Promoting Library and Information Careers to University Students – Career Stories

Over the summer whilst I was completing my dissertation I was contacted by the careers service at the university I attended for my undergraduate degree to ask if I would be willing to write my career story for the careers service website.

As I was so busy with my dissertation I decided to put it on hold for a while which worked out very nicely as then I got offered my current job meaning I could write up a career story which featured my current role as a media librarian too.

Writing my career story came with a couple of challenges.   The pressure was on because despite keeping up with this blog for over two years now still I’m not overly confident with writing, especially when I know it will be out there on the internet to be read by a lot of people.

Firstly deciding upon the content of my story proved quite a challenge; despite not having a very long career to cover to date there was still a lot to cover.  I tried to give a balanced account of my journey from undergraduate study, to my graduate trainee year, library school and then my first job as a qualified librarian.  I chose to give a brief account of the most important parts of all of these rather than lots of detail about my current role because I thought it important to show the journey rather than the end destination.

Also challenging was pitching my story to the level of the audience.   Trying to put myself back into the mind-set of someone who knows nothing of libraries, except that they are a place to write an essay, to explain how it can be an exciting and interesting career.

Here is the career story that I finally came up with:

 “In my final year at Warwick like many others I didn’t know what I wanted to do next.  The idea of a career involving research interested me and I enjoyed the customer service aspect of my part-time job at Warwick Arts Centre but I didn’t know what type of jobs would require those skills.   After discovered library and information work at a careers event, I realised it was the type of job I would enjoy as library and information careers bring together helping people, working with new technologies and researching information.

After graduating I was successful in finding library work in the form of a graduate traineeship with the Bodleian Libraries at the University of Oxford.  During my yearlong contract I was able to gain experience of the core aspects of library work; enquiry work, user-education and cataloguing and classification.  The trainee scheme incorporated an excellent training programme and gave opportunity to learn about the wider profession through visits and work shadowing opportunities which was valuable in helping to decide what to do next.

Upon starting the graduate traineeship I discovered a postgraduate qualification was essential to progress further in the profession. I was given an AHRC studentship to study for an MA in Librarianship full-time at the University of Sheffield which is a course accredited by the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals.  Although titled librarianship the course allowed opportunity to explore information in a broader context.  I took modules focused on information in healthcare, business, and education as well as the role of libraries in society, archives, databases, and management.

I now work at ITV as an assistant media librarian.  My role is based within one of the television libraries in which copies of ITV programmes are stored.  Unsurprisingly the collection is massive, with copies of TV programmes and news broadcasts held within the library.  The team I work with are responsible for providing tapes of programme for use in many ways.  It’s important and exciting work; we provide access to the material so it can be reused in the programmes you watch today. Maintaining a library of the content also ensures the heritage of the company is preserved as the programmes it makes will be preserved and accessible for the future.

I love library and information work because the possibilities are incredibly varied, organisations of every sector employ information professionals in a range of roles.  The scope for getting involved outside work is also vast; so far in my short career I’ve attended international conferences, delivered conference papers and been to many interesting lectures.  I even hope to publish a research paper in a library and information journal.  I’m a member of professional member organisations including the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals (CILIP) and the Special Library Association (SLA) which offer fantastic events, networking opportunities and a chance to make your career more than just a job.“

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