As part of my work on CPD23 I have created a new blog: Beyond the Training Room
See you there!
Friday 8 June 2012
Friday 1 June 2012
Career Development
I have a confession... not many people round here know this but I used to be a librarian!
This was a career path that was suggested to me in my careers interview when I was an undergraduate and it appeared to make a lot of sense and fit my personality and skills pretty well. I finished my undergrad degree, got some work experience in a city library, got a job as a graduate trainee in a faculty liason office in a forward thinking University Library and decided I'd found my dream career. It was great. There were 10 of us so it was a great team to be part of and I got experience on the enquiries desk, the circulation desk, cataloguing, shelving, meetings, CPD training, HR the lot.
So of course I enrolled on a Masters programme and looked forward to a bright new future.The course was ok, not thrilling but ok and I got through it.
Getting a job proved difficult but eventually I ended up in a University Library as a Grade 5 Library Assistant on the circulation desk. The culture of this library was very different to the one where I had done my traineeship - more traditional and stuck in its ways. I enjoyed much of my job - especially working on the enquiry desk and helping students with their research via the interlibrary loans department, however it didn't have the thrill that I had experienced before and I became disheartened.
Personal circumstances meant that we moved house (to a completely different part of the country!)and I decided to take a career break to look after my small children. we no longer lived near a university and I gradually turned my back on Librarianship.
Lately, I have been working in a local supermarket as a trainer, a job which involves training new starters, updating the skills of existing staff and ensuring that we give the best possible service to our customers. I thought I was content with that - a great team, great part time hours and no commuting but it turns out I'm getting a bit bored! So I've been exploring new career options - retail training, NVQ assessing, teaching- all things that would suit my skills.
All this personal reflection has led me to a bit of light bulb moment: What if I'm still really a Librarian! Sounds obvious doesn't it, I'm a Librarian. It's about 7 years since I last worked in a library but when I look at the work I have done in supermarkets there are more than a few parallels. So I'm doing some research and trying to find out if Librarianship is still the path for me.
Which led me to the CPD23 website and the resurrection of this blog for "Thing 1". I've tried blogging before but never really thought that I had much to say... So this is me right out of my comfort zone. It'll be interesting to see what the next few "Things" bring about!
This was a career path that was suggested to me in my careers interview when I was an undergraduate and it appeared to make a lot of sense and fit my personality and skills pretty well. I finished my undergrad degree, got some work experience in a city library, got a job as a graduate trainee in a faculty liason office in a forward thinking University Library and decided I'd found my dream career. It was great. There were 10 of us so it was a great team to be part of and I got experience on the enquiries desk, the circulation desk, cataloguing, shelving, meetings, CPD training, HR the lot.
So of course I enrolled on a Masters programme and looked forward to a bright new future.The course was ok, not thrilling but ok and I got through it.
Getting a job proved difficult but eventually I ended up in a University Library as a Grade 5 Library Assistant on the circulation desk. The culture of this library was very different to the one where I had done my traineeship - more traditional and stuck in its ways. I enjoyed much of my job - especially working on the enquiry desk and helping students with their research via the interlibrary loans department, however it didn't have the thrill that I had experienced before and I became disheartened.
Personal circumstances meant that we moved house (to a completely different part of the country!)and I decided to take a career break to look after my small children. we no longer lived near a university and I gradually turned my back on Librarianship.
Lately, I have been working in a local supermarket as a trainer, a job which involves training new starters, updating the skills of existing staff and ensuring that we give the best possible service to our customers. I thought I was content with that - a great team, great part time hours and no commuting but it turns out I'm getting a bit bored! So I've been exploring new career options - retail training, NVQ assessing, teaching- all things that would suit my skills.
All this personal reflection has led me to a bit of light bulb moment: What if I'm still really a Librarian! Sounds obvious doesn't it, I'm a Librarian. It's about 7 years since I last worked in a library but when I look at the work I have done in supermarkets there are more than a few parallels. So I'm doing some research and trying to find out if Librarianship is still the path for me.
Which led me to the CPD23 website and the resurrection of this blog for "Thing 1". I've tried blogging before but never really thought that I had much to say... So this is me right out of my comfort zone. It'll be interesting to see what the next few "Things" bring about!
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