US News and World Report had an article recently on Best Careers for 2008, in which they listed the following as the careers for the year (http://www.usnews.com/features/business/best-careers/best-careers-2008.html):
Audiologist
Biomedical equipment technician
Clergy
Curriculum/training specialist
Dentist
Editor
Engineer
Firefighter
Fundraiser
Genetic counselor
Ghostwriter
Government manager
Hairstylist/cosmetologist
Higher education administrator
Investment banker
Landscape architect
***Librarian***
Locksmith/Security system technician
Management consultant
Mediator
Occupational therapist
Optometrist
Pharmacist
Physician assistant
Politician/Elected official
Professor
Registered nurse
School psychologist
Systems analyst
Urban planner
Usability/User experience specialist
Okay, so I changed the librarian listing just a little. I'm amazed that I have chosen a career that's made it onto a list of favorable careers. Who would have predicted that, knowing my penchant for esoteric academic degrees? Woo hoo! I may actually be able to find a job when I graduate!
This is what else the article had to say about the career, for those who wonder what's up with librarians being cool.
Librarian: Executive Summary
By Marty Nemko
Posted December 19, 2007
Forget about that image of librarian as a mousy bookworm. Librarians these days must be high-tech information sleuths, helping researchers plumb the oceans of information available in books and digital records. It's an underrated career. Most librarians love helping patrons dig up information and, in the process, learning new things. Librarians may also go on shopping sprees, deciding which books and online resources to buy. They even get to put on performances, like children's puppet shows, and run other programs, like book discussion groups for elders. On top of it all, librarians' work hours are reasonable.
Median Pay
National: $51,400. (Data provided by PayScale.com)
Showing posts with label career choices. Show all posts
Showing posts with label career choices. Show all posts
Friday, January 4, 2008
Saturday, September 15, 2007
What I Want To Be When I Grow Up
Things have calmed down considerably in my life. The weather is cooperating with cool, fall-like temperatures (although 80s are predicted for next week). My first paper is due Tuesday in intro to archives. I took the class to see if the interest generated from a field trip last semester could be sustained, and if this was something I wanted to consider as part of my career strategy. I think it's safe to say that while archives themselves interest me, and I will enjoy visiting them, as I do museums and historical areas and monuments, I will not be including archival work in my future plans.
My favorite class of the semester (and of the program so far) is one titled materials for youth, which I refer to as Kids. Kids would rank as one of my top 5 favorite classes of any I have taken (and with all the classes I've taken for my many degrees, that's a lot of classes with which to compete). The instructor knows her material and is practical, the text is great, and the assignments are both interesting and challenging. Besides, we have to read at least 70 kids books..... what could be better than that?
Kids has really helped me see that my passion lies in working with both children and books, and does not lie in the realm of academic libraries. Just because I have a graduate degree does not mean I want to work in a university setting. I think, that would be okay; I guess I could handle it. The whole point in returning to school is to be able to find a job I like, though, not one that would be okay. I've had those types of jobs for the past, oh, 25-30 years. I want something I will like, love, that will make me happy to get up in the morning, AND will give me mental energy for my own writing and creative efforts. More and more, I'm thinking public libraries in children's services or possibly school libraries.
We've looked at a range of books in class, and I find myself thinking, that would be really cool for a unit on the environment, if you put it with this other book and maybe this one, and you could use it with older kids who are reluctant readers or maybe more visually oriented..... and .... I come out of class energized and with many, many ideas. The class is allowing me to use what I already know, to add to that, and to reshape it, which is what learning should be. I'm more convinced that I want to share this enthusiasm and interest with kids (and adults - parents, teachers, etc.). So maybe it's taken me 47 years to start figuring out what I want to be when I grow up, but at least I'm getting there.
My favorite class of the semester (and of the program so far) is one titled materials for youth, which I refer to as Kids. Kids would rank as one of my top 5 favorite classes of any I have taken (and with all the classes I've taken for my many degrees, that's a lot of classes with which to compete). The instructor knows her material and is practical, the text is great, and the assignments are both interesting and challenging. Besides, we have to read at least 70 kids books..... what could be better than that?
Kids has really helped me see that my passion lies in working with both children and books, and does not lie in the realm of academic libraries. Just because I have a graduate degree does not mean I want to work in a university setting. I think, that would be okay; I guess I could handle it. The whole point in returning to school is to be able to find a job I like, though, not one that would be okay. I've had those types of jobs for the past, oh, 25-30 years. I want something I will like, love, that will make me happy to get up in the morning, AND will give me mental energy for my own writing and creative efforts. More and more, I'm thinking public libraries in children's services or possibly school libraries.
We've looked at a range of books in class, and I find myself thinking, that would be really cool for a unit on the environment, if you put it with this other book and maybe this one, and you could use it with older kids who are reluctant readers or maybe more visually oriented..... and .... I come out of class energized and with many, many ideas. The class is allowing me to use what I already know, to add to that, and to reshape it, which is what learning should be. I'm more convinced that I want to share this enthusiasm and interest with kids (and adults - parents, teachers, etc.). So maybe it's taken me 47 years to start figuring out what I want to be when I grow up, but at least I'm getting there.
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