The truth about “job hopping” – aka your skills transfer more than you’d think

Despite the fact I’ve continuously worked in libraries in some capacity since I was a sophomore in high school, I took a somewhat roundabout approach to starting my career. When I first graduated college, I was intent on working in publishing or doing some sort of writing. My first writing job turned out to be such a mistake that I only lasted four days before quitting. After leaving that office, I worked at a law firm for a year. It was at that point that I decided I wanted to pursue my MLIS because I really missed working with kids. When working full-time got to be too much on top of grad school, I took a part-time position doing PR at a web design/digital marketing firm. Once that company took a turn for the economic worse, I moved on to work in a sales office, where I stayed until I got my first “real” librarian job.

I have one friend (perhaps “acquaintance” is the better term here) who makes at least one snide comment about how much I’ve job hopped every time I see her. This made me second guess myself for a long time, but I’ve come to see that she’s wrong. Yes, I’ve held many jobs in my lifetime; however, each one has taught me valuable lessons that I’ve brought with me and used to get to the point where I am now.

Despite the fact that I will probably (hopefully?) never again work in insurance law, my year at the law firm gave me a ton of useable experience. In fact, I would recommend this type of work to any recent college graduate looking to gain office experience. Legal writing is very precise and professional; I have utter confidence that I will never struggle in how to phrase an email or letter again in my life. Law firms are high-pressure environments; although some have more interaction with clients than others, this atmosphere has undoubtedly prepared me for those busy days during Summer Reading where I’m being pulled in a hundred different directions and don’t have enough hours in the day to get everything done. What else did I learn here? Telephone skills? Check. Time management? Check. Being sensitive to privacy concerns? Check. Though maybe not obvious, these are all incredibly transferable skills.

The PR job is probably my most self-explanatory non-library job experience. It was at this company that I learned how to draft a concise, yet intriguing press release, which is another task I perform at my current job at least several times a month. Not only that, but I also learned how to properly practice social media marketing (enough posts to stay on your patrons’ radar, but not so many that you become annoying), SEO (while the keywords sound awkward, THEY WORK), and even some web development (oh hey, WordPress!). I don’t regret this experience at all.

Finally, working in a sales office taught me more people skills than any other work I’ve done. Being a distributor for metrology equipment, I saw things from both the vendor and consumer side. Who would think that vendor relations is a huge part of being a librarian? It is. Those books and media items, not to mention your furniture, print work, and a million other incidentals, all get purchased from somewhere. I know how to talk to salespeople because, well, I worked with them for a year. If I’m not getting my stuff in the timeframe I was promised, I know what to do. I’m also particularly handy now at accounts receivable AND accounts payable, which, again, helps when you buy stuff for a living. Not to mention all the IT work, screening and interviewing potential hires, shipping, and renovation planning I did while I was there…

My bottom line is, a surprising variety of job experience can be applied to librarianship. So you haven’t worked in a library, but you’re finishing your MLIS? Figure out how to make your experience work for you because it’s probably not as irrelevant as you think it is. Continue to build your network too – you never know who knows whom.

To the girl who accuses me of job hopping, I’d like to point out that I firmly believe each and every one of these positions has helped me get to the place where I am today. As long as you’re not switching jobs every three months, you’ll be okay. The main goal is to learn from what you’re doing and apply it to your dream job as best you can.

Why I do what I do

Almost invariably, whenever I tell people what I do for a living, I get one of four responses:

1. “Libraries still exist?”
2. “So, you get paid to read all day?”
3. “But you’re not an old lady!”
4. “That’s cool. I like libraries.”

90% of the time, it’s option 1, 2, or 3. My acquaintances are generally even more shocked to find out that, yes, I did just complete my MLIS. I’ve come across very, very few people who realize that there IS a Master’s in library science. Even fewer have any idea of what the program entails, or why it might be necessary.

Yes, it gets frustrating to constantly defend my career choice. Still, I wouldn’t give it up for the world. There are many reasons why I do what I do.

Working with children has to be one of the most rewarding things I’ve ever done. Admittedly, I’m not much of a people person; kids, however, are a different story. They’re not jaded, and their excitement when they find a new book they like or tackle that craft they didn’t think they could do is contagious. When you work with kids, I cannot stress enough that every day is different. I’m sure any teacher could vouch for this as well; kids are unpredictable. They have good days and bad days. Fortunately, the good days far outnumber the bad, and there is always, always at least one good story to laugh about at the end of the day.

I’m also a sucker for technology. Some people may think this contradicts the very premise of a library, but I disagree. Today, public libraries are community centers. We are the main place for people to go for free computer and Internet use. If your printer’s broken, you can print at the library. Need help setting up your ereader? We can do that too. Many libraries even have fancy makerspaces where you can play with cutting-edge technologies like 3D printing, audio and video production, and more. We teach people how to use their devices and the social networks they love. I couldn’t be happier that IT was a big part of my MLIS program, and I eventually plan to go back and further my education in this field because I know it will serve me in my career.

I get to deal with a little bit of everything at work. As a youth services librarian and one of two managers at my library, I don’t just recommend books, read stories, and make crafts all day (even though I love doing each of those things). I maintain our website. I update and manage our social media accounts. I help create and balance a budget. I do extensive PR, marketing, and event planning. I’m planning a major renovation of my department, down to drawing a schematic of our Children’s Room. Sometimes I even use the skills I picked up working in a sales office. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg.

The bottom line is, working in a library is unlike anything you would expect, unless you’ve been involved in this industry. Sure, there are bad days, and I constantly worry about things like the availability of government funding, but I wouldn’t trade it for anything. This is what I love to do, and my mission is to educate the public on the value of libraries.