Published: November 7, 2016 by Kate M. Spaulding

On Wednesday, November 9, Sally Gore will speak about “Supply & Demand: Matching Your Skills to the Information Needs of Today” via Collaborate. Another applicable name, perhaps, could be “How to Get a Job.” Maybe that holds some appeal? The webcast is live from 5:30-6:30pm Pacific, and a recording is now available on YouTube.

Sally Gore has had a non-traditional LIS career path, writes interesting blog posts, and I’m looking forward to her talk. Last year she wrote,

So in my 10 years, I’ve been a consumer health librarian, a reference librarian, a research and scholarly communications librarian, an informationist, and now a research evaluation analyst. But remember what I said earlier, for me these are all facets of the same profession – librarianship and/or information science. They’re all about dealing with information, that’s the common denominator.

And that approach? Using skills and smarts to do what is interesting and important? That’s what fascinates me, and it’s also what experts say is the LIS future.

Ms. Gore’s webcast will help us assess and identify our marketable LIS skills and how they can add value to our job applications, and, ultimately, to our employers. She’s written about how she “inventories” her own skills, and I want to hear more about it.

One thing I’ve learned during this new career phase of mine is that it can be incredibly powerful to be able to quantify your skills and your work for current or future employers or clients. Think about it: do you prefer evidence-backed claims? Of course. So as part of your interview preparation, quantifying your skills and gathering examples (read: data-driven proof) will make you a stronger candidate.

I hope you’ll join me on Wednesday at 5:30pm Pacific to learn how to identify and market the skills we know and the skills we’re learning. I’m all for figuring out how to move my resume to the top of the heap!