Lessons Learned

Two weeks after SLA and I’m finally able to sit down and really think about what I learned at the conference.  I’m really excited to say that I’ve been working double time to put some of those lessons into effect and I have every intention of continuing to do even more.  The biggest thing I learned was actually very simple.  Network, network, network.  I always KNEW networking was important but I really never knew just how important.  But almost every single session I went to brought it up in some form or another.  Now networking is not something that comes naturally to me.  I am totally that girl who can get so painfully shy sometimes that I would very often rather be an anonymous face fading into the walls.  But I dug deep at SLA and met as many people as I could and have since added almost two dozen new people on LinkedIn and Twitter.  That might not be a lot to some people, but it’s a hell of lot for me

The second thing I learned was how important it is for me to “build my brand.”  This is very much related to networking, but its also more.  It’s about creating the image of myself I want people to have of me when they become part of my network and about getting my name out there.  So I participated actively in the Twitter discussions of SLA 2011 and ended up doubling my number of followers.  I’ve worked at updating my online portfolio to make sure I feel really good about and that it gives as much information not only about my experiences in the library field but also what my passions are and what kinds of things I like to dedicate myself to.  I’ve worked at putting in the right amount of personality.  Enough to make sure people can get an idea of who I am without crossing the line into the unprofessional.  All of this is going to help my networking and hopefully help me end up being super successful and fulfilled.  I don’t want to be famous, but I don’t want to be average either.

I also learned how to actually use LinkedIn in a productive way instead of it being essentially a static online version of my resume.  I’ve taken the time to request recommendations and I’ve joined several groups and started participating in discussion boards.  I’m looking forward to meeting lots of new people through that and hopefully making some really valuable connections.

This last one might be my favorite.  I knew my choices in the field were vast, but I really didn’t know how vast.  The collection of people I met at SLA came from such interesting libraries and institutions.  I just have to keep my mind open and look far and wide.  You never know what’s out there.  But keep in mind that not everyone goes through the process of posting their jobs on library job searches and what not.  I’ll have to be creative and diligent when it comes time to find my job after graduation, but I really have so many options and could really find something I love.

Obviously this is not an exhaustive list of the things I learned, but they are the ones that stuck with me the most and the ones that I will actively be working with over the next several months.  Lots of the other things I learned are much smaller and detailed.  I got lots of career advice and job search advice and learned about lots of great resources, blogs, and forums to utilize and tons of new ideas and tools and initiatives being developed for our field.  If I talked about all of that though we’d all be on this blog for the next week and you’d never come back.  Keep me in mind.  I know more than ever now that this is the field I was made for and I’m extremely excited to share with you all where this path takes me.

SLA 2011

I always say my favorite thing about becoming a librarian is how supportive this field is and my time at the SLA annual conference this year did nothing but confirm that for me.  I was welcomed everywhere and scolded for introducing myself as “just” a student.  I got a ton of great advice and was always encouraged to reach out to anyone and everyone I met or even just heard in my sessions.  My favorite sessions were:

• Job Hunting in a Tough Market: full of great tips for everything from the actual way I would go about searching for a job to how to write my resume/cover letter to preparing for the interview to the interview itself and even how to appropriately follow up.
• Career Connection One-on-One: totally invaluable.  I got to sit down with a career coach for a solid half hour on my own to ask questions and get feedback on my resume.
• 60 Apps in 60 Mins: I didn’t go to the 60 sites in 60 minutes, but I really loved the apps one.  Lots of fun ones and even more useful ones.  I probably added half of them to my phone.
• MAHDness at the Free Library: I’m in the Museums Arts and Humanities division so I wanted to go to this to meet a few people, but I also really thought it was great to get out of the convention center and walk on down to the Philadelphia Free Library.  Plus we got a special little tour of the Prints and Pictures department which was really cool.
• Alternative Uses for a Library Degree: probably my favorite.  Panel of 4 talked about their highly untraditional jobs and what they think is in store for the world of libraries.  Plus I found out how much more I could be using my LinkedIn account so I’ve been really updating and adding to that since I got back.

The open houses and receptions were also just so much fun.  I am normally quite the introvert but I really let myself come out of my shell and it paid off.  I’d love to thank everybody who took the time to speak with me and who reached out and offered this shy student some great advice for the future, both in regards to my last year in school and what I’ll do after graduation.  My favorite thing about being in the Special Libraries Association versus the American Libraries Association is the incredibly diverse world special libraries make up.  It really shows me how large my range of options is for when I actually start deciding where I want to be come graduation.

I have lots of blog ideas inspired by the conference that’ll I’ll spread out over the next week or so.  I think in the end I just feel really energized by the whole thing and more confident than ever that I’m in the right field.  Can’t wait for SLA 2012.