Athbhreithniú Imeacht ag Nigel Dickinson,,en,Scéalta SLA Gairme 27 Meitheamh,,en,Ár mbuíochas le Nigel Dickinson,,en,a ghlac kindly tairiscint chun athbhreithniú a dhéanamh Tráthnóna Gairmeacha Scéalta,,en,Is nigel Stiúrthóir Díolacháin ag Armadillo Eolas Gnó a bheith á chaitheamh roimhe,,en,blianta Dún,,en,Bradstreet agus curtha Stiúrthóir Bainistíochta ar Nóta Eochair,,en,Tá sé ina rialta,,en: SLA Career Stories 27th June 2017
Our thanks to nigel Dickinson,,en,Is nigel Stiúrthóir Díolacháin ag,,en,Armadillo Eolas Gnó,,en,gur chaith sé roimhe,,en,Tá sé ina attendee rialta de SLA agus tá páirt i gcáileanna foirmeálta agus neamhfhoirmeálta in eagraíochtaí trádála éagsúla thar na blianta,,en,Mar chéimí eile de chuid Ollscoil Keele bhfuil sé dócha gur ceann de na mac léinn sa bharra gur fhéach Neil Infield a sheachaint trí bheith ag obair sa leabharlann,,en,Cur chun cinn don tráthnóna i gcuimhne dúinn go chun cinn mór le blianta beaga anuas,,en,gairmithe faisnéise a bhí a chur in oiriúint go leanúnach ag an am céanna a chur chun cinn ar an luach a bhfeidhm traidisiúnta,,en,bhailigh muid ag an Leabharlann na Breataine,,en,athnuachan ag an chéad bháisteach an tsamhraidh,,en,a chloisteáil scéalta gairme de cheithre gairmithe faisnéise tógtha ó earnálacha tionscail éagsúla,,en, who kindly accepted an offer to review the Careers Stories Evening. Nigel is Sales Director at Armadillo Business Information having previously spent 30 years at Dun & Bradstreet and been Managing Director of Key Note. He is a regular attendee of SLA and has participated in formal and informal capacities in various trade organisations over the years. As a fellow graduate of Keele University he is probably one of those students in the bar that Neil Infield sought to avoid by working in the library.
The promotion for the evening reminded us that to thrive in recent years, information professionals have had to continuously adapt whilst promoting the value of their traditional function.
We gathered at the British Library, refreshed by the first rain of the summer, to hear career stories of four information professionals drawn from different industry sectors.
Sally Connor, Strategic Analyst, EY
Sally is currently embracing the challenge of navigating her way around the large dynamic business that is EY.
On graduating she realised that her first ambition of running an art gallery was no longer the priority and a passion for research led to her becoming an Information Assistant at the Ministry of Justice. Sally realised that whilst industries will come and go, there was always going to be a market for research and analysis to help businesses invest their money. Positions at all big four consultancies have followed. Mar sin féin, Sally is at pains to point out, she is not a banker!
Over the years roles and responsibilities became more strategic. One game changing role came when embedded in the team, rather than sitting in a separate research function- an initiative championed by the Partner. Tá tuiscint níos fearr dá gcliant spriocanna agus iad siúd de na ghnó,,en,ba chúis léi a bheith ina comhairleoir ríthