Anniversary: My First Full-Time Job

Twenty years ago - Spring of 1994 - I was looking for full-time work.

I had a part-time Library Adjunct position at the St. Pete Junior College Clearwater campus off Drew St. at the time.  It was nice, working the reference desk, helping students get on the CD-ROM databases and look for books in the two-story building.  I had just gotten my Masters degree in Library and Info Sciences at University of South Florida (GO BULLS) and was hoping to find a full-time spot at an academic-level library.

While it wasn't an academic library, I got a call from Broward County Libraries to interview.  The county system was this large, spread-out system that used regional libraries as nexus points for the smaller community libraries that dotted the packed urban/suburban landscape.  They were going with a novel idea at the time of sharing the large regional libraries with the Broward community college campuses.  They were building a brand new building for the BCC North Campus, and needed full-time staff to cover the expanding Reference desk (BCC provided two existing librarians to staff the desk as well).

I had scored well on the civil service exam I took at the ALA convention back in 1993 apparently, and passed the phone interview well enough to get the face-to-face.  They had asked me to bring my MLS degree with me so they could photocopy it.  Foolishly, my parents already paid for it to get framed and we couldn't get it out of the mounting... so I lugged this bulky framed degree under my arm into the interview where I got hired.

There was the rush of driving around the county with dad to find an apartment complex I could rent out within a month.  There was the hassle of figuring out what to pack and carry down.  There was the confusion of figuring out which roads to take and which led to nowhere (if Broward County had one thing going for it, it was that most of the roads were in a grid pattern: figuring out intersections became the easiest thing to do).

And then it was May.  My parents helped me move down from Pinellas County.  May 8th was my birthday (and also Mother's Day, which we celebrated at a nice restaurant, I forget where now) that Sunday.  I was twenty-four years old.  And then Monday May 9th I started my first full-time job at North Regional Library.

The library itself was already open, at least on the first floor where the college students used the computer lab and study rooms available to get their work done.  Reference was on the second floor, and there was still a lot of work to get done before the official opening in June.  Books still to unpack and shelve: the county library system shipped us boxes of used, moldy reference books from a defunct East Regional library that had gotten flooded out.  We spent three days trying to integrate those books with their bad Dewey numbers and worse book bindings before our bosses were able to argue to the county to get rid of those poor things.

We had to set up our desk policies and our shifts.  We had to undergo a crash course on the weeding policies that Broward County required.  Our assistant reference department head at the time was very strict about collection management: I could never convince her that the college students we'd be getting would need history books on specific time-frames (to her, a book covering just one year of history wasn't for us: she seemed to think broad history books were the only ones worth having...).  She was right about weeding out travel books as quick as possible, though...

It was my first full-time job.  In a brand-spanking new library building with this open stairwell and pretty glass-framed sculpture dangling from the ceiling.  I had my own workdesk.  We shared two staff computers using WordPerfect 5.1 and then 6.0.  We had a spacious staff lounge, fresh carpeting, chairs with rollers...

It was twenty years ago.

A lot changed since then.  I've been to other branches in Broward County Libraries since then, and then went up to Gainesville to work at the University of Florida for a few years (my other alma mater, where I earned a Bachelors in Journalism).  From there I worked at Pasco County for some time, until that all went sour in the wrong ways and I found myself unemployed for four years (!) before Bartow in their infinite mercy hired me on as their reference/computer expert.  Where I hope I am flourishing.

North Regional, though, remains a fond memory, a good start to my career in libraries.  They're hosting a 20th Anniversary celebration in June.  I'd like to attend just to see the place, see any familiar faces, say hellos and farewells and whatnot.

I just wonder if they ever increased the Jamaica history book collection.  I had a hard time finding more books to order to fill the demand...

The Librarian Rides Tonight

Once again, I can call myself librarian.

Hello, City of Bartow Public Library.  I am your new Reference and Computer Librarian.  If you have any questions about your ereader devices... I will see you next month, because I need to review existing tutorial materials for revisions.  In the meanwhile, I can show you where the library keeps its recipe manuals.  :-)

Should I Travel Elsewhere to Job Hunt?

My parents keep insisting I need to travel in person to Maryland to do some door-to-door job hunting up there.

See, Florida is still a weak job market.  Even at 8 percent or so that's statewide, but even higher around the Tampa Bay area where I'm at.

Maryland is a better job market - roughly 6 percent, with larger businesses - but there's the costs of going up there in person.  Sure, I have family up there as well, but I can't stay there forever while I hunt for work.

The thing is, in this day and age everything is done via computers and resume submissions.  I've been taught via the local career center, informed by Human Resource personnel giving speeches about how to put in for jobs, and figured through my own experiences job hunting that going in-person and handing over a resume doesn't impress anymore.  Every HR has an application process you HAVE to fill out, and that's mostly done online anymore.

But the other thing is, I'm at that point in the job-hunting process - unemployment benefits long gone, for one - that I'm desperate for a full-time job.  And while I've had more interviews this year than before - for library openings, for a handful of tech jobs - and while I do have a contractual will-call (it's like part-time) work with a desktop support firm, I'm still not getting any full-time job offers around here in Florida.

