So over the last couple of weeks, there have been a few things that I've wanted to blog about, but haven't done so because (a) I seem to have found myself working full-time hours at the moment, and (b) my other non-sleeping hours have been spent seeing a few things at the Melbourne Fringe Festival.
The first of these things I wanted to blog about was the occurrence of the ALIA National Advisory Congress, which focused, this year, on issues of advocacy and lobbying. However, that's going to be a long post in itself, and I haven't quite gathered my thoughts on the topic. Stay tuned.
Meanwhile, last week, I reached a personal milestone - three years since I started working as a librarian. Quickly reflecting on where I was this time over the past three years:
October 2006 - I started my first professional position as a liaison librarian at Charles Darwin University.
October 2007 - I started working as a part-time branch manager in a small public library in Darwin
October 2008 - I'm working as a librarian at the Northern Territory Library, providing reference and research services, as well as parliamentary support.
And now?
Well, I tell people that I'm "freelance" at the moment, which might sound like a wanky way of saying that I don't have a permanent job. However, over the last six months, I've been working in a number of non-librarian positions (whilst being a relief librarian on weekends) and am learning new skills and gaining new experience that I would never have achieved if I'd stayed strictly in a librarian role. I'm now living in Australia's City of Literature - Melbourne - and building strong professional networks in areas of the industry that I want forge my career for the long-term. And, most importantly, I know now, more than ever, what I want to do with my career. And whilst I don't currently have long term employment security, I'm feeling far more secure, professionally, than ever.
And central to this is moving away from the misconception that career planning is about working out which employed position you want to be in, say, in two years time, five years time, and ten years time (ie. "I want to be a HEW 7 in two years, a team leader in five years, and a director in ten.")
Instead, we should be asking ourselves questions like what skills we will have, which organisations and key players we will have formed relationships with, what kind of technological expertise we will have adopted, what areas of specialisation we will become authorities on, whom we will become advocates for, which communities we will be serving, and so on.
And if that means holding off permanent employment until the right job comes along, then so be it.
