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Rank: Member
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Location: Las Vegas, NV
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Hi! I'll be graduating in May with my degree so I'm gearing up for my big job search. I've been working on a professional website which would include basically just more information about me, my professional experience, my practicum, and so on. I also have built a mock-up of a public library's teen page since I want to be a teen librarian and many MANY of the teen pages I see today leave a lot to be desired.
First off, I don't know if employers will take my suggestion from my cover letter and visit the site. Secondly, I'm not sure if I should even do this since the site contains pictures of myself and right now I feel like the thing that could potentially hold me back the most is my age. I have a great deal of library experience from many types of libraries and all areas of the library... but I'm only 24. Does age matter that much? Will it hold me back if people see me and I look young, or do people expect a young teen librarian? Maybe I'm just worried about nothing :)
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Rank: Advanced Member
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SaraD wrote:I also have built a mock-up of a public library's teen page since I want to be a teen librarian and many MANY of the teen pages I see today leave a lot to be desired. Sara: You've noted that many of the teen library pages on the Internet have a lot to be desired. This is very true! If your mock teen page takes it to the next level, you've already demonstrated yourself to be a valuable asset; people who can construct worthwhile web pages are desirable employees to have. Also, I wouldn't be embarrassed in any way, shape, or form about your age...
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Rank: Advanced Member
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Just make sure everything on the page is the professional you. Is your photo professional? Do you link only to your professional presence on the web? Don't make it easy for potential employers to find personal information about your (your personal blog, flickr pages, etc).
I suspect some potential employers will look up your website.
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Hey Sarah,
I think it would be fine to include your page information. I know I would have been very interested in seeing what you had done for a teen page, and I was a young adult librarian who was often in on the hiring of other librarians. Just take the recommendations of the other posters and make sure people can only find what you want them to find. Clean up anything you don't want your perspective employers to see.
As for your age, I personally think it will be an advantage since you want to be a teen librarian. I started my position as a young adult librarian at the age of 24, and think it helped me working with the teens. Don't give that a second thought, and in fact, I think it will work for you rather than against.
Good luck!
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Location: Philadelphia, PA
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Hi -- I always pointed potential employers to my web site and have always expected them to Google me (or, back in the day, AltaVista me), so while I have plenty of things online that are not work-related, there's nothing I'd be worried about anyone seeing. If anything, it's always been handy in interviews for them -- they can say, 'oh, I see you are also interested in x, so is another employee,' and so forth. It's an ice-breaker if nothing else, although I've been surprised in the past at things people have left online when I've been on the interviewer end myself. I can understand your concern about looking young (I finished my BA at 20 and was doing managerial work in high-tech industries by the time I was 23), but it always worked to my advantage back then (since those days are gone!) -- people assumed I was younger and, therefore, up on the latest technology. I would think it would apply in the same way for you. Good luck!
Lisa Grimm Assistant Archivist Drexel University College of Medicine Archives & Special Collections on Women in Medicine and Homeopathy
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SaraD wrote:First off, I don't know if employers will take my suggestion from my cover letter and visit the site. In the age of Google, even if you do not give them a web address to your online presence, someone will find it anyways. It is quite common to have your name googled during the hiring process.
Brian C. Gray Head of Reference & Engineering Librarian Kelvin Smith Library Case Western Reserve University http://blog.case.edu/bcg8bcg8@case.edu
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Rank: Advanced Member
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Location: Wisconsin
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bcgray wrote:
In the age of Google, even if you do not give them a web address to your online presence, someone will find it anyways. It is quite common to have your name googled during the hiring process.
With WisLISjobs, I have also noticed that potential employees will also Google the name of potential employers as well. Some days it is quite interesting to check the referrer reports for my site.
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