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JobLIST Placement and Career Development Center

Provided by the ALA Office for Human Resource Development and Recruitment (HRDR), the ALA JobLIST Placement Center will be offered onsite, Saturday, June 22 and Sunday, June 23.

Job seekers can attend career guidance workshops, talk to a career counselor, have their resume reviewed, and talk to employers.

Conference registration is NOT required to visit the Placement Center, use Placement services, or attend any workshop.  Services and sessions are free and events and activities will be held in the Placement Center.  If there is a cost

Orientation

Saturday, June 22
8:30am - 9:00am
 

This orientation is intended for people who are not familiar with the ALA JobLIST Placement & Career Development Center. We will walk around the Center and discuss the available services and activities. Both employers and job seekers are welcome to attend. Staff will be available to answer your questions.

 

Career Counseling

Saturday, June 22, 9:00am - 5:00pm
Sunday, June 23, 9:00am - 5:00pm

Recharge your career by meeting with a professional career coach. She can guide you in strategizing for the next phase of your career, solving a problem in your current job situation, defining goals, and/or rejuvenating your career. Each one-on-one session is 20 minutes, and completely confidential.
 

Check Out a Librarian

Saturday, 2:00pm - 3:00pm

Are you a job seeker? Or, are you looking to find your librarian niche? Want to move up the career ladder but not sure how? Are you interested in some of ALA's amazing programs or in getting involved in activities? Well, we have an event just for you! Join us to talk with people who work in libraries and are doing great and interesting things in their careers. Find out how to get a job in a specific area of librarianship, move into a more specialized area, or move into your career goals. All types of libraries will be represented. Work within libraries is changing and you need to be ready! No appointment needed.

 

On-the-Fly Mentoring

Saturday, 9:00am - 12:00pm
Sunday, 1:00pm - 4:00pm

Looking for some professional guidance and advice while at the ALA Annual Conference? If so, stop by the Placement Center for ‘On-the-Fly’ Mentoring to talk with an experienced librarian about aspects of your career. Mentoring sessions are available by appointment and on a first-come, first-served drop-in basis.

 

Open House /Job Fair

Sunday, June 23, 10:30am - 12:00pm   
 

Employers will be available to talk to conference attendees about their institutions. You do not have to be an active job seeker to attend. Conference attendees can feel free to walk around and talk to employers.  No appointment necessary.

 

Photography Service

Saturday, June 22: 9:00am - 5:00pm
Sunday, June 23:  9:00 a.m. - 5:00 pm

Sign-up for an appointment with ALA's conference photography team to have a professional photo taken and set of digital images created for the attendees' use in job applications, social media, and other networking opportunities. Walk-ins welcome. The cost to attend is $20. Cash, check, or money order only.

 

Resume Review Service

Saturday, June 22 9:00am - 5:00pm
Sunday, June 23, 9:00am - 5:00pm

If you need help getting your resume polished, stop by the Center while you are at conference. Come and discover the best way to show your most recent accomplishments with an updated resume.

Career Development Workshops (CDW)

Listed below are the sessions that will be held in the ALA JobLIST Placement & Career Development Center (unless otherwise noted). There is no cost to attend. Registration is not required.
 

- Saturday, June 22 -

Dealing with Difficult People
9:00am - 10:30am

Learn practical ways to identify and remedy different types of difficult people using triage to accurately name drama patterns. Learn the signs of bullies, narcissists and emotional vampires and how to limit their harm. Deploy proven techniques to lower our reactivity to the most challenging people among us.

Presenter: Eileen T. O’Grady Ph.D., RN, NP, Certified Nurse Practitioner and Wellness Coach; Founder, The School of Wellness.
 

Sidestepping Stress in a Distractible World
10:30am – 12:00pm

Original, evidence-based solutions are offered that apply across one’s entire life. Emphasis will be placed on the science of positive psychology and how to be sure we design downtime and live our highest priorities. Learn to break persistent patterns around chronic stress using science and wisdom to cultivate a more self-authored, less reactive stance.

Presenter: Eileen T. O’Grady Ph.D., RN, NP, Certified Nurse Practitioner and Wellness Coach; Founder, The School of Wellness.