And the other other thing is, this is December.  Holiday season.  Odds of HR people off on vacations: pretty high.

If there's anything I can go and do would be attending job fairs: places where HR people do sit there and accept resumes by hand.  They may still require an application be filled, but at least you speak to someone and have a means of impressing right away.

So I gotta ask: for anyone in the know in Maryland / DC area, are there any Job Fairs going on this month of December that an experienced librarian / desktop support computer tech can get a decent chance of handing out resumes?  Please let me know in the comments field.  Thanks!

And Before I Knew It, I Was Back To Job Hunting

The reason - and it's a good one - I hadn't posted anything for most of February is because I finally got hired to a full-time job.

The reason - and it's a sad one - I'm posting now is because this Friday they let me go.  I hadn't even last a full two weeks.  Even my temp job with the US Census lasted longer.  :(

They said I was a good worker, reliable for the most part, it's just I was having problems with figuring out the proper Status settings to apply to the records I was tracking.  Because the team I was hired with was moving up to a higher tier project, they didn't want to waste everyone's time waiting for me to grok the proper procedures and so... out the door.

And so, back to the grind of finding someone who will hire me.  But now I've got this albatross of yet another workplace I didn't fit in: for three years I've been struggling to find a full-time job, and pretty much since 2011 onward trying to find even a part-time job.  If no one was taking a chance with me then, who's gonna take a chance with me now...?

Sigh.

Seeking Karmic Balance Between Job Hunting And Saving Turtles

Having spent more than two years now job hunting for librarian or computer/desktop help, I've long ago gotten to the frazzled psyche of a man who looks at an Application form and says aloud "Oh no.  Not again."

There's something... soul-crushing with filling out an application for employment.  There's the hassles of creating not just one resume but a series of resumes to cover every possible contingency that is out there... but now you've got to fill out a form that's asking for the information all over again.

So I was at an office this morning.  I dropped off my resume at a table at the St. Pete Job Fair last week, and the company called for me to come in and fill out an application (and apparently a face interview to follow it).  And I was sitting there, doing my best to fill out yet another application form...

...and I started getting one of those headaches.  The kind of headache that tells me "what the hell am I doing?"  The doubt that a long-time unemployed person gets after getting rejected and ignored long enough to haunt you.

And I panicked.

This is the absolutely worst thing to be doing when a job interview is on the line.  Panicking.  At that moment I knew the whole effort was going to be a waste, that I wasn't going to be any good for the interview.  I crossed out some of the personal info I already put on the form, handed the clipboard back in, apologized for wasting time and left.  Kicking myself mentally the whole way out.

This is what two years plus of job hunting does to you.  I try.  I do my best to get in the mindset when I go into job fairs, and interviews, and shipping resumes to hiring workplaces.  But the second that Doubt hits you...

The drive home was troubled.  That headache was still with me.  I took a scenic route home, looping around to get to a grocery store (needed milk, after all).  The road I took is undergoing construction, so the lanes are down to two (one each direction).  At one spot, the cars in front of me start swerving funny.  And then I quickly see why.

A turtle was crossing the road.

This is Florida.  This is occupational hazard to driving down here.  Lots of roads through wooded areas with nearby lakes.  Lots of places for turtles to live and grow.  And sad to say, turtles get the urge to wander from time to time.

And our roadways are not designed with turtle-safe passages underneath them.  Nor any turtle-level barricades to discourage them from passing the road.

To the cruel and disheartened, let me tell you: driving over a turtle is a bad thing.  Especially to me.  I've read Terry Prachett's Small Gods for one thing.  I have some inkling of the concept of spirit guides, animal totems, etc.  And turtles are a very spiritual animal.

Years ago, when I first coped with depression down in South Florida (was on Zoloft at the time), there was a day driving to work where I rescued a turtle off a major roadway... and I felt damn good the whole day.  It's not a day I've forgotten: it's been one of the few days I ever felt good.  Emphasis on ever.

I am not driving over a turtle.  I owe them.

I got out of the car, with the drivers in the cars stuck behind me sticking their heads out yelling about what the hell was going on.  I shouted back "I'm not driving over turtles" and focused my effort on picking up the little guy as he was scrambling across the road.

Turtle lifting is tricky.  You don't want to drop them, and they do wiggle a lot.  The turtle you see just wants to cross the road from Point A to Point Wherever the Turtle Thinks There's Turtle Happiness.  So to him, getting lifted off the road and floating through the air makes no sense.  Those stubby little turtle legs keep kicking in a walking motion.  I finally got my fingers safely under his shell and carried him over into the dirt in the direction he was going.  I made sure he'd be safe by carrying him a few more yards to the side than was necessary, in case the turtle changed his mind (Oh God. I hope not).  By then the drivers saw I was turtle rescuing and waved back to me that they understood the situation.  Got back in the car and kept driving in my own path.  I know the turtle and I will not cross paths again...

