Career Preparation Before the Job Hunt

Reflection on your values, preferences, and strengths helps frame potential career paths.

Assessments

• Work Values Matcher
• Preference Filters self-assessment
• Meaningful Work Kit (stanford.edu)
• Top 5 Clifton Strengths

Readings

• Rethinking Information Work (Chapters 2-5)
• Designing Your Life: How to Build A Well-Lived, Joyful Life
• Who are you? What do you want?: 4 Questions that Will Change Your Life

Video Tutorials

• Realizing Career Goals Sizzle reel (linkedin.com)

 

Step By Step Guide

1. Learn how to network

• Watch and do the worksheets for Beyond Graduate School’s https://institutions.beyondgradschool.com/why-do-i-have-to-network/
• SuccessWorks’ extensive guide to networking

2. Schedule informational interviews

• A Step-by-Step Guide for Your First Informational Interview
• Tips for a Successful Informational Interview

3. Attend training and events to build skills and develop a networking plan

• DiscoverPD events and trainings
• LinkedIn Learning tutorials

4. Join student and professional associations

• iSchool Student Organizations
• UW Student Organizations
• Select LIS-Related Professional Associations

5. Use networking platforms

• LinkedIn
  
  How do I create a good LinkedIn profile?
  
  LinkedIn Profile Checklist
• Badger Bridge
  
  Badger Bridge (UW–Madison’s version of LinkedIn)
  
  Getting Started with Badger Bridge

6. Track your networking efforts

• Networking Tracker(google sheets)
  

  7. Business Cards

  Be sure you have your business cards ready before you attend career fairs and other in-person networking events.

  • Digital Publishing & Printing Services
  • Vista Print

Developing Practical Skills Through Job Posts

Internships

See Searching for a Job — Internships

Field Experiences/Practicums

MA students complete a practicum as part of the program.  For additional opportunities, contact your program manager and visit the Internships section of the toolkit.

Additional Experiences

• Volunteering
• Professional Organizations
• Class Projects
• Individual/Personal Projects

Books, Articles, Videos

Available through the iSchool Library

Additional career related books can be found through theCAI Library.

• The International Advantage: get noticed, get hired
• Rethinking information work: a career guide for librarians and other information professionals
• Designing Your Life: How to Build A Well-Lived, Joyful Life by Willam Burnett
• Who are you? What do you want?: 4 Questions that Will Change Your Life
• UX for Developers : How to Integrate User-Centered Design Principles into Your Day-To-Day Development Work

Librarianship

• So you want to be a librarian?
• Hack Library School

User Experience (UX)

• The 8 competencies of user experience: A tool for assessing and developing UX practitioners
• What a UX Career Looks Like Today
• How to land your first job in UX design: 11 common questions answered

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