Job power: career management resources for librarians

Information Outlook, Jan, 2003 by Terren Ilana Wein, Marjorie Gagnon, Maura Barrett

The Pathfinder: How to Choose or Change Your Career for a Lifetime of Satisfaction and Success. Nicholas Lore. NY: Simon & Schuster, 1998. $15.00.

Do you jump out of bed every morning and rush to a job you love? Or is the work you once enjoyed now just a way to pay the bills? Perhaps you're doubting your career choice altogether. Whether you're a seasoned professional in search of a career change or a beginner just entering the working world, you want to make the right choices. This book offers invaluable advice and more than 100 self-assessment and diagnostic tools that will help you choose an entirely new career or view your current job from a new, more positive perspective.

RELATED ARTICLE: Top 5 Resources: Resumes for Librarians

Writing Resumes That Work: A How-to-Do-It Manual for Librarians. Robert R. Newlen. NY: Neal-Schuman, 1998. $39.95.

We refer to this book as "the bible." It includes step-by-step instructions, case studies, checklists, and sample resumes in various formats. It offers unique and sound advice about identifying accomplishments and abilities that support each skill or quality.

Ulla's Resume Tips, http://www.sla.org/chapter/ctor/toolbox/career/ulla.htm, Ulla de Stricker Career Committee Chair, SLA Toronto Chapter.

This site includes detailed recommendations on content and layout of the resume.

Top of the Heap or Bottom of the (Trash) Barrel? Tips for Job Applicants, http://www.ala.org/nmrt/footnotes/applicants.html, Beatrice L. McKay and Clare Dunkle.

The resume do's and don'ts are particulary valuable.

A Librarian's Resume, http://web.archive.org/web/20000819025351/librarians.about.com/career s/librarians/library/weekly/aa021300.htm, Tim Wojcik, About.com Guide.

This site includes practical suggestions about how to write the various components of a librarian's resume.

Job-Hunting Advice; Resumes and Cover Letters, http://www.careerjournal.com/jobhunting/resumes/index.html, various columnists of CareerJournal.com (Wall Street Journal).

This site includes dozens of articles offering advice on every aspect of the resume task, from how to write effective bullets to the never-ending debate on resume length: one or two pages.

Got a Passport? Go Abroad!

We are fortunate to have chosen an international profession. There are many sites out there providing links to international resources, and there is a lot of overlap. These are our picks for best international job sites. Grouped together, these three offer the most comprehensive collection of links. We suggest you take some time to thoroughly explore each site's unique links.

Library Job Postings on the Internet: Canadian Provinces, Europe, Australia and New Zealand, Other Locations, http://www.libraryjobpostings.org/

Job Banks for Information Professionals Outside the United States, http://www.lisjobs.com/nonus.htm

United Nations Jobs, http://www.sla.org/caucus/kiie/unjobs.htm

For insight into working abroad, check out Tips on Going International, http://www.sla.org/caucus/kiie/Marcelle_KIIE breakfast 2002.htm.