Working

Out to Lunch by J. Seward Johnson

The crowning fortune of a man is to be born to some pursuit which finds him employment and happiness, whether it be to make baskets, or broadswords, or canals, or statues, or songs.

–Ralph Waldo Emerson

First thing you should know about me: I have my dream job. Yesterday was my one year anniversary as the manager of Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh- South Side.  I often walk into work and think, “Wow, I get to work here.” I’m surprised I have any sort of career, let alone one that brings me so much personal and professional satisfaction. (See next paragraph.)

Second thing you should know about me: I hate school. I hated grade school, middle school and high school. I hated college so much that it took me eight years to graduate. When I was done it felt like I had completed a prison sentence. I vowed I would never go back. I wouldn’t even go to Oakland.

In 2004 I was hired as a library clerk at Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh- East Liberty. I loved it. Wait a second! I get to talk to people all day about books and I don’t have to work in a cubicle? Sign me up! I had to grit my teeth, suck it up and go back to school. Gross. But it was worth it. I am doing what I was meant to do.

(Every advisor I ever had dropped the ball on this one, including the jerk who suggested secretarial school.)

Find your perfect career at the library!

There are so many job and career resources at Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh. One of my personal favorites is a database called Career Cruising. I love the Assessment Tools. Take the Matchmaker test and discover what you should be doing! My first recommended job was cement mason. Roofer and chimney sweep also made the list. I think because I said I like working with my hands and being outside? Or because I love swearing? (I really do.)

See?

There are a lot of other neat tools at Career Cruising, including financial aid and employment searching, resume building and school comparison profiles. And don’t forget, you can always, always, always ask a librarian for help!

I’m not really a Who Moved My Cheese?/7 Habits of Highly Effective People/How to Win Friends and Influence People kind of reader. I’m less Oprah, more this. However, there are a few books that I have found worthwhile, especially when talking about having a calling in life.

The Butterfly Hunter, Chris Ballard

Stories of people who found their callings way, way, way off the beaten path. Learn how glass eyes are made, learn the history of window-washing and meet a dude named Spiderman Mulholland.

Getting Unstuck, Timothy Butler

Feeling stuck in a rut, personally or professionally? Find yourself thinking that there definitely should be more of…whatever? Business psychologist Timothy Butler will help you recognize your rut and unstick yourself from your paralysis.

A Life at Work, Thomas Moore

A little touchy-feely, but if you are like me and define yourself by your job then you’ll enjoy this book.

Do you have a dream job? Or a very, very worst job?

-suzy

Career Resource Workshops

Do you have a hard time traveling to Oakland, or do you just prefer to avoid it whenever possible?  If so, you’ll be glad to know that the services of the Job & Career Education Center are coming to a branch near you!  We’ll be visiting the following locations to present our Career Resource Workshops –

Your local branch probably offers its own workshops, too. For example…

East Liberty just hosted a “Resume and Cover Letter Boot Camp” class, put together by a partnership between CLP, the Bloomfield Garfield Corp. and Wireless Neighborhoods.  If you missed this class, you can contact East Liberty or the JCEC to find out about similar opportunities.

Karen Litzinger, a frequent guest of the library, just presented a workshop at the Squirrel Hill branch called “Retire, Rewire, Renew: Explore and Plan For Your Future.”   If you missed this event, Joseph P. D’Anna, a counselor at the Career Development Center, will be presenting “Learn Interviewing Techniques, How to Negotiate Offers and How to Transition Into a New Position” at Squirrel Hill on June 20.  Call Squirrel Hill if you have any questions or would like to register.

There are also several sessions left in the eight-week Job Seeking Basics series at Woods Run.  Contact them for more information.

And of course we’re planning more events and workshops all the time.  Check with your local branch or the JCEC to see what’s currently being offered.

-Denise

What’s New in the Job Center

There’s a lot going on in the Job & Career Education Center these days.  First of all, the Job Club is meeting from 6:00 PM – 8:00 PM today.

What does it take to be successful in your job search? Many experts believe that being part of a group can help. Exchange ideas and offer support to other job seekers during this informal time of networking. As a Job Club member you can share employment experiences, advice and encouragement while participating in discussions and activities geared towards helping you achieve your career goals. Registration not required.
Wednesday, April 25, 2012 
6:00 PM – 8:00 PM

We’re also still scheduling Resume and Cover Letter Assistance Appointments on Tuesday afternoons and Wednesday evenings (call 412-622-3133 to register) and offering Mock Interviews on Mondays from 11:00 AM – 12:00 PM (no registration required).

On Friday we’ll be hosting An Introduction to CareerLink in the PC Center.

Elizabeth Neidle of Allegheny West CareerLink will introduce participants to CareerLink services, including their workshops, the Commonwealth Workforce Development System (CWDS), and more.  Registration is required.
Friday, April 27, 2012
10:00 AM – 12:00 PM

Next week we’re offering a Neighborworks Financial Literacy Workshop.

