Thursday, May 3, 2007

Wait, you want to look OLDER?

If I had to pay for this conference out of my pocket, my 45 minutes with the career center would have been worth every penny.

My dilemma: I have positioned myself to move foward in my career, and my goal is to be a director of a small public library (next step). However, I look A LOT younger than I am. At least a decade. Which is lovely for my social life, but doesn't do much for my career at the initial meeting. TEN YEARS of potential experience in the workforce is automatically deducted because my family has good skin genes.

Well, Kelly Jo Woodside, from the Simmons College Career Library, and I brainstormed some ideas about how to look, gasp, older. It was pretty funny, actually, and random googling brought up two things--tailored suit and more makeup. This was actually to just look professsional in general, but perhaps it will help. Off to the makeup counter I go!

Then I had a mock interview with a representative from the BPL. I'll get to the details on the interview itself in a moment, but when asked about my lovely youthful appearance, the interviewer remarked that it's a "complete package," that my experience and ability to articulate will overcome my youthful appearance.

But the interview--wow! Many standard questions were asked, but the discussion after the interview was amazing. She broke down many of my answers and told me where I could make a stronger statement and which comments to avoid. She let me know where my strengths came across, and also gave me very helpful information about three areas that I need to develop before I interview for a directorship.

Also, we discussed some personnel issues in general, and I got some great resources and leads from her to further my own education in this area.

Go, Career Services, Go, Go!

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