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Job alternatives for a librarian?
Librarian
The face of liberal fascismRegistered User regular
The face of liberal fascismRegistered User regular
Short version:
I worked at my job in a public library since 2007, until various factors at work led to me getting depressed and suffering from anxiety.
HR guaranteed me a new job within the city council, when nothing happened for almost a year I decided to sue and won a small settlement and excellent recommendations for my job applications.
So now I am looking for a new job, but there are some problems, mainly:
1) I would prefer not to work in a public library anymore, as the inefficiency with which public libraries are run and the high number of unqualified people that work for the council and are de facto unfire-able while making everyone else's life a pain is just not something I want to get back to.
2) While I have recommendations from some high profile international NGOs and institutions I worked with during my years at university and I also can show some volunteer work and I have done literally everything there is to do in a public library, the job market for librarians is pretty bad and I do not really feel I am ready to move to a completely new area where I know noone and have to start from scratch.
3) I am actually not sure I want to work as a librarian again. Well it is definitely not my dream job and I finished my studies(with something between a bachelor and master, this was before my country switched to the Bachelor/Master system) because I wanted to finish something for once, not because this was my dreamjob. I nearly dropped out a couple of weeks before finishing my studied because I got offered a job as a community manager for a big online game. Was already in the interview stages but dropped it, because I wanted to play it safe.
So basically, I know I am good at research and finding information, even highly specialised info. I can write abstracts in both my native language and English. This is something I would enjoy doing, maybe as a freelancer?
I am a native German, fluent in both German and English, studied English Lit and history before library science, can find my way around all common office software, know how to build a PC from scratch, do PC support and maintainance, know the basics of webdesign, how social media works, have a rather broad education and have fantastic memory when it comes to pop culture trivia.
Any idea what I should/could do?
I worked at my job in a public library since 2007, until various factors at work led to me getting depressed and suffering from anxiety.
HR guaranteed me a new job within the city council, when nothing happened for almost a year I decided to sue and won a small settlement and excellent recommendations for my job applications.
So now I am looking for a new job, but there are some problems, mainly:
1) I would prefer not to work in a public library anymore, as the inefficiency with which public libraries are run and the high number of unqualified people that work for the council and are de facto unfire-able while making everyone else's life a pain is just not something I want to get back to.
2) While I have recommendations from some high profile international NGOs and institutions I worked with during my years at university and I also can show some volunteer work and I have done literally everything there is to do in a public library, the job market for librarians is pretty bad and I do not really feel I am ready to move to a completely new area where I know noone and have to start from scratch.
3) I am actually not sure I want to work as a librarian again. Well it is definitely not my dream job and I finished my studies(with something between a bachelor and master, this was before my country switched to the Bachelor/Master system) because I wanted to finish something for once, not because this was my dreamjob. I nearly dropped out a couple of weeks before finishing my studied because I got offered a job as a community manager for a big online game. Was already in the interview stages but dropped it, because I wanted to play it safe.
So basically, I know I am good at research and finding information, even highly specialised info. I can write abstracts in both my native language and English. This is something I would enjoy doing, maybe as a freelancer?
I am a native German, fluent in both German and English, studied English Lit and history before library science, can find my way around all common office software, know how to build a PC from scratch, do PC support and maintainance, know the basics of webdesign, how social media works, have a rather broad education and have fantastic memory when it comes to pop culture trivia.
Any idea what I should/could do?
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What I want to avoid is having to get into another workplace where I have to be 8+ hours a day among a bunch of people I do not particularily like and who constantly try to shovel their workload onto other people. Seriously, I had senior coworkers that would have naps in their office, make hour long private calls and even get private visitors. Sometimes all three in one day.
Technical writing sounds really interesting.
Oh, I am a German living in Germany.
Alternatively, if you're not completely burned out on working in information science, you could look into working in non-traditional libraries. My personal example: I work for the U.S. government managing scientific and technical reports as a cataloger. Any place with a government generates a bunch of paper, and there's always a need for someone to keep track of it. The downside is you might have to move to Berlin (I imagine) or one of the state capitals, depending the level of government.
Viel Erfolg!
I do live in a state capital, so things could be worse, but libraries have been facing cuts for many years now and the market is just not that good.
Freelance translation work is something I would love to do, but unfortunately I have not found that many job offers online so far and a lot of them seem a bit sketchy and I am just not sure where I should apply.
Should I get into XING or any other networks? Those really took off after I was already in steady employment, so I never bothered much with them.
Where I work we have two librarians where one is really an IT guy that is an expert on the content management system(CMS) and the other does things like optimizing the in-house website search engine and also help and guide editors that produce content for the website.
A few thoughts to help you brainstorm:
Enjoy physical activity? Maybe something in policing, military or physical training would be good.
Enjoy the outdoors? Maybe working at a national park or as a guide of some sort (camping, fishing, etc)
Enjoy travelling? Maybe working as a flight attendant or try to get a gig writing for a travel magazine
Enjoy cooking? Maybe become a chef or write cook books
Did you enjoy your NGO work? Maybe some of them would have positions open that you would enjoy.
@Wezoin
Actually yeah, that's kinda where I'm at right now. I DO feel like trying something more in line with my interests, but at the same time I am sort of paralysed by the thought of screwing that up.
I am 39 and though I feel and look younger I have this nagging voice in the back of my head, telling me this might be my last real shot at something and that I can't just piss around for a couple of years to then notice it didn't really work out.
Which should not be the main reason to again work in a field I find not superexiting. But still...
I would like to write, worked freelance for a local paper for a couple of years once and I am interested in current politics and culture, literature, etc. But I have no outlet for that, if I start writing again. It feels kinda pointless to start a blog noone reads or something like that.