Jobs and Technology

I would like to be witty, thoughtful, or in some way, "refreshing" as a blogger, but it's late, I am short on sleep, and I want to get the next part of this assignment done. I checked my feeds several times today, and finally two came through.

The Ocean is so Big and my Boat is so Small
Being unemployed, it seemed logical to subscribe to a feed that talks about jobs in this field, so I hooked into Bellefield, which is ostensibly about "Job Information for Library and Information Science." This particular feed seems more for the LIS person who has been in the field awhile. The level of experience and knowledge that institutions are looking for seem to far exceed what is expected of a “mere” master’s degree. My wife got her master’s in theology, but no place would even give her the time of day until she had her PhD. I’m not saying I want to go down the looooooong road of getting a doctorate. It just seems that there is more than meets the eye when it comes to this profession.
The one common thread I’ve noticed in looking at job postings in the field is the near-universal use of the term, “self-starter.” I have that quality hiding somewhere inside of me, but as I’ve gotten older, it gets harder and harder to start-over. I can see where being a part of a dynamic, challenging degree program, combined with memberships in related professional organizations, is the bare minimum needed to learn the skills I will need to bring to the job. I once saw a T-shirt in a catalog that read:

“God, help me be the person my therapist medicates me to be.”

I would offer one for graduate students that says,

“God, help me to be the professional _________ my student loans commit me to be.” (Fill in your profession of choice.)

Until tomorrow!