any age, and I was also quite close in age to those pupils in year 13 and 14 (lower and upper 6th form, in old money). I worked there for 18 months and it was good experience.  No regrets at all - it gave me a very good grounding in solo librarianship and I have a real appreciation now for what school librarians have to go through and how they have to be prepared to fight their own corner for the recognition they deserve.

From here I moved to a charity for around 8 months as an Information Officer and then eventually onto my first professional post as an assistant librarian in a government library. While I was working in the school library and the charity, I was also working evenings in an academic library so I was really trying to maximise the amount and breadth of my experience. Something which worked in my favour in the long run. I stayed with the government library for 3 years, learning from the librarian, managing staff and really for the first time putting into practice the skills that I had learnt at UCD. However I wasn't done with moving libraries yet! I moved to an academic library as a subject librarian for 4 years, and staying in the same library to a borrower services librarian. I've stayed in this post for 5 years - my longest time yet and I'm happy there. Incidentally, the University I moved to was the same as the one where I worked evenings - different library but same institution.

Looking back over it all and especially when you have to write down your employment history on application forms, it looks like I ping-ponged from one library to another. It didn't feel like that. I simply tried my best and took the opportunities as they came up. I don't have 1 best professional moment. Instead I have two. The first one is getting a full-time, permanent job in an academic library - posts don't come up very often and usually you need to have experience of working in an academic library in order to get shortlisted. That's why my experience of working evenings was so important. It's one of my best professional moments as I have ended up in the environment that suits me best. I have ended up in a post and place where I'm happy to go to work and I'm using the skills that I gained during my MLIS and building on them. I don't think that there are huge number of people that can say that. It wasn't designed that way but somehow it happened.  My second best professional moment is achieving my chartership from the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals (CILIP). It doesn't mean a lot to most people but although it was a long drawn-out process, I eventually made it and got it.

Throughout my career, I have met a number of people that have helped me along the way; from the branch librarian who allowed me to work on a voluntary basis right at the beginning (and subsequently organised paid employment during that summer) to the outgoing Candidate Support Officer (CSO) for Northern Ireland (helping support me and gently push me in the direction of chartership) to my current line manager and Library Management Team in my place of employment. They all supported me and gave me opportunities that have allowed me to develop professionally. Some have become very good friends as well.

I don't really have any regrets over any part of my career path. Each post has helped in its own way. Perhaps it would have been better to see past the stereotypes at the beginning and complete a primary degree in LIS. But I didn't and have ended up with a lovely geography degree to my name.

With regards to the future, I still don't feel ready to move into a more senior post. There aren't many around to begin with and I am keen to stick with my current institution. I also don't feel ready for the responsibility that comes with a more senior post. Although I know that I'd be supported until I found my feet, I'm quite happy for the moment to let others carry that responsibility. I simply want to develop further skills in my current post especially with regards to management (I still feel I have a lot to learn in this area), revalidate my chartership status and take on the role of CSO.

For anyone who is starting out in the library or information profession, I would say to grab every opportunity and learning experience. Adapt your skills to suit and remember that not all library posts will have library in their title. There is no dedicated or correct career path but eventually you will end up where you are supposed to be.

Getting Started - Thing 1

Ok, so here we are. Blog set up and writing the first post!
To be honest, I'm not great at social media. I tend to shy away from it; no reason why but I prefer others to take the lead on it. However, I thought that a blog might be a gentle start and had been thinking about starting a blog for a while (I don't do things in a hurry). I had no idea where to start, how to start and what to write.

Cue Rudai 23 which appeared in my twitter feed.  A bit of further investigation and it seemed like a good idea. In essence a bit of hand-holding through the maze of social media tools - and who doesn't need their hand held every now and then? Starting with setting up a blog, through to conferences, podcasts and live streaming to presentations and a bit of gentle networking thrown in for good measure. 23 modules in all - all will take me a little bit out of my comfort zone - hence the blog title. I've also started to work towards my CILIP revalidation so this will help clock up the hours of CPD and hopefully provide some material for future posts.  

Anyway, I decided to go for Blogger.  It seemed to be the best fit for me. I had discounted Tumblr but had really considered WordPress. The library blog in work uses WordPress and I thought that maybe it would be helpful to be more familiar with it (I contribute to the blog in work, but not confidently). But Blogger seemed to more geared towards beginners, and that's definitely where I am. 

So far so good. No hiccups or problems.

I'm looking forward to some modules of the course and a bit apprehensive about others (augmented reality? I'm not even sure what that is). The main thing is to have a bit of fun learning about it all, hopefully gain and maintain some great contacts in the library world and if it contributes to my work and CPD then so much the better. 

Best wishes
Alex