As Thing 2 was all about reading other Blogs and meeting other people I spent a lot of time looking through blogs rather than writing about the experience! It was nice to read about other people's jobs and backgrounds, and I commented on a number of blogs. However, I think I will wait until a few weeks into the CPD23 programme before reading more blogs, as there will be more posts to read at that stage. Also, as the amount of spare time I have is rather limited, I wonder if reading a large number of blogs, although certainly enjoyable, is the most effective use I could make of it for my CPD. There are also conferences to attend, journals and books to read, bursaries to apply for, skills that need developing, workshops to register for etc etc. As a newcomer to the profession I quickly found that one simply cannot do everything - learning to make the right choices (i.e. those that are most valuable for your personal development as well as for your career) is one of the most important skills that a new professional needs to master.
On to Thing 3: my personal brand. First of all, do I have a personal brand? I was surpised to see that most of the hits that google produces when googling my name relate to libraries and librarianship, as I have only been in this profession for less than a year (whereas I was a teacher for three years, and a Literature student for four years, and an annoying fansite-building teenager for god knows how many embarrassing years). So, appearantly I have unknowingly created a personal brand after all. Secondly, do I need a personal brand? I am aware that many trainees, students and young professionals in the LIS field, inlcuding myself, are on twitter, write blogs, etc. However, I do not think that an online personal brand will necessarily prove to be of much use when looking or applying for jobs. Although a strong online presence can facilitate reflection on the profession and the exchange of experiences that is vital for professional growth, doesn't face-to-face contact both at the workplace and at conferences as well as the development of skills and knowledge through self-study and courses far outweigh this? I think librarians should carefully think about which activities are most worthwhile, and divide their time accordingly. And although online networking may prove to be useful when recognising familiar faces at professional conferences, we musn't forget that not all information professionals blog and use twitter - in fact, most of them don't.
As a newcomer to the profession I quickly found that one simply cannot do everything - learning to make the right choices (i.e. those that are most valuable for your personal development as well as for your career) is one of the most important skills that a new professional needs to master.
ReplyDeleteThat is very true! Making the right choices and then feeling comfortable with the decision, rather than agonising about the things you have to leave to float away downstream.
I agree with your point about the decision that need making about what activities prove most useful to the individual at any stage in their career. It's also a decision about whether you want to be active or passive. Admittedly, you probably won't need much of a brand if you decide to be more passive but like you saw yourself, there's always stuff about you out there anyway. And it's keeping that in the way you want that's most important, I believe.
ReplyDeleteI'd like to think that an online brand helps with jobs but a lot of the people in the positions of influence (at the moment) are just not using the tools young professionals use. So it might not help much at present but if the online activities of us (and the movers and shakers we all know) are anything to go by hopefully this will change with the rise of a "new" generation of library and information workers.
And any online activity helps to see you are not alone with your ideas, problems, etc. And just for that it's worthwhile to have a brand that people recognise to connect with you.
I find online networking invaluable as I work alone a lot and rarely get the opportunity to attend conferences. Twitter and LinkedIn help me stay connected to at least part of the wider library and information community.
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