New Professionals Conference 2010 – First Half Thoughts

This is the first in a series of posts about my experience at the CILIP New Professionals Conference 2010.  I’ve decided to break down the event into several posts simply because I came away with so much to say and it wouldn’t do the experience justice to cram it all into one piece of writing…

Session 1: Developing your skills on a shoestring

“Would you work for free? Unpaid Work in the Information Profession and How to Make it Count – Bronagh McCrudden

This presentation discussed whether new professionals can prove their worth whilst working for free.  Many new professionals (myself included next year no doubt) find themselves stuck in a catch-22 situation whereby they can’t move up the career ladder for lack of experience but can’t gain experience thanks to a lack of job.  Bronagh proposes that working for free could be the solution.  We shouldn’t accept the old system of starting at the bottom of the ladder. We shouldn’t need to pay our dues with years of shelving, filing and making the tea. We can skip these rungs on the ladder by offering our skills on a voluntary basis, to work on projects that fill the gaps on our CV and most importantly gain the vital experience that is needed in this job market.

I know what she means; I spent 3 years at university working as a volunteer performance steward at one of the UK’s largest arts venues.  People always asked me why I would dedicate so much of my time to working for nothing when I could earn a lot of money working the same hours in a supermarket.  The answer was simple, I wanted experience of working for a cultural organisation and I was getting an experience that I would not have gained in a supermarket.  I also got to see more comedy, theatre, film, music and dance than you could ever imagine to be possible, and didn’t have to pay a single penny towards it. If I had wanted to work in the customer service side of theatre or something similar upon graduating I would have been more than qualified.  As it happens I don’t but the I’m sure the fact I have 3 years of volunteer customer service work on my CV has helped me get where I am in libraries…

That was a bit of a tangent away from libraries so now back to the main point.  I very much enjoyed Bronagh’s presentation and took a lot from it that will hopefully allow me to enhance my CV even more through volunteer work.   I have AHRC funding for my library school course, the only problem with that is the limitations imposed on hours of paid work and I am keen to gain more practical experience of working in libraries.  Could volunteering be the answer to this dilemma? Hopefully, so I will be taking on board the 9 Steps proposed by Bronagh to make sure I make the most of unpaid opportunities.

9 Steps:

• Scrutinise: Find the best opportunity for your needs
• Gamble: Accept risk
• Economise: Watch your finances
• Boomerang:  Don’t rule out returning to the family home
• Experiment: An opportunity to try out new things
• Typecast: Build a brand for yourself and develop portfolio
• Create: Find a finite project so you can create something tangible and then move on
• Broadcast: Find a way to showcase the value of your work
• Be Loyal: Don’t allow yourself to be exploited.

My past experience tells me that prospective employers acknowledge unpaid work as something extremely positive, as it shows a willingness to further your skills and demonstrates a dedication to the profession.  I’d like to thank Bronagh (as I don’t think I did on Monday) for reminding me of the value that can be found in volunteer work.

“Taking Charge of Your Continuing Professional Developing” – Laura Woods

Laura presented on how we must take responsibility for our professional development and offered ways of overcoming the barriers which might prevent us from doing this.  Although I am not at the stage in my career where this presentation might be most relevant, as it probably was for those focused on CPD and chartership, however thinking about professional development is important for everyone no matter what stage of your career you have reached.

The main barriers preventing professional development are identified as time and money. In the current economic climate many are finding that training budgets are being cut. So expensive conferences and external training events are not possible, unless you are able to pay for them out of your own pocket, which is not a reality for most.  Time is also an issue with employers being reluctant to allow staff time for professional development activities.

Laura offers excellent tips on professional development on a budget:

• Keep up-to-date with professional literature;
• Engage with the library blogosphere;
• get involved with professional bodies, committees and other organisations;
• Job shadowing can be an excellent low cost way to learn more about aspects of the profession that you are less familiar with;
• If you can’t attend an event because of time or monetary constraints then virtual attendance can be a good compromise; follow on twitter, blogs etc.
• Apply for awards and bursaries for conference attendance, apply for everything as you never know unless you try
• Create your own opportunities, if there are no sponsored places for a conference then ask about helping at the event.

“Proving the Value of Peer Networks: Plugging into Your Peers” – Bethan Ruddock

The morning session was closed by Bethan Ruddock who spoke about the importance of peer networks and discussed what we can learn from these professional contacts.  By peer networks Bethan is making reference to the groups of work related contacts we have; everything from work colleagues, member of bodies such as CILIP, Twitter followers blogging communities and mailing list contacts.

Here is a summary of the ways that peer networks can be useful:

• Support – peer network can offer help with a range of work issues
• Collaboration – can be a useful group to work through new ideas
• Collective Intelligence – shared knowledge is good
• Current Awareness Service – sharing links on Twitter and through blogs to news and opinion.
• Different points of view – networking with people from different sectors can offer valuable and varied outlooks
• Friendship – peer networks can lead to great friendships
• Personal Growth

I remembered half-way through Bethan’s presentation that I had actually responded to a survey she created about peer networks and new professionals.  One of the quotes used in the presentation was from me, so exciting that I’ve inserted the slide below!

I had forgotten writing that so wasn’t even sure for a while that it was me, it is very true what I wrote.  Peer networks have made a significant difference to my experience of the profession so far.  I haven’t been working in LIS for a full year yet I have learnt a lot, mainly thanks to peer networks.  I have learnt a lot at work obviously, but most of the library specific skills I have picked up are mainly relevant to my work here although the more general skills are transferable and adaptable.  Peer networks have provided a more rounded and rich introduction to the profession though.   Blogging has been great for reflection and making me think about wider issues, whilst the wider blogosphere has really opened my mind to so much.  Blogs and Twitter act as a current awareness  service, a support network, a place to seek experts, opinion and advice plus friendship. I’ve used peer networks to connect with other trainees and to discuss library school.  Life as a trainee can be isolating if you don’t work with other people in the same situation but peer networks can help with connecting with others to share experiences and offer support.   It is thanks to Twitter that I found out about the Career Development Group and this conference so without peer networks I wouldn’t be writing these words.