Career Agility

I went to part of a session Saturday morning on building Career Agility. Here are the main points I gleaned:

• build within yourself some self-leadership - choose positions that will bolster your strengths to get you to the position you want - be strategic
• Adaptability - we must continue to adapt to the world, because the world isn't going to adapt to us (I think this was more for those folks who keep saying "but the library should be a very quiet, peaceful place")
• Willingness to embrace change - I think we're all pretty good at this at CML - or at least we pretend well! LOL
• Re-invent yourself on a regular basis - try new things, venture into new areas.
• Build your visibility - write for publications, online book reviews, create a dynamic library-related blog . . . you're building a "brand" of yourself every day.
• Build your portfolio - demonstrate impact and outcome
• Make judgement calls - be able to make decisions! (GSD, baby!)
• Take Risks - build an ability to judge which risks are worth taking, which ones will help your library move forward
• Let go of Perfectionism - I heard this from Micheal Stephens, too - very important in taking risks and trying new things!
• Commit to focus on solutions - 'nuff said.

Looking for A Job

One tip you might want to consider when applying for that dream job......Google yourself and see how you are represented on the Internet. You may be surpirsed or not when you see an old college post from a list serv or a blog appear where you aren't at your best so to speak. The majority of the folks out there doing the hiring are googling the candidates, checking myspace, facebook, etc. So don't be surprised by what's out there...google yourself.