Tuesday, March 15, 2011

Good times

I hesitate to mention this because I fear it could bring me bad luck, but I am going to do it anyway.  Yesterday, I received an email from one of my professors.  Please note, before I go any further that she emailed my entire class, all of whom have an interest in archives.  The course name is Archival Management, after all.

In this email, she mentioned a few class notes, but also informed us of a message from someone who works in the archives of one of the largest companies in MN.  This message concerned the opening of an internship position this summer in their corporate archives. 

So... I probably have not mentioned this before on the blog, but basically whenever someone asks me what I would like to do with my library degree, I often tell them that I would like to work in archives, preferably in a corporate or government setting.  Can you see why this is of interest to me? 

Here is the catch:  I have to prepare my resume.  OK, so I KNOW that this is a necessary document for the betterment of my future.  In fact, my university requires that all graduates submit them before they can receive their diploma.  However, I have not prepared a resume for employment-type purposes for.... about... oh say... nine years?  In those nine-ish years, I have worked for the same company albeit not in the same job position. 

In preparation for this, I have borrowed my father's book, "Resumes!  Resumes!  Resumes!"  It is indeed as exciting as it sounds.  I have a copy worked up right now, but I will have him review it for me.  It's always good to get the perspective of someone who has actually used resumes to make hiring decisions. 

As a spelling/grammatical note, you may have noticed that I did not use the appropriate accent mark for the word resume.  This is because I am lazy and I hate trying to locate the symbol notations in Blogger.  If this really bothers you, you must be naive.  (Ha-HA!)

In all honesty, I'm even sure what qualifications they are looking for as there has been no formal posting.  Will my experiences and skills be enough?  They certainly should be.  Can I compete with other applicants?  I don't know who else will apply, but I would like to think that I'm just as capable as the next person.  Will there be interviews?  If there are tons of applicants, probably.  Although, I am not certain if this is a paid internship or not.  This may have an effect on the applicant pool.

In the end, I need to think positively.  Even if I don't end up getting the internship, the process is still useful practice for next year when I start looking for real jobs.  If I did by some crazy lucky charm chance get the position, it would be an amazing item to have on my resume in the future, to say nothing of the experience itself and how it could prepare me for a brand spanking new type of workplace environment.

One important thing that has shown me even at this early stage of the game is that I am starting to face the reality that my tenure at my current company is nearing an end-date.  True, I don't know EXACTLY when that will be, but it is starting to sink in that this degree I am pursuing is the key to a whole new realm of possibilities in my career-life. 

Will I become a corporate archivist for a Fortune-500 company or will I end up shelving books at the Myrtle Mabee Library in Belgrade, MN?  At this point, it is anyone's guess.  There is always my father's suggestion that I work for the Vatican.  Or wait, was he pushing for Flagstaff, AZ?  Wait and see!!!!

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