Navigating a career path is an inexact science. All of us face constraints as we seek to develop our professional skills, enhance our resumes, and climb the career ladder to positions of increasing responsibility. While I have been fortunate in the opportunities I’ve had over the course of my 20 year career in librarianship, I’ve also developed a few strategies that I believe have maximized my ability to grow professional options for myself – even in the face of typical obstacles such as geographical limitations, competing spousal careers, and parenthood.
Tackle new things willingly
I cannot stress enough how important it is to actively seek out new projects and challenges no matter what type of job you hold. Right out of graduate school, I started in a typical entry-level reference position at a mid-sized academic library. I worked the desk, did “bibliographic instruction,” did some collection development, and worked in interlibrary loan a few hours each week. After about a year on the job, I became restless and began searching for new opportunities to widen my range of experience. I let both my dean and my department head know that I was ready and willing to take on whatever new projects they wished to throw at me… Read entire post HERE
