On Sept. 24, Ulla de Stricker and I did a free webinar called Welcome to the profession: Where will you be in 25 years? Is that where you want to be? We know that some people who wanted to attend could not, so we’ve posted the slides online (see below).  The audio from the event will eventually be in the archive on the SirsiDynix Institute web site.  The audio is important since the slides do not encompass everything that we discussed.

If you have questions about our presentation, we hope that you’ll leave comments here.  (I believe the blog does allow for anonymous comments, if you need to be anonymous as you think out loud about your career moves.)

As a young information professional, I understand the eagerness of other newly minted librarians to jump right into their first professional positions.  Unfortunately, for a field that likes to highlight the impending librarian shortage, little is actually done to bring these new professionals on board.  Many hiring managers tend to focus on the lack of experience instead of the innovative ideas and potential that these applicants can bring to their organizations.

In order to help hiring managers better understand the strengths of the new professional, I wrote an article about it for Information Outlook last year.  In short, here are five strengths of the young, new professional:

1. Experience and comfort with technology
2. Eagerness and energy
3. Interest in professional growth
4. Flexible schedules
5. Innovative thinking

For those of you responsible for hiring at your organization, I encourage you to read my article and give that new librarian’s resume a second look.  Their addition to your organization may be one of the best hiring decisions you’ll ever make. 

With several generations working together
in today’s work environment, new skills and perspectives are
being brought into the information organization.  Rather than allowing these
differences to become workplace barriers, leaders need to understand the motivators of their generational
counterparts and the value each brings to the information workplace.  Managers, who are used to their one-size-fits-all approach to employee management are finding they need to change their techniques in order to become more effective.  If you’re interested in learning more about interacting with a generational diverse workforce, click on this article link.