Professional Communimication

Last Tuesday, I attended the MLIS Retreat. While the entire conference was quite enlightening as to the past, present, and future of the program, I was particularly struck by the emphasis on soft skills. There seems to be, for the most part, a noticeable lack of soft skills development within the program, despite the instructors’ best efforts to encourage us to develop them through assignments and presentations.

What exactly is a soft-skill you ask? John Fracasso, the Computing Services Manager at FIMS, wrote a paper answering this question and emphasizing the importance of soft skills to librarianship. Here, you can take a test to see if you are “Soft-Skills Savvy” and get a better idea of what exactly these qualities entail. John did an excellent job of citing the gap in evaluation of soft skills: how students acquire them, how these skills are used in the job, and if the program is adequately fostering them within their graduates. After the session, a fellow student informed me that FIMS actually offers a Professional Communication course (LIS-594), which has not been taught in several years. All of these ideas together have been lingering in the back of my mind each time I go to work or enter into a situation where communicating in a professional manner is essential to my success (emails, presentations, and I suppose we could include blogging…).

I have now caught myself, only a few times albeit, saying “yeah,” “nope,” “no prob,” etc. on the job. While I have managed to correct myself with the more appropriate yes, no, not a problem (some variation of the above), I wonder where I learned these skills? I remember my parents correcting my speech when I was younger, but other than that, I cannot remember a time when I was “taught” how to communicate professionally, to my peers, to colleagues, to employers, etc. I do not think that the MLIS program has shown me these skills or taught me them. Yet, the constant emphasis on the professional aspect of the program reminds me that I must keep working on my own soft-skills. There are also things that I know I must improve in order to better communicate in the workplace. For instance, my memo-writing skills could use some work.

With the elimination of 505 as a required course, I would argue that 594 should take its place as a requirement for students entering the program. For those of us who have spent most of our lives in academia, we might be unsure of how to adapt our writing to the professional community. There is a large difference between the beautiful flowing sentences of a wonderfully crafted sentence and the brief, yet informative, communication of an important message and/or idea. Also, conference, networking, and interviewing skills are those unfamiliar to many individuals. In order to succeed, then, in the professional community, we need to critically reflect on the soft skills that we have, those that need improving, and those that we must develop.

For more on professional communication, see Catherine Ross and Patricia Dewdney’s monograph entitled Communicating Professionally. I have yet to read it, but it is definitely on my “to buy” list!

What to Wear at Work

Much to my dismay, I just realized that ten days has passed without a posting (notice the direct correlation with the end of term). Thank you to Jason for the mention on his blog, Head Tale! You’ve encouraged me back into blogging action, although I do not know if I will ever be quite as prolific in the library blogging community. We shall see…

Today’s topic is one much dear to my heart, especially since I have recently re-entered the working world after a VERY long hiatus. The last six years of my life have largely be spent in school, save a few summer jobs and part-time employment throughout the school year. Those jobs, for the most part, have also been in a kitchen environment, where your work attire is decided for you (chef’s jacket and very unattractive, yet practical, pants—I’ve had chili pepper pants and checkered pants, but alas, no chef’s hat). Depending on where you go to school, you can wear pretty much anything to classes (and to my side job as a research assistant): from the ever popular business short, right down to jogging pants. Even in the library program, there seems to be no standardized dress code for students who wear whatever they want. Recently, Wendy Newman’s talk (below), made me reconsider my own decidedly causal wardrobe in a new light. Certainly, my instructors do no frequent classes in jeans and t-shirts/tank tops, nor do they wear jogging pants. If they can take the time to make themselves look professional, shouldn’t I?

Yet, what exactly does it mean to “dress seriously to be taken seriously”? Does this entail the famous navy blue suit that Martha has frequently mentioned in Management (506)? Should I go out a purchase my very first suit/skirt combination? What would Stacy and Clinton say? In my daily routine through the news (The Star, The Globe and Mail, CBC.ca, etc…), I saw this article. While the author purports to answer the infamous question “What’s a woman to wear” in the workplace, she offers few real suggestions for women who constantly grapple with this issue. Beyond the typical “dress for the job you aspire to” or “[l]ook at the head of your department,” Gerson does not seem to know what to tell people. I concede, however, that this is probably not her fault since, as she indicates, dress codes differ from place to place. I was hoping that the article would answer the what to wear to work question for me, but alas, I will have to continue to contemplate the answer as I stand behind the desk, looking at my co-workers wondering, indeed, if I should go shopping. Some days, I miss the simplicity of the uniform…

As I wander through the mall, attempting to create a work wardrobe that I’m comfortable in, I will keep both Wendy and Gerson’s advice in my mind, along with the occasion nagging snippet of what I’ve gleaned from “What Not to Wear.” While this has perhaps seemed as a somewhat frivolous post, I would argue that this is a very real problem for women especially, who are now entering the professional community. For those of you who have figured out the what-to-wear conundrum, please share your sage advice with those of us who cannot seem to figure out which shoes go with which outfit, or even how to put an outfit together.