This Financial Literacy Workshop is part of the Three Rivers Workforce Investment Board’s Imagine! Career Week program, and it will cover the steps in how to develop a budget; tracking expenses and creating a savings plan for your goal; and identity theft and what steps to take if you find yourself a victim. This workshop will also include education on laws that were passed to help to protect consumers from predatory practices; what makes up FICO scores; and ways to improve and/or protect it.  Registration is required.
Monday, April 30, 2012 
1:00 PM – 3:00 PM

And the Spring 2012 lineup of Skills for Success Speaker Series events is well underway.  You can still register for the following dates:

• Working in the Marcellus Shale Industry 
  Saturday, April 28, 2012  from 1:00 PM – 3:00 PM
• Entrepreneurship for Job Seekers and Career Changers
  Saturday, May 5, 2012  from 1:00 PM – 3:00 PM
• Know Your Credit, Avoid Identity Theft
  Wednesday, May 16, 2012  from 5:30 PM – 7:30 PM

Of course, you’re welcome to call or visit the Job & Career Education Center any time you have a career-related question.

-Denise

What’s New in JCEC

A lot has been happening in the Job, Career and Education Center lately.

We’ve scheduled spring dates for our Skills for Success speaker series, starting with Job Hunting after 50 in April.  (We’ve tried to address topics of interest to our customers, so if there’s something you’d like to learn more about, please let us know!)

Due to their overwhelming popularity in 2011, we’re offering more Resume and Cover Letter Assistance appointments.  They’ll now be held on Tuesday afternoons, in addition to Wednesday evenings.  Registration is required and openings book up quickly, so call soon.

Job Club, our discussion group that provides job hunting support and networking opportunities, returns on February 29th.  There is often a theme or activity for each meeting, but feel free to bring any job hunting questions or concerns you may have.

We’ve also started giving Mock Interviews, on Mondays from 11-12.  There is no registration; just walk in and speak to a staff member.

And in addition to our monthly JobWire email newsletter we’re now sending Job Watch updates, in which we pass along the latest openings and job fairs that cross our desk.  To subscribe, email jcec@carnegielibrary.org with Job Watch / JobWire in the subject line.

Since JCEC and the PC Center have joined forces, our services have started to overlap.  You can now see all of both departments’ events in one handy calendar.  There is always a link to the most current calendar on this page, and we send a link in the JobWire newsletter when the new one is ready.

As always, if you have any questions or would like to register for one of our programs, please stop by, call (412) 622 – 3133, or send us an email.

Skills for Success: Fine Tune Your Résumé

Conventional wisdom says that the holiday season is slow for job hunters.  If you find that to be true, you can use the down-time to your advantage by upgrading your résumé skills.

This Saturday at 12 PM, the JCEC will be hosting the final Skills for Success Speaker Series workshop of the year –

Skills for Success Speaker Series: Fine Tune Your Resume




Résumés have undergone changes in the past few years. Toss out the outdated and bring in the new. Show the value you will bring to an employer through a short profile of skills and achievements, by using numbers to indicate how you deliver results, and by demonstrating how your job skills match employers’ needs. Learn quick tips to create or update a resume that will appeal to employers and demonstrate the benefits of hiring you. Current trends in paper and online résumés will be discussed.




Presented by: Carol Silvis

Event fee: Free




Location: CLP – Main (Oakland)

International Poetry Room – 2nd Floor
4400 Forbes Ave
Pittsburgh, PA 15213




Contact:

Wes Roberts

412-622-3133

jcec@carnegielibrary.org




Registration is required for this event.

You can register by calling 412-622-3133 or by filling in the form on this page and clicking on the Register button.




The Skills for Success Speaker Series began this fall, and took place at CLP – Main JCEC and several of the South Hills branches. We’ll be offering another round of programming in these locations next year.  To be notified when new events are scheduled, sign up for Jobwire (the library’s job and career email newsletter) by clicking the link on this page.




A very limited number of one-on-one résumé and cover letter assistance appointments with a qualified volunteer are also available in the JCEC, starting in January.  To see if you can schedule an appointment or get on the waiting list, call the JCEC at (412) 622-3133.




Whether or not you’re able to attend any of our events, you may also be interested in the library’s online Résumé Maker tool (which I reviewed last winter), or one of our many résumé advice books:




Gallery of Best Résumé : A Collection of Quality Résumé by Professional Résumé Writers by David F. Noble

Résumé Magic: Trade Secrets of a Professional Résumé Writer by Susan Whitcomb

Knock ‘Em Dead: Secrets and Strategies From the Insiders by Martin Yate

What Color Is Your Parachute? Guide to Job Hunting Online by Mark Bolles




Happy holidays, and may 2012 be everything you wish for.

-Denise

What’s New in JCEC

A lot of exciting things are happening in the Job and Career Education Center.  First of all, our new Job Club starts Wednesday, August 31 at 6:00 PM.

What does it take to be successful in your job search? Many experts believe that being part of a group can help. Exchange ideas and offer support to other job seekers during this informal time of networking. As a Job Club member you can share employment experiences, advice and encouragement while participating in discussions and activities geared towards helping you achieve your career goals. The topic for our August Job Club will be skill and interest assessments. Register online, or call 412-622-3133.

