CESblogs

As always, Thanksgiving is a great time to reflect on what you are grateful for in life. So far, because of people’s willingness to help me, I have been able to expand on my professional network and take on a number of informational interviews…I’d say that’s worthy of thanks! But Thanksgiving is also a time for family, my most helpful personal network. What I have realized recently is that I already have an amazing network of people who will soon be just a dinner table away. 

So, instead of getting annoyed with the repetitive question, “what are you going to do after graduation?”
I am going to use the opportunity to turn the tables on them.
“Well, I am currently researching potential positions. What did you do after you graduated?” To be honest, I’ve never understood why personal and professional networks don’t overlap more. Working with what you already have is just as important as expanding on it. If I blend my newly constructed professional network with my reliable personal network, my connections will nearly triple in size!

The other day I was working on a power point for my career awareness class; the purpose of the assignment was to explore three potential career paths of interest and what it would take to get going. For someone like me, landing on three career paths was a challenging task. To prepare for the assignment, I tore through all of the documents on my laptop that were career-related. I looked through old resumes, my current resume, my MBTI results, and scanned through my Career Cruising profile and then some, in order to gather up all of my personal assessment information and job recommendations for someone of my “type.” Throughout this endeavor, I came to the conclusion that I am the perfect combination of my parents. I am partly the sensitive type who would enjoy helping people, much like my mother, the nurse. I am also partly business-minded, with managerial and organization skills, resembling my father, the real estate developer. And, to no avail, that got me thinking…who else in my ‘personal’ life has influenced me?

As I reflected on this, I recalled names of close relatives, past employers, my Spanish host-mom, and so on. Then I searched for a trend — Who do I find most inspiring? How have they been influential? What do they do? Have I really discussed their jobs with them?… I can keep going with the questions. Basically, I came to the realization that I still have a lot of territory I need to explore. I haven’t completely explored my family and friends as part of my  network and used all of the information for what it’s worth.

Now with a clearer compilation of influences made up of family and friends, I have a better understanding of who I would like to know more about. I have a feeling that table talk is going to be different this holiday. I am more prepared than ever to go home for Thanksgiving and ‘catch up.’ Not only will my family and friends receive a well thought-out response to their anticipated life questions, I will be preparing questions to ask them as well. I am more ready than ever to utilize my personal network as I continue on my path to a career. The tables are turning!

Sometimes the best networking happens when you least expect it.

Saturday morning I was at a coffee shop in Gig Harbor looking for a spot to set up my laptop. Though not crowded, all of the “good” spots were taken – the comfy armchairs with the side tables to hold your coffee, away from the sun’s glare that renders the screen unreadable. The only spots left were at the bar facing the window that looked out on the street. Even with the sun obscured by cloud cover it was still too bright to read. Feeling defeated, I was thinking about leaving to find a dark, dank Starbucks.

A woman sitting at a small table in the corner saw me waffling and offered me a spot at her table saying she would be leaving soon anyway. I sat down gratefully and while setting up my techie gear we chatted. It turned out she was just laid off from her job the day before. She asked me what I do, and I enjoyed telling her, “I help people find jobs.” I explained my role here at Puget Sound working with college students. After being surprised by the absolute serendipity of our meeting, she asked me a million questions about things that were burning in her mind.

Her first question was pretty typical: did I know of any jobs in her field? I didn’t, of course – I work with students looking for entry-level positions, and she was at a senior career level. But she didn’t end our conversation there, as most people would have. She continued to ask questions about things someone in my role might know. What was going on in the job market? How had job search techniques changed? What advice did I have for someone looking for work in this economy? I couldn’t point her to specific openings, unfortunately, but I was able to help her with all of her other questions and our conversation ended on a very positive note. We exchanged cards, and even though I may not know of positions in her field, if I do hear of something, I will certainly contact her. After all – she gave me a seat at her table.

There were three things this woman did that made me want to help her:

• She showed genuine interest in me and the conversation was natural
• She didn’t stop the conversation when I didn’t have an answer to her first question
• She asked for the opportunity to stay connected by asking for my card

Students: keep this in mind as you go about your daily lives. There are times to be very deliberate about networking, say at an event like ASK Night, but more often than not, opportunities just present themselves at random moments. Networking happens every day, and an opportunity can crop up anywhere to make a new connection. You never know who you’re going to meet!

Throughout this semester, my main focus has been to discover a career path that might spark a passion—and I ended up singling out non-profits. After all, I’ve always taken an interest in community relations, marketing, and helping the greater good; non-profits sounded like the perfect fit. But I was thrown off course last month when I unexpectedly connected with recruiters from an organization far from what I was exploring. Three days after meeting them, I found myself drinking a chai latte with two charismatic women during an informational interview that ended with an incredible internship offer!

While anticipating a disinterest in what the organization might have to offer, I found the meeting to be an amazing opportunity to share my story and personalize my experiences and skills. Not only did I discover more about job positions I never knew existed, I was challenged with questions that allowed me to practice articulating who I am and what I have to offer.

One question threw me, though. As we were nearing the end of our allotted time, I was asked why I took such an interest in non-profits. This seems like an easy question and yet I found myself scrambling for the appropriate reasoning. That’s when I realized I needed to practice articulating my interests and goals OUT LOUD. As much as I reasoned about non-profits in my head, I never verbally articulated it. I was not as prepared as I thought I was to respond to such a straightforward question. How exactly did I land on non-profits anyway? In the end, even though I stumbled my way through that question, I walked out confident, with a new-found interest in organizations outside of the non-profit world.

Since that first informational interview, I’ve decided to keep going and find more people to chat with; I guess you can say I have been on a networking high. For the past couple of weeks, I have been connecting with our own Puget Sound alumni from the ASK network, including Shannon Hughes, the chair of the Alumni Council CES Committee. After chatting with an advisor in my office, it seemed like Shannon and I shared some common career interests. Surprisingly, with no hindrance on our conversation, our particular career interests did not quite match up. But it turns out that my conversation with Shannon was helpful in an unexpected way!

While we were swapping stories over the phone, Shannon asked me to consider what different interactions and conversations in the past have excited me the most. I paused. Despite my talkativeness and desire to fill in the silence, I couldn’t formulate a response. It was then that Shannon and I discussed how helpful networking can be, especially when you gauge your level of excitement over certain topics; it really helps narrow in on your passions.

By stepping outside of my interests and connecting with people of different fields, I broadened my scope of careers to consider for the future. Not only did I learn that I should practice articulating my skills and interests out loud, I also learned to evaluate my energy level during conversations in order to learn what excites me the most. Long story short, there is no such thing as bad networking. People know people who know other people, so you never know who will be your most helpful resource!

Visit the CES Job Search Tools page for tips about Informational Interviews.

Forget the images of librarians as quiet book lovers. Of course librarians love books, but the work of a librarian extends beyond cataloging and shelving library books. Today’s librarian is a master of information management with jobs ranging from public service and reference, to technology and web development, as well as working with rare books and archives. Librarians may be employed at your local municipal library but librarians are also employed at large corporations (like Microsoft, Nissan, and Boeing), law firms, museums & historical societies, and many other environments including the University of Puget Sound!

Jane Carlin, director of Collins Memorial Library, oversees the management of the Library including personnel, budget, services, and collections (including print and electronic resources along with new media). Jane and her team constantly assess services and consider ways to promote the library and its resources and bring new patrons to Collins Memorial Library. You may have noticed exhibits featuring local artists working in book design and printing arts, or displays of library materials including Puget Sound archives, events such as Banned Books Tea, Edible Books Day and author talks.

I recently sat down with Jane to learn a bit about her career path:
Alana: How did you end up in this career field?
Jane: As an undergraduate I was an anthropology major with a minor in art history – as a junior and into my senior year, I began to seriously contemplate a career path. I knew I loved to study, work in an educational environment, and was passionate about art. It was during a “senior seminar” in art history that I went to meet with the art librarian to learn about special methods in art history research. I was amazed about all the interesting work that she did from research, to purchasing unique materials, to teaching classes. I was sold – academic librarianship seemed like a perfect fit – it provides the opportunity to build on a liberal arts background, contribute to higher education, provides a service to students and faculty, and allowed me to continue to pursue interest in the arts! My graduate program at Indiana University was designed so I could focus on fine arts librarianship.

Alana: What advice do you have for students pursuing this field?
Jane: Get as much practical experience as you can either through paid employment as a student library employee or by volunteering in a local library. Also – keep an electronic portfolio or at the very least a record of your research papers, presentations, etc.

Alana: What skills/competencies are valued in this field?
Jane: Database and technology skills, media communication, problem-solving, critical thinking, research skills, interpersonal skills, and community engagement. Most of the professional positions in the library require a Master’s degree.

I spent about 20 minutes with Jane and learned a lot about careers in library science. If you’re interested in learning about career options, consider meeting with professionals working in fields of interest to you. Access the ASK Network (a database of Puget Sound alumni interested in talking with students about their careers) in Cascade to get started.

Recommended Resources:
American Library Association
Association of College & Research Librarians
Best Careers 2009: Librarian
Occupational Outlook Handbook: Librarian Careers
Library Jobs
Special Libraries Association

Not sure if you’re ready to attend ASK Night? You are! Here are some typical students we encourage to come to the event and some tips for success:

Which type sounds more like you?

I-Don’t-Have-A-Clue: This could be a first year student or a graduating senior, and they worry that they have to have made some clear decisions about their career path in order to start networking with people. But networking is a great tool for discovering what you want to do with your life, and what better place to start than with a group of people whose sole mission for the evening is to talk to students about the kind of work they do. A great opening line for these students? “I’m still gathering information about different career paths – what did you do to learn about different options?”

I-Can’t-Make-Up-My-Mind: This student has done some exploring and has some areas of interest, but can’t pick between them. That’s quite all right – many alumni can definitely relate! A great question for these students to ask? “I’m debating between a few different directions – how did you decide the right path for you?”

I’m-Scared-To-Talk-To-People: For these students an event like ASK Night is the perfect place to start. Consider it networking with training wheels. This is the only kind of networking event where the entire room of professionals is there simply to help students. Because they are alumni there is an automatic connection. Plus, CES staff will be on hand to help make introductions. A great tip for these students? Research beforehand and know who you’d like to meet, and then ask a CES staff member to help you approach them.

I’m-Ready! Let-Me-At-’Em: These students certainly know what they want! But often we see these same eager students walk away disappointed. Why? “There was nobody there representing my field/my target professional didn’t make it to the event.” We remind these students that networking is about making connections with a broad group of people because it’s not necessarily about what these folks do, but who they know.

Each person has a personal network of contacts and every interaction is an opportunity to tap into that group. For example, the Computer Science student who ends up talking to a Religion major might be surprised to find out that her husband’s sister works for a technology company. Also, all alumni have been in the same spot current students are – they can share their stories of navigating a job search. A great suggestion for these students? Talk to everybody, show sincere interest in them as people, and let them know what your goals are.

Actually, all of these tactics are useful no matter where you are in your career search. Whether you’re still trying to figure out what your options are, or you are actively engaged in a job search, you can get something of value from ASK Night. We hope to see you there!