The Corporate Librarian

Because I was worried I was misrepresenting her, I reached out to Susan Klopper about her comments at the SLA SAAAC panel. She graciously agreed to take the time to elaborate and to allow me to post her further comments.

I stand by my comment at the student career panel at SLA that corporate libraries don’t exist anymore, but let me add some clarification to my viewpoint. First, it is just my opinion, but one that comes from 18+ years working in a corporate library and personally experiencing the dramatic shift in that market space. That said, of course, many do still exist and will continue in the future to be supported by their organizations. But that number, relative to the market, is small and getting smaller every day. With the commoditization of information that has taken place over the past 8-10 years, I don’t see companies ever being willing (and one could well argue the errors in their thinking) to invest in corporate libraries as they once existed. But if you read the rest of my thought about this in the blog, my stating that corporate libraries are dead was not intended as a final statement, but rather as a challenge to the future librarians sitting in the room to think about what lessons might be learned about their demise and how they might position their skills, competencies and passion for working in a corporate environment in ways that will more successfully speak to the interests, strategies, focus of corporate organizations. When an upcoming librarian asks me about working in a corporate library, I ask them to describe to me how they envision that experience ,what they are doing each day, who they are working with. If that vision is defined by a library in any capacity, I can not in all truth endorse the career path. However, if that vision is focused on bringing the skill sets, knowledge, networking strengths we own into the organization and deploying and embedding them as needed within the organizational structure - then I say YES, that is how we demonstrate our value in terms that the organization can measure. And who knows, perhaps if we work our way through organizations on their terms, holding ourselves up to the business models they value, we may make some progress towards elevating librarians and libraries as a core organizational function.
Just my 2 cents - susan klopper

The blog I’m very, very behind in writing anything for, the SLA-IT Blogging Section blog, has notes by Nicole Engard on a career panel at the annual SLA Conference (which I sorely wish I was attending). One interesting quote from Susan Klopper, which mirrors what I’ve found out here:

If you want to work in a library in a corporation - i would strongly recommend you don’t do that because they don’t exist anymore.

Oh, there are still jobs, but they’re not library jobs for the most part. Read Nicole’s post to learn more.

May 16th I got an email from an acquaintance about a potential job. May 19th we talked on the phone, and a few days after that I sent on a resume, writing sample and references. June 2nd I flew up to meet with him and another person. June 9th I got emailed a more formalized job description, and June 12th I asked for a contract.

Which I received on Friday and mailed signed copies of yesterday.

Three month job, hopefully leading to something permanent. I’ll check exactly what I can and can’t say about it, but it involves both knowledge management and research.

For those of you still looking, College@Home offers over 100 job resources for prospective librarians. Granted, a number of them are oriented towards academic or public library jobs, but even so the list should be useful.

Hopefully I should have some good job news of my own to announce on the blog soon.

And really, how often do we get to use lines from classic David Cronenberg movies in library blogs? Not often enough, I say.

I’ll be at the Association of Independent Information Professionals Annual Conference (April 30th-May 4th), so if people want to say hi feel free. My Internet access will be limited, unless I can pick up an Asus Eee PC at a Best Buy there or something. At least my phone will let me check email.

Pittsburgh natives, I’ll be near the 6th Street Bridge, apparently.

I’m really pretty happy with my Associate membership to AIIP - I’ve attended webinars which passed on useful tips, gotten discounts from vendors and learned about valuable resources like ResearchTrail. I’m hoping to get some networking done and get some useful advice towards starting up a business

For those of you who are new to the blog, hi! I’ve been unemployed since early May, and when I don’t have anything else to post I give tips on job hunting.

So, what have I done since I’ve moved to the Bay Area in September?

