Thing 21: Self-Promoting
23 Things for Professional Development is a challenging program. How? It challenges you to be creative, sharply introspective, and determined.
This week required some candid self-assessment. Aligning personal interests and activities to those in our professional life seems to be a recipe for happiness. The closer the alignment, the giddier you might find yourself.
A much reduced and abbreviated inventory of my activities and interests might look like this:
| Body | Mind | Spirit |
| Walking | Reading | Laughing |
| Cycling | Meditating | Sharing |
| Hiking | Creating | Giving |
| Yoga | Questioning | Community |
| Art | ||
| Music |
How are these relevant to professional development in the context of job applications and interviews? It took me a while to articulate the connections and I suspect I won’t be able to do my thoughts justice even here in this blog.
I can identify several qualities that I leverage and apply to my profession. Curiosity reigns when I am researching a topic or helping a user find the information he or she needs. I possess honed spatial acuity and am able to orient to spaces and fit items into a space aesthetically making the best use of both space and items. I am generous to a fault often giving to others yet skimping for myself. As an introvert withdrawing to my personal sanctuary, removing myself from exposure to others, it may seem odd that I value community. I am aware that without community the creation of new knowledge is limited. The vitality of our life is pinched without a connection to others.
Librarianship is a great fit for me.
Interviewing
I hang my head in shame and shudder recalling the many interview calamities I have experienced. Eeek. I blush hotly recalling such gaffes and blunders.
Exercising a reflective practice has been rewarding and I might venture to suggest essential for moving through the processes required to get a job in this profession. My reflective practice has become so ingrained that it is at times almost simultaneous to the event or circumstance I am experiencing. In one interview, I slowly became aware I was sabotaging my success, responding vaguely to questions, over-talking, being imprecise, and repeating myself though not for clarity. Upon further reflection I found I really did not want that position even though I had been invested in the institution for some time. Currying and exploring this revelation further, I identified many aspects of the position that were counter to my career goals and ill-fitting with my skill set.
I update my ePortfolio frequently; take a look.