Another program we’re about to launch is the Skills for Success Speaker Series, including presentations on career planning, writing a cover letter, and fine-tuning your resume.  The first one is on September 14th, and will help you choose the best career for your personality type.

The PC Center is also adding three new career classes to its schedule – Career Cruising, Online Job Searching, and Resume Tune-Up.   Check the class information page for calendars, descriptions, and handouts.

And the JCEC and Teen have collaborated on a SAT and College Prep Resources workshop, which will be held September 24th.  We’ll show you what free online and print materials you can find at the library, and how to use them.

Registration is required for all of these events.  Please visit the JCEC or call us at (412) 622 – 3133 to register or find out more.

-Denise

Resume and Cover Letter Assistance

We’re proud to announce the return of Resume and Cover Letter Assistance in the Job & Career Education Center.  A qualified volunteer will be available on Wednesday nights from 6 – 8 pm.  Please call the JCEC at 412-622-3133 to schedule an appointment.

Obviously, nothing compares to one-on-one time with another human being.  But if you need help immediately, or you just can’t get to Oakland, we have other options.  I’ve already blogged about the library’s online resume software  – Resume Maker (when the next page pops up, just enter your library card number to gain access).  The JCEC also collects the most current resume and cover letter guides we can find, and you can request them to be sent to any library in Allegheny County.

And of course, if you have questions about any of these resources, or about your job search in general, don’t hesitate to give us a call, send an email, or stop by.

-Denise

More Things You Didn’t Know About JCEC

The Job and Career Education Center offers a few services and resources that many people don’t know about.  

Did you know we have a scanner with OCR (optical character recognition) software?  This means that we can help you create edit-able computer files from a paper document.  It works better than you’d think!  So if the only thing you can find is a hard copy of an outdated resume, our scanner can save you a lot of typing.   

We are also able to send outgoing faxes for all customers at the rate of $1 / page.  We’ll even provide you with a free cover sheet and make sure you receive a confirmation page.  (Unfortunately, we are unable to receive incoming faxes for customers at this time.)

Once again, I cannot say enough nice things about Resume Maker.  If you haven’t tried it yet, you’re missing out.

The Audio / Visual collection in the JCEC may seem small compared to the department down the hall from us, but it’s packed with interesting titles.  Now you can brush up on your Interview Techniques, discover Power Networking, or learn how to write the perfect college admission essay, all without having to crack a book.

On a side note, if you’re using JCEC resources in your job-hunt, please call or visit our Ask a Librarian desk and complete a brief form for statistical purposes.  And when you find your new job, we hope that you’ll check back again to let us know about it.  These two small steps can have a big impact on maintaining the JCEC’s funding.

The JCEC is ready to assist you whenever the Main Library is open – Monday through Thursday from 10 until 8, Friday and Saturday from 10 until 5:30, and Sunday from 12 until 5.  We look forward to seeing you!

-Denise

Testing and Education Reference Center

If you’re taking a standardized test, whether it’s the SAT or the Firefighter exam, you can get free test prep materials from the library. 

To access a free, online version of any Peterson’s book, go to http://www.carnegielibrary.org/research/jobsedu/databases.html and scroll down to “Testing & Education Reference Center.”  Then, if you’re at home, click “Remote Access” and enter your library card number.  (While TERC looks like any other normal website, the library pays to have access to it, so you have to go through these steps to prove you’re a member.)

You’ll have to create an account, which TERC primarily uses to send you the scores to any practice tests you may take.  This should be a quick and painless process.  

On the front page, you’ll see groups of standardized tests.  (They also offer related tools, such as college and financial aid information, career research, and even resume assistance.)   If your test isn’t on the front page, they probably still cover it.  Use the search box in the upper right to find out. 

Of course, you can also come into the library for print materials.  If your local library doesn’t stock a particular title, you can request one to be sent to you.  Or, as always, you can come visit the Job and Career Education Center in Oakland.

-Denise

Leave a comment on today’s post for a chance at today’s prize in the 29 Gifts giveaway.  Daily winners will be contacted by e-mail.

Resume Maker

The JCEC has many fine databases, but my current favorite is Resume Maker.

If your resume is already digitized, you can import it into Resume Maker and start editing.  Or, you can start a new file and enter your personal information by hand.  There are sample resumes and cover letters that you can browse for inspiration.  There’s also a helpful “Examples and Advice” button, which appears at key decision-making points.

Everything is customizable.  Want a heading for “Campus Involvement?”  Click “Add sections,” and find it in the list.  Don’t want an “objective?”  Delete that section.  List things chronologically, or try your hand at a functional resume.  Then you can style it further by choosing a layout from a drop-down menu, or tinkering with the settings yourself.   Your resume is truly a living document, always ready to be changed, printed, or emailed.

Resume Maker also has a section for general job hunting and career advice.  Their tab for interview preparation is impressive, and includes videos, sample questions, and even salary advice.

To try Resume Maker, visit the list of JCEC databases, and scroll down.  If you’re not in a library, click “remote access.”  You’ll need to enter a valid library card number.  Feel free to call or visit if you have questions about Resume Maker, or any of our services.

-Denise