• Obviously, I’ve already let friends, former colleagues and family know I’m looking back in May.
• I signed up with several library placement agencies in the area. I’ll note that you shouldn’t expect to just sign up and have a job fall in your lap from an agency - you should meet with people from the agency if possible, at a minimum get them to give an honest assessment of your strengths and weaknesses. Regularly check their job listings and apply to jobs which look interesting.
• I searched SLA’s job listing. Again, check this on a regular basis, as with other sites you visit.
• I searched Craigslist and Indeed.com. Helpful hint - both of these services allow you to create custom searches and subscribe to those searches as RSS feeds. I have no sense how useful Craigslist is outside the Bay Area/Peninsula.
• I hit the BayNet Libraries Employment Links and Listings.
• I hit the SF/SLA Jobline.
• I hit CalJOBS, which I should really check out more often.
• I hit the websites of companies in the area I was interested in, in case they had postings on their websites.
• A friend on an IRC channel I hang out at actually added “someone get this guy a job already” to my description which appears when I connect to the channel. Which hasn’t gotten me any nibbles yet, but amuses me.
• I went to a Meetup of San Francisco Librarians. The organizer had warned me in advance that the past few months had only seen 4 attendees or so, and it turned out she and I were the only ones there. Still, she gave me some useful additional links and mailing lists to check out.
• I hit the California Library Association Job Mart.

I have gotten nothing useful from Careerbuilder.com or Monster.com. I’ve applied to various jobs, some of which got me interviews, others which got me a ‘no thank you’ or no response at all. Others I’m still waiting to hear back on. For interviews, if you’re rejected, I recommend asking what you could have done better. They may not want to answer due to HR or litigation concerns, but it’s worth a shot.

Do do do tailor your resumes and cover letters to the specific position you’re applying for. It will show you have genuine interest in the position, and will make it more likely you get to the next round.

The advice I’ve gotten is expect your job search to take six months or so. It may take less time - if so, great. But be prepared to be in it for the long haul.

What am I trying now?

I’ve gotten some business cards made up through VistaPrint (you can also design your own, or go to an office supply place like Staples). For now, they give my name, a short tagline and my contact info. I may add the URL of this website if I get back to posting on a regular basis in a future run. VistaPrint gives you some decent free designs (250 business cards) and you can pay more to get faster shipping, access to more designs, business card magnets, etc..

I’ve purchased an Associate Membership with the Association of Independent Information Professionals, while I consider whether or not I’ll just start my own business. It’s $200, but I get a listing in the membership directory, a mentor, and access to the mailing list. If you’re considering starting your own business, start it while you still have a money cushion.

I’m attending a combined meeting of the San Francisco and San Andreas Region SLA Chapters, both because the topic is interesting and because it gives me a chance to network. I’ve searched SLA’s Online Membership Directory and noted contact info for people at companies I might be interested in applying to. I wouldn’t call them up and beg for a job - more a matter of “I’m new in the area, looking for employment, would love to have lunch with you and talk about what it is you do.” This is assuming I don’t get a chance to talk to them at the Chapter meeting.

I will be moving to California (Mountain View, specifically) this month, after Library Camp NYC. No luck on the job front so far, but I’ve only spent 1 1/2 months actually in California (June 13th-July 31st) looking, so I likely have a few months ahead of me yet. Thanks to David Holloway for the offer, along with everyone else who’s provided moral support and resources.

I’ve got a place lined up already, thanks to an old friend from my college days, so at this point it’s “pack and ship stuff,” followed by “try to sell off remaining furniture, kitchen items,” “hire a cleaning service,” and “hire someone to cart out stuff not sold.”

Also, I turned 38 yesterday. Which is somewhat depressing, but certainly better than the alternative.

So, the plan is to try and find a job in the Bay Area, fly back to the East Coast to finish packing up and help run Library Camp NYC, then fly back to the Bay Area and move into the apartment my friend is offering insanely low rent for in Mountain View.

Reality is not being so obliging. Apparently, in the Bay Area it’s not so easy to find a corporate job, especially in the summer. Especially if one does not have a science background or legal research skills.

