Career Blog: Networking

Overview

Career Blog: Networking

Career Blog

How to Get the Most Out of Joining a Professional Association

Illustration of professional people gathered

Published: June 20, 2023 by Hannah Nguyen

There are many professional organizations within the field of librarianship that offer networking opportunities, scholarships, grants, continuing education, and other resources and perks. You may already be familiar with some of these organizations because the iSchool provides a complimentary one-year membership for students enrolled in Info 200. If you’ve never joined a professional association before, you may feel overwhelmed by the new emails or feel unclear about how to contribute. Here are some tips to help you get the most out of your membership.

Career Blog

Four Reasons to Join Student Leadership

Man during video call with six other people

Published: April 30, 2023 by Hannah Nguyen

There are ten student groups offered at the iSchool that offer a wide range of benefits to enrich your educational experience. Several of these groups are associated with larger professional associations (such as ALA, ASIS&T, SLA, and SAASC), and others have been created at the iSchool as a reflection of student interests. You may be familiar with many of them from emails advertising free panels, student mixers, or webinars. If you have ever considered joining student leadership in one of these groups, many of them are actively recruiting for the upcoming academic year. Here’s why you should consider nominating yourself to be a student leader:

Career Blog

How to Choose Your Career Pathway

Image of feet facing arrows going in multiple directions

Published: February 1st, 2023 by Hannah Nguyen

Many students enter grad programs without a clear direction or lose sight of their original focus once they realize how many career options are available. Since a significant amount of iSchool students are making a career change, it is understandable that they want to be sure they’re making a wise decision. So, let’s discuss some ideas and resources that will help you make a pathway choice you can feel confident about!

Career Blog

Fun Fact: You Should Share a Personal Interest on LinkedIn

Published: February 7, 2022 by Jillian Collins

LinkedIn is the career platform to attract, interact and connect with potential employers and peers. Your profile is like a résumé, personal statement, and community endorsements. With all the highlights of professional space in your profile, what can you share – as a person – to answer the question: “What’s an interesting fact about you?” A fun fact can cultivate a professional relationship beyond your résumé.

Career Blog

Direct Your Career by Managing Up

Published: September 10, 2021 by Jillian Collins

Managing up is the process of learning your boss’s management and communication preferences, and then adapting your communication in the workplace that supports those preferences. Clear communication among all staff members is one of the building blocks of great working relationships that enable teams to reach the goals of the organization. The same holds true for your relationship with your boss. 

Career Blog

Professional Visibility = Professional Opportunities

Published: August 20, 2021 by Jillian Collins

When you’re a student, it’s natural to focus your efforts on your courses, your GPA, and for a few highly organized types, your e-Portfolio items. But since the goal of getting a master’s degree is to land a job that can help launch a career you love, now is also a great time to be paying attention to an equally important asset: your professional visibility.

Career Blog

Your First Job is Step One to Your Career

Published: July 13, 2021 by Jillian Collins

Your first job is a huge milestone! As you complete your MLIS program, you’re gaining specialty tools to thrive in an expanding market. Your first job with your master’s degree is just the foot in the door. Your eventual career may end up being completely different from the door you first walk in, which is part of your growth as a professional, and the way your fellow professionals grow, as well.

Career Blog

In case you missed it: How to Build Your Professional Network (Without Feeling Weird About It)
On-Demand Webcast with Kim Dority

Published: June 15, 2021 by Jillian Collins

So many people have networking anxieties. That’s why we’re lucky to have Kim Dority, the fantastic iSchool career consultant! Check out her presentation, How to Build Your Professional Network (Without Feeling Weird About It). Kim goes beyond networking as a ‘thing to do’: strategies, etiquette, and what you can do now that builds up a network bit-by-bit! 

Career Blog

The Impact of Feedback on Your Personal Brand

Published: March 10, 2021 by Jillian Collins

Your professional reputation, also known as your “brand,” is the foundation of the essentials in career kits and in your long-term career development strategy. And because everyone forms an opinion of us during any interaction we have, it’s not like we can just decide to ignore all this brand stuff. Better to take charge of how others see you to ensure they’re seeing the real you.

Career Blog

How to Get the Most from Handshake

Published: February 16, 2021 by Jillian Collins

If you read the first part of my interview with Carrie McKnight, SJSU graduate student career counselor, you’ll already know that Handshake is way more than a smaller version of  LinkedIn. That’s important because although you may be a student now, you’re going to be looking for a job sooner than you can imagine. In the meantime, you want to make the most of every SJSU career resource you can, including virtual career fairs, vetted position postings, and tools that curate your profile to boost your visibility.

Career Blog

Carrie McKnight Wants You to Know…

Published: January 21, 2021 by Jillian Collins

Meet SJSU graduate student career counselor, Carrie McKnight. While we have entered 2021, my interview with her in December 2020 clued me in on three crucial career center tools. With Carrie insight, it’s much easier to turn career resolutions into reality. As Carrie said to me, “My job is to advocate for you guys because you guys do such great work.”

Career Blog

‘Free-sources’ for Your (Creative) Career Kit

Published: November 30, 2020 by Jillian Collins

It’s always a good time to maintain your career kit. You know that you need to tailor your template résumé and generic cover letter to specific job openings and keep your LinkedIn profile current, but how do you grab attention to create and build your personal brand? There are three online tools I use that I’d like to share with you because they’re easy to learn and use quickly, and they’re free! Those tools are 1) the LinkedIn Publishing Platform, 2) Canva graphic design platform, and 3) professional photographs from Unsplash.

Career Blog

Get to Know Your Network (and Let Them Get to Know You)

Published: November 13, 2020 by Jillian Collins

Effort makes for a great network. The networking bit is always a bit of a hurdle. It can be awkward to approach someone to be a mentor or join a group that appeals to your career aspirations. Career confidence in networking starts when you take initiative to get to know “your network” as individual people just like you.

Career Blog

Expand Your Network Online

Published: October 7, 2020 by iSchool Career Advisor

Learning how to find great information sources will go a long way towards making you a better student and LIS professional. Here’s how!

Career Blog

Networking and Your Personal Style

Published: September 29, 2020 by iSchool Career Advisor

We know that networking is the best job search strategy for tapping into the hidden job market but in reality, few people enjoy it or feel comfortable doing it. The thought of networking often conjures up the stereotype of being a schmoozer and feeling pressured to “work the room.” While attending a networking event and talking to as many people in the room as possible certainly works for some, here’s an alternate approach that could appeal to apprehensive networkers.

Career Blog

Networking — Asking the Right Questions

Published: September 27, 2020 by iSchool Career Advisor

Have you attended a conference and found that you were not as prepared as you’d like to have been with knowing what questions to ask employers or other professionals? We can help with that.

It can be difficult and uncomfortable when you can’t easily think of questions. Here are recommendations for subjects you may want to explore. Choose questions that feel right for you so you sound natural and conversational versus rehearsed.

Career Blog

Why You Should Join Professional Associations Now

Published: September 21, 2020 by iSchool Career Advisor

You know networking is good for future job prospects. It’s also good for future projects and opportunities (for example, maybe you’ll meet the perfect person to write a paper with or discover a panel or round table you want to participate in). Those projects and participatory experiences in turn grow your network, teach you new skills, and may help you land your dream job. Maybe you will meet someone with a job title you’ve never heard of and fall in love with it.