Published: May 6, 2016 by Kate M. Spaulding

Alumni Career Spotlights shine a light on the vast career opportunities available in the information professions.

Do you have questions about your chosen career path? Are you feeling overwhelmed by all the possible jobs open to iSchool graduates? Have you come across a job title that sounds interesting but you have no idea what it really means? I promise you, you are not alone. I had (what I thought were) firm plans when I entered the program, but the more options I learned about, the fuzzier that path got.

Enter: Alumni Career Spotlights. These show us how iSchool grads are using their degrees in Real Life, and many of them are very open to answering a few questions via email or even through informational interviews. You can search the listings by keyword, name, year graduated, and/or degree earned.

A few quick examples to whet your appetite:

• Amy Abadilla is a 2012 MARA graduate who works for the Washington State Attorney General in the Consumer Protection Division
• Joni Savage got her MLIS in 2011 and now works for Mozilla as a Content Manager
• Young Lee (MLIS 2010) and Liana Juliano (graduated 2004) are Law Librarians in California
• Rexford Quick graduated with his MLIS in 2010 and is the Library Director and assistant professor at Schreiner University in Texas.

All of these people say that it’s ok to contact them. Most of them include their LinkedIn profiles. I think we should take them at their word!

Still shy of contacting them? Think about it this way: if someone sent you an email asking about the iSchool program, would you want to respond? I’m betting YES, because this great LIS community we are now a part of prides itself on helping others and sharing ideas.

So go take a wander through the Alumni Career Spotlights and see what profiles look interesting. Can we all make a pact to contact 1-3 alumni with questions? Maybe you’ll find a new path, maybe you’ll create a new LinkedIn connection, or maybe, just maybe, you’ll find your next boss.