I’ve been hitting the Combined Library Job Postings feed from LISjobs.com, Craiglist, DBM’s Job Scout, SLA’s job site, kvetching to acquaintances on IRC and using my Mountain View friend’s network.

So far, the two leads I have are:

• A job offer which may or may not come - the company has been putting me through interviews for a month, they say they like me, but haven’t said anything about compensation, start date, etc.. I was supposed to hear from them yesterday - nothing.
•  A company which would like to see me for an in-person interview - the hours would be long (we’re talking, work till 10 P.M. long) which might mean I’m too busy/tired to have a social life, the commute would not be fun (in fact, I’d probably want to move to San Francisco or Marin County) and the salary would be significantly lower. On the other hand, it’s pretty much what I want to do. So I’m waffling on that one.

So I throw myself on the mercy of my readers: anybody in the Bay Area looking for a corporate librarian with 13 years of experience doing company and industry profiles for consulting firms? Functional version of my resume below. Best way to reach me is either e-mail or my cell.

Functional resume

As long-promised, my review of Mary Ellen Bates‘ Building & Running a Successful Research Business (Reva Basch edited it as part of a series, but Bates’ name is on the spine so I’m calling it hers). I recently completed a one-off consulting job as a step towards considering a freelance career, so I feel I can provide at least some “road testing.” Unlike books touting how to become an information broker from the early 90’s, Bates freely admits that the independent information professional may not be a career for everyone, and gives good advice on determining for oneself if that’s the case. This won her major points with me off the bat.

The first section is all about starting your business - do you even want to be an independent information professional, what sort of research will you do, how to find clients, what your competition is like, considerations for incorporation, work-life balance, etc.. Bates uses plenty of real-world examples, with important points called out in sidebars or endbars. The tone is helpful and fairly informal.

The second section is devoted to running your business once you’ve launched, and is invaluable. Everything from problem clients (and potential clients) and how to deal with them to financial issues (billing and collections, taxes, setting rates and fees), to subcontracting, to the ethics and legalities involved, to how to get yourself professional development and how to conduct strategic planning for your business. I put some of her guidance to use when writing and sending an invoice to my client, such as including a W-9 form and providing a Taxpayer Identification Number. Sadly, I set my rate for the job before reading her advice on the topic, and lowballed myself as a result.

The section on marketing is full of dos and don’ts - I have to admit to only skimming this section, as I was doing a one-off job to see how I might like freelancing. However, the piece on marketing by writing and speaking should be taught in library schools as a core class, to my mind.

The final section is dedicated to research - how to conduct different types (online, phone, public records, etc.), how to approach online research, how to structure your deliverables and other services you can offer. Again, plenty of advice and real-world examples, in the text as well as sidebars and endbars. Appendices offer information on the Association of Independent Information Professionals, how to stay up-to-date, useful tools (associations, books, government agencies, Web sites, etc.) for independent information professionals and contact information for people quoted in the book.

I would urge anyone considering a career as an independent information professional to read through this book first, as essential preparation, as well as to anyone curious what non-traditional career options are available to librarians.

Questions, comments, peasants with torches?

I’ve been taking all manner of webinars offered by the outplacement firm my former employer uses on resume-writing and identifying my career assets and interview tips and whatnot. Last Friday, I met with an outplacement counselor who’s going to be offering advice on content and format for my resume, Monday I’m signing up for an interview lab and Tuesday I’m meeting with someone from one of the library placement agencies I’m signed up with to:

• Try and understand what I’m doing wrong in interviews
• Discuss if I should change the focus of my job search

Then I’m off to California, to meet with library placement agency people out there, try and line up some interviews, and see if I can live with a potential long-term roommate for 2 weeks without us killing each other. I’ll also be talking with that counselor about networking and coming up with a target set of industries and companies.

Later this week or next I hope to have completed the consulting job I’m working on and post lessons learned for anyone considering freelance consulting.