As a relative newbie to SLA Toronto, and a recent graduate from Western, I was extremely excited to attend the “What I Wish I Knew 5 Years Ago!” event back in May. This event was designed to give new professionals and recent graduates a chance to hear some advice from successful librarians that still remember how it felt to be a recent grad.
The panel was moderated by Christine DeLuca, a Law Librarian at Bennett Jones, and consisted of four excellent speakers: Stacey Piesner – Research Specialist at PwC; Jennifer Peters – Emerging Technologies Librarian at Seneca College; Lola Rudin – Liaison Librarian for Management and CMS at the University of Toronto; and Laura Warner – Director of Knowledge Services at Navigator.
I felt like I really gained a lot of insight into what I should expect during my first few years as a new information professional from this event, and I’d like to recap some of the topics covered so that everyone in the SLA Toronto community can benefit from some of the speakers’ advice. A lot of great topics were covered during the event, but it was largely focused around the following 5 questions posed by the moderator:
(1) What is one thing you wish you knew as a recent graduate?
The lesson to be learned from this first question really was “be a superstar.” Remember that just because you finally got your first real career job doesn’t mean that the work is over; it’s really just beginning. A lot of jobs have a probationary period, and you should really be taking this opportunity to take risks, impress your new colleagues, and be open to everything. However, one major thing all the speakers agreed on was that you wouldn’t really have control over the people you work with. When you are interviewing for positions, you are also interviewing the organization to see if you would be a good fit. This is important because the people you work with can really make or break your whole job experience.
(2) What is the biggest challenge as a new information professional?
There were a lot of challenges discussed here, but the answer to all of them was “find a mentor.” Starting a new job is never easy, but navigating a new work culture, decoding vague job descriptions, and getting people to take you more seriously as a new professional can all be a little easier when you have someone to talk to about it. Don’t be afraid to reach out and learn from someone. The library community is full of helpful individuals, so take advantage of all of your resources, especially the people.
(3) How do you handle managing high expectations?
Working in a special library almost always means working with non-librarians. Depending on the type of organization you work for, you may be dealing with very high work expectations. Here, it’s important to remember that you do want to “be a superstar,” but you don’t want to crash and burn. Communicate how long, realistically, it will take you to complete a specific task and stay consistent. It’s ok to ask for deadlines and look to your team for support.
(4) What techniques do you use to gain your clients’ trust?
In order for clients to value your work and seek out your help, they need to trust you. Gaining the trust of your clients can be done through outreach campaigns, presentations for new hires, and the use of metrics. Also, it never hurts to be pleasantly persistent, and to show that you pay attention to their needs.
(5) What kind of professional development did you do to help bridge your knowledge gap?
Just because we completed our degree, doesn’t mean that we know everything about the profession. Yes, you’ll learn a lot of skills on the job, but it’s important to keep up with new trends in the profession, even if they aren’t directly related to your job. So how can you stay up-to-date? Attend conferences, volunteer, and network, network, network! I learned a lot by attending this event, but I also met some awesome people. Networking doesn’t have to be a chore. It can be fun and beneficial to your career. It’s really a win-win situation.
Click here to read the SLA First Five Years blog.
—Kristina Fry
Kristina has a BA in Political Science and Sociology, and recently completed her MLIS with a concentration in Information Organization and Design from the University of Western Ontario this past April.