So that's been my day so far right now.  I screwed up a job interview and I saved a turtle off a busy road.  I wonder how the Karmic balance on that works out.

At the end of July 2010

Just checking in:

1) After the 17th time someone critiquing my resume complained about it, I'm dropping my wittylibrarian email and switching to a more professional-looking email account with Gmail.  No, I won't post it here for all those damn Chinese spammers to snatch up.  Nyah.

2) I know, I KNOW I keep screaming I won't do it again, but the deadline for the 3-Day Novel contest is back and I'm sorely tempted to try yet again.  Maybe if I did it as a serialized work, each chapter akin to a short story, if I think of it in short story terms and all...

3) Job hunting.  Still sucks.  Libraries are getting cut.  My old branch - Centennial Park - is under threat of closing by Pasco Libraries.  :(  Am sending angry letters to commissioners as I type this.

I am A+ Certified

Passed the 220-702 certification exam yesterday.  With the 220-701, that certifies me for computer tech support careers.

SO HIRE ME DAMMIT!

Job Hunting Update Jan. 2010

It's been one full year of joblessness.  I'd been spending most of it studying up for the CompTIA A+ certification exams.

The CompTIA A+ 220-601 Certification for Essentials?  Tried it twice, once in December and once this month.  Missed both times by what looks to be one question (arrrrgggghhhhhh)

The CompTIA A+ 220-602 Certification for IT Technician?  Tried it last week.  Passed by what looks to be 1.5 questions!  (wooooohoooooooooooooooo yeah baby yeah I RULE I RULE)

Problem is I still need the Essentials to be fully certified for computer tech support.  And the problem there is the CompTIA exams are upgrading to cover more Vista (why?!  Vista sucked!) and some Win7 (which should be more appropos).  So I gotta keep studying and re-trying for the 601 701 exam.  Sigh.

Meanwhile, I can send out more resumes and try more job possibilities and... and... there's not much else to do with a state unemployment rate at 13 percent AND GROWING.  I shoulda been a CEO...

Checking in 02/2009

Still job hunting.

There's not much else to say or do at the moment, other than to say that for all the resumes I've sent out there's a lot of waiting time for any responses...

There's also the US Census jobbers: I had taken the civil service exam, passed it, but now I'm waiting for the call if it ever comes.

Sigh. Tons of.

A 20-year path finding its end

This all began back in August of 1988. Just moved in to the dorms at University of Florida. Went to Anderson Hall, back in that day it was where the student employment office was. Filed an application, spotted an opening for a job with the university library, and signed up.
The job was part-time, working with printing labels and adhering them to book spines. Stripping them with security tags. Processing them for the shelves at all the branches at the school (lemme tell ya, the Maps collection was literally back-breaking! And we had to walk those over to Marston Science ow ow ow). In 1988 it was with the cataloging dept., crammed into a small corner of the first floor of Library West. By 1989 they had relocated to roomier space on the third floor of Library East, where cataloging resides today.
All four years of going to UF, I never went to another job. I liked it. I LOVED working with the books. And I'd like to think I did a good job (for all UF students, check all books with spine label dates between 1988 to 1992. Odds are, those labels? I printed 'em :pride:). And the thing was, it got to where that was the real reason I was going to college. My Journalism degree? Well, I was having problems with that (when you have to take the required course, Reporting, twice just to get the bare grade minimum, you need to reconsider. I still think I'd have been happier switching to poli sci, but I digress). I was more interested clocking in to do my job printing labels than going to classes.
So when I squeaked out a Bachelor's in Journalism, with no viable job offers out there (1992 was a poor year for jobs), I sped back to graduate level at University of South Florida for a Master's in Library and Info Sciences. Graduated with high marks by December 1993. Got a part-time Library Adjunct job with St. Pete (Junior back then) College in Clearwater. Got a full-time Librarian job at Broward County (North Regional) in 1994, and worked as a full-time librarian ever since. From Broward back to UF then down to Pasco County. Got published in a few library journals here and there. Enjoyed my work. Loved helping people find things on the shelves, on the computers, and thought I was good at it. I hope I was good at it. Spent 14 years of my life as a librarian.
This week I lost my job with Pasco County Libraries. And this was that, and that was it.
Right now is a bad job market across the board. Libraries are hurting from massive budget cuts. The Florida Library Jobs website has gone from 5-6 pages of openings to just one page. The latest jobs are all in South Florida, where the cost of living is too ridiculous for anyone looking at a $32,000 minimum annual (librarians work cheap, sad to say). Still, I'm sending out resumes left and right. Looking and hoping and praying. But I might not find a job as a librarian. I might have to look elsewhere.
And in some respects, maybe I do. Part of me feels tired, empty. Part of me feels kinda grateful I got kicked out, feeling like it can shake this damn lethargy. But still, I *liked* helping people. I *liked* finding them information, I *liked* the occasional puzzle, a challenge, stuff like that.
I will come about to post a "Best Of" books I've read this past year, but past that? Maybe about stuff I'm writing. I'm still trying that. Maybe other things. Depends on what tomorrow brings.