Tips for the Future

On April 10th, I went to see a talk by Wendy Newman (past CLA president and very experienced librarian!. She gave a great talk, and offered the 10 things that she wished someone had told her when she entered the profession. Just thought I’d share:

1)There is bound to be tension between your role as an employee and your role as a professional. As such, it’s important for you to be both!

2)Become immersed in “timeless” library values and personalize them for what you believe in. Most importantly, know what you believe in.

3)In your first three years in the profession, becoming a ranking expert in at least one thing.

4) You, and not your employer, are responsible for your own morale:
a) know what’s going on-ask questions and read!
b) decide what you can do about it and then do it
c) spend time with positive people
d) get career advice from people you admire (ask what makes them happy and
proud to be who they are)

5) Present yourself professionally:
a) dress seriously to be taken seriously
b) master public speaking–even if it kills you
c) write concisely
d) proof-read everything
e) never send a silly or offending email, no matter how funny you think it is

6) Look at the long-view: part-time and/or temporary jobs are still experience and can teach you valuable skills.
a) hire people/work for people smarter than you
b) avoid people who complain about the boss
c) remember: the library community is a small one!
d) cultivate positive relationships (accommodate people in your environment)
e) become someone who is efficient, someone who gets it right

7) Association work is important! Volunteer and go to conferences.

The higher up you go, the more ambiguity you will have to deal with.

9) You will need to be a skilled advocate–it’s part of your professional responsibility.

10) You need to know when it’s time to quit.

Exercise for Librarians

Have a few minutes between patrons? A second to spare between RQs? Take some helpful tips from Betty Glover’s ‘87 workout regime for librarians!

Creepy or Cool?

Many of us have heard of Second Life…if you haven’t, this article explains it fairly well. It’s like playing The Sims, only instead of interacting with fictional characters, you’re connecting with real people (identities ultimately unknown) who are represented through avatars. The imagined community it creates is truly amazing in terms of social software because you can virtually interact with anyone the same way you do in “real” (or your “first??!?”) life. Communication changes when you can see the individuals with whom you interact, and I wonder to what extent a program like this can replace face-to-face…

Nonetheless, the whole concept of having a second life is still far to disturbing for me to handle and it will likely be a very long while before I venture into the world with “Avatar Jess.” The fact that there are prostitutes and drug dealers in the Second Life world as well, also makes me wonder. If you could have a second life, is that the one you’d imagine for yourself? I wonder how you would fit into Second Life if you were truly yourself? Would the interactions you have with individuals be similar to the ones you have in the fleshy world? Maybe one day I’ll cave, join facebook, myspace, and second life all in one fell swoop.

Calgary Public Library Ad!

Most people will have already seen this because they are in 506! If you have not had a chance to see it, give the ad at watch!

Warning: You might have to watch it twice and have someone else point out what is actually going on *cough* Me… *cough* Mark had to explain the commercial! It was much better after he did so. Quite witty in fact!

Too exciting!!!

Today, I answered by first RQ. As Mark pointed out, the question could have been ANYTHING, and I would have been equally as excited! I love libraries! That is all.

He didn’t want to be a hero. He only wanted a job.

Once in awhile, a movie comes around that promises to change the way society views librarians, depicting them as chic, sophisticated individuals…The Librarian is not that movie. Not only does it reinforce that people do not need an M.L.I.S. to become a librarian, but the movie implies that magic fills the library world as job invitations come floating in at just the opportune time, the public library system has priceless possessions (and therefore funding!) that we have only heard about in stories, and librarians guard the world’s treasures-which, incidentally, are not books. Flynn Carsen (“the librarian”) does not even want to be a librarian at first—he just wants a job. I’ll end my review there, since I do not want to spoil the movie for others. Movie night next term anyone?

One Amongst Many

In an attempt to resist the rise of Facebook and MySpace, I’ve created my own blog. Is this really any better? Probably not…Cheers to another blog amongst many in the vast social network!