New Graduates Ask Where the Jobs Are: Let's Help Out

It was recently my pleasure to speak to Cabot Yu's Information Management class at University of Western Ontario's Faculty of Information & Media Studies (thank you Cabot) about "Information Management in the Real World".  Describing organizational environments in which IM skills make a difference, I attempted to paint a picture of careers for information professionals outside the core settings of libraries, information centres, archives, and records and IT departments.  Not surprisingly, one question was "what does a job posting look like for those nonstandard positions?" 

In our discussion, it was mentioned that holders of fresh credentials in information management would be relevant applicants for positions with titles containing such terms as "analyst", "officer", "examiner", or "specialist" in the public sector.  In the private sector, position titles could in addition include such words as "associate" or "representative" to describe, for example, roles in customer service, client and public relations, marketing, and any organizational unit depending heavily on research, environmental scanning, and analysis of data.

The key for job seekers is that professional positions in all domains call for considerable skills in information management.  The challenge is to craft an application and resume that will grab the attention of the hirers - a task requiring casting information management expertise in terms related to the operations and goals of the organization in question.

I can help with applications, resumes, and advice - and I take this opportunity to ask my readers to join me in assisting new information professionals get started in their careers:  If you are in a nontraditional role, would you share how it happened ... and would you share your advice on job seeking "out there beyond the library"?

Thank you from me ... and from the job seekers.

Comments

[Bruce Harpham]

Thank you for writing this, Ulla. I have been thinking about the job title question and have been wondering how to apply the SLA Alignment project to this question. Beyond "librarian" or "knowledge manager," what other titles apply (especially outside the academic or public library context)?

I do think that there is some promise in thinking about terms like "officer" and "analyst." I am less sure about using "representative" as that word often has connotations of low-pay retail positions (at least that's often the impression I've seen). Maybe some organizations out there use that title for higher level positions though?