 

Wellness Works! The importance of a healthy workplace for healthy and happy library staff
1:30pm – 2:30pm
 

In partnership with ALA, the National Network of Libraries of Medicine will be presenting a discussion on how implementing a variety of health and wellness practices can have a positive impact on the library workforce. Libraries typically focus on the wellness of their communities and are not always considering how library staff are coping with workplace change, work-life balance, stress, and overall health and wellness. However, library staff are the key component to the library’s success so their well-being should be of utmost concern.  This session will present examples of how libraries, as well as individual library employees can enhance health and wellness through library space design and configuration, wellness practices, health education, and self-care strategies.

Facilitator: Christina Pryor, MLIS, Library Engagement and Missouri Coordinator, National Network of Libraries of Medicine, Mid-Continental Regional Medical Library.
 

AAUW Start Smart Salary Negotiations
3:00pm - 5:00pm

This workshop is designed to empower you to successfully and confidently negotiate your salary and benefits and to make sure your compensation is aligned with your worth and market value. Whether you are negotiating for a new job, a promotion, or a raise, we’ll show you how to be a highly objective, persuasive, and strategic negotiator. Don’t leave money on the table! Join us to gain valuable skills and strategies for successfully negotiating your salary throughout your career – not just your next job. There will be opportunities in session to practice what you learn.

Presenters:

  • Aliqae Geraci, Assistant Director of Research and Learning Services, Cornell University,  Catherwood Library
     
  • Shannon Farrell, Natural Resources Librarian, University of Minnesota Twin Cities
     
  • Beatrice Calvin, MAC, CDF, Manager, Professional Development, American Library Association and ALA-Allied Professional Association

 

- Sunday, June 22 -

How to Transition from Peer to Supervisor
9:00am - 10:30am

Transitioning from peer to supervisor can be very difficult for most newly promoted supervisors. Many are not equipped with the tools to successfully transition. In this session we will discuss what skills and abilities are needed to move into supervisory roles. Discover the tools and techniques needed to communicate more effectively, gain trust, set boundaries, provide constructive feedback and motivate employees for results.

Presenter: Dan Hoppe, Associate Executive Director, Human Resources, American Library Association
 

Wellness in the Library Workplace
1:30pm - 3:00pm

You’re a library worker. You already know how to help those in your community find health information. As a library worker, what are you doing to manage your own well-being? Individual and community well-being are inherently connected. Thus, it is critical that workplaces be areas of wellness for their employees. If you are a supervisor, how are you helping to ensure your staff stays healthy (physically, emotionally, etc.)? Join us to discover practical ways to improve your own personal well-being. We will also discuss ways to increase overall wellness for all staff in libraries so that we have happy, healthy and safe work environments.

Presenter: Bobbi Newman, MLIS, MA; Community Engagement and Outreach Specialist, National Network of Libraries of Medicine (NNLM), Greater Midwest Region (GMR), Hardin Library for the Health Sciences, University of Iowa.

 
Mastering the Interview: Visualizing Your Path Forward
3:00pm – 4:00pm

Congratulations! You’ve got an interview… now what? During this interactive workshop, we will look at what to expect when interviewing at different types of libraries: academic, special, and public. We'll discuss both remote and in-person interviews, and talk about the importance of doing your research, preparing questions for your interviewers, and following up after the interview. We will practice introductions, answering questions, and telling others about ourselves. We will discuss the benefits of building self-awareness and visualizing your destination. And finally, we will employ activities and prompts to help you cultivate your own professional practice, at any stage of your career.

  • Presenters: Susanne Markgren and Linda Miles
     
  • Susanne Markgren, Assistant Director, Library for Technical Services, Manhattan College,  Riverdale, NY
     
  • Linda Miles, Assistant Professor and Librarian, Hostos Community College – City University of New York

 

Soft Skills: What Library School Doesn't Teach You
4:00pm - 5:00pm

I learned the basics of cataloging. I took classes on providing information services. I can mine databases for information. All of these things I learned in library school. But what about the soft skills you don’t get from the classroom and can only learn on the job? In this session, you’ll find out about the knowledge, skills, and abilities that they don’t teach in school and that can help prepare you to be an even better librarian.

Presenter: Melissa Lockaby, Collection Management Librarian, University of North Georgia

For additional details, visit the JobLIST Placement Center