Reflection and what next? #cpd23

Well here we are at thing 23! I've enjoyed the 23 things for professional development programme, and all the learning and reflecting that has come out of it, even if it has been a bit of a rush to the finish! There has been a nice mixture of new technology and tools to learn about, with other aspects of development covered too. I have appreciated the reflection weeks as a chance to reinforce learning, think about how things are going, and remind myself of what I have learnt so far.

Several months ago I put together a Personal Development Plan for chartership. This built on the personal development plan that my manager and I had discussed at work, which included goals that were directly relevant to my job. I then expanded this by thinking about what I would like to do that wasn't directly relevant to that role, and some areas that I thought I would need to develop in the future. I shared this with my chartership mentor, who was very good at getting me to think in terms of measurable and time-limited goals. My PDP has recently expanded since I started my second part-time library job almost three months ago, with new short-term achievable goals and learning outcomes added. I find a PDP a very useful exercise as it provides a structure for measuring progress against, and makes me step back and think about where I need to develop and what I want to do next.

So what next? I'll be working through the action points on my PDP, collecting evidence and reflecting as I go, and then eventually trying to put together my portfolio for chartership. I will put some of the things I have learnt from this programme into practice at work - perhaps a screencast will be next on the agenda. I aim to carry on with this blog for cpd to record some of my learning and reflections (although probably not quite as frequently as I have done over the last month!)

Before I end this post, I would just like to say thanks so much to the cpd23 team for all their hard work putting the programme together, answering questions, providing encouragement and everything else they have done.

Volunteering #cpd23

Careers advisers often recommend volunteering as a way of gaining experience, filling in gaps in your experience, learning new skills, demonstrating an interest in the field, and getting started in a career. While at university, I did some volunteering in the student-run history duplicates library, later becoming a committee member with responsibility for publicity to attract new volunteers and increase library usage, as well as supervising two volunteers. This gave me useful experience to talk about in my first interview for a library position, as well as showing an interest in and commitment to the profession when I hadn't yet had any employment in libraries. So for me volunteering at the beginning of my career was a positive way of gaining experience, skills, getting my foot in the door and all the benefits that careers advisers are always talking about!

My first job post-qualifying was part time, and there were no other part time library positions around at the time to make up full time hours, so I did consider volunteering. However instead I successfully applied for an interesting part time job in an HR department outside of the library sector. I enjoyed this position and gained an awareness of people management issues, plus useful transferable skills, such as minute taking and budget administration. I was about to write that I haven't done any volunteering since gaining my library qualification, but then I realised that I have! My position as a committee member on my regional branch of the Career Development Group is unpaid, and done mostly in my own time. I only joined recently, but so far it has given me the chance to meet new people in other library sectors and I'm sure it will be a beneficial experience for me, as well as being a chance to contribute to the profession.

Volunteering can benefit the profession by providing volunteers with experience of new sectors, and opportunities to learn, which can help them further their careers as information professionals. The question of whether volunteering devalues the profession is an interesting and tricky one. A friend of mine who is studying law recently did an unpaid internship, and competed with other talented people for the opportunity. While I have little knowledge of the legal profession, it seems to me that volunteering of this sort is quite common, without devaluing the profession. Could volunteering in libraries be carried out in the same way, with people applying to volunteer for a set period of time, perhaps to work on a specific project or to gain all-round experience of a particular library sector? Maybe not, I don't know. Many of us just can't afford to work for free, but volunteering can be mutually beneficial for the volunteer and the library.

Promoting yourself in job applications and at interview #cpd23

Part 1: Identifying your strengths; capitalising on your interests
I feel very lucky to have two part time jobs that I love in the same library, one in the mornings and the other in the afternoons. It may not be for everyone, but it suits me very well. I like variety in my work, and that is exactly what I get! I really enjoy enquiry work, both face to face and via email, and I get to do a lot of that. I enjoy the satisfaction of successfully troubleshooting an electronic resource, the detective work involved in tracking down that obscure book that someone wants to obtain on inter-library loan, or the government report that a user is having difficulty finding, and my jobs involve all these aspects. But it's also nice to have a break from dealing directly with customers to do some cataloguing, check ebook availability for ordering, or update the website and I get to do that too. I think two of my strengths are customer service and prioritising while dealing with multiple tasks, and I love to tick things off a to-do list!

  by  bark 

Part 2: Applying for a job
One of the most useful pieces of advice that my university careers centre gave me was to be very clear when demonstrating that you meet all the criteria when applying for a job. Employers may have lots of applications to sift through, so clearly spelling out that you meet each criteria rather than leaving it up to the employer to read between the lines will be helpful for them (and your application!). Also, if there is a criteria that you don't quite meet, you can at least show how you partially meet it or are working towards it, instead of just not mentioning it at all.

Part 3: Interviews
The CAR (context, action, results) structure for answering competency-based questions is a good one to remember, thanks cpd23! I often get nervous at interviews, so I try to remember that an interview can be a two-way thing - a chance for employers to find out if the candidate is suitable for the job, and for the candidate to find out if they would enjoy the job and working for that employer. Of course, preparation is key, so you can usually find out answers to most of your questions about the job and the employer before the interview (from their website or by speaking informally to the recruiting manager), but thinking of it as a two-way interview makes it much less nerve-wracking!

Library routes project

Library day in the life project is great if there's a library/information sector that you want to learn more about as you can discover what people in that sector actually do. It's interesting to found out what other people do day to day in their jobs. I've never been involved before, but I notice that it seems to happen every January and July so watch this space next January!

Library routes project is a site where information professionals record why they chose to work in libraries and how they got to where they are today. I've had a look at some of the posts, and it's interesting to compare routes that people have taken, their experiences and thoughts on what they have done, as well as hearing about all the different kinds of information work that many people have done. My post for thing 10 is duly added to the Library Routes Project wiki.

cpd23 reflections #cpd23

Ah, time out for a breather and some reflecting (but not too long a breather with the deadline fast approaching!) So, here are some quick reflections...

What have I learnt from the programme so far?

• I benefitted from thing 3 branding, as I have now given some thought to my online identity.
• I've gained from exploring new networks, meeting some new people and discovering new blogs, where it is great to see other people's views on the cpd23 things (as well as the other things they are blogging about).
• It has also been useful to reflect on things such as mentoring, and actually put something in writing about them. In the future, looking back at this sort of thing can be a reminder of what I was thinking at the time, and it might be helpful when it comes to putting together my portfolio.
• This programme and the Cam23 things programme have both given me things to blog about, which has helped me get over my initial nervousness about blogging. I doubt that I would have a blog if I hadn't undertaken these programmes. However, now that I do have a blog, I hope to carry it on after the end of the programme.

What will I integrate into my working routine?
Some things I just have no need for at the moment, but others are useful right now.

• I use Twitter for current awareness, but still don't engage in conversations with others as much as I could.
• I now make more use of RSS feeds as I follow more blogs than before, although I still look at my blogger dashboard more regularly than my feed reader.
• Zotero is the reference management tool that I have started using for possible chartership references.
• Lightshot is now my tool of choice for screenshots.

Here comes the obligatory reflection photo - any excuse to pretend it's still summer!

  by  Anderson Mancini 

Jing, screen capture and podcasts

I've already tried out and blogged about screencast-o-matic for Cam23 things, so was keen to test out Jing to see how it compares. I liked Jing's sun tool, and found it easy to use for both screenshots and screencasting. However I was a bit put off by the fact that you seemed to need to sign up for screencast.com for sharing a link to your capture (even if you didn't want to share, it seemed there wasn't an option to continue without it), and to edit the capture needed another tool to be downloaded.

Screenshots - Jing vs Lightshot
I will probably stick to Lightshot for screen capture, as this offers the same facility to share your capture via a generated link, but without the need the register with another product. Lightshot can also be edited without having to download or sign up for another product. Both Jing and Lightshot were equally slow to upload screen captures for sharing.

Screencasting - Jing vs Screencast-o-matic
There isn't much to choose between Screencast-o-matic and Jing in terms of features or ease of use. The main difference seemed to me to be whether you prefer the cursor to be shown (Jing) or replaced by a yellow circle (Screencast-o-matic) when viewing your screencast.

For my thoughts on podcasts, see my earlier post. Thanks to cpd23 for pointing out the arcadia@cambridge podcasts and Careers Group University of London podcasts – both look interesting and useful.

I like to move it move it #cpd23

I had a go at a Prezi earlier for Cam23 things, and you can see my first attempt here. Being a visual person, I like the look and movement of Prezi (as long as there isn't overuse of movement to avoid inducing motion sickness!) I hadn't realised that it was possible to upload and enhance Powerpoint slides in Prezi - this could be a useful time-saver if you don't want to start from scratch. I could perhaps see myself using Prezi to create an introduction or induction to the area of the library that I work in.

Slideshare is something I've also previously explored in the same post as Prezi. Although I haven't used it since as I haven't done any presentations, I'll remember it for future reference. Personally, I'm not convinced about putting my CV on slideshare. I prefer to share it only when needed e.g. when applying for a job, in which case it can be tailored to demonstrate how I meet the criteria and requirements for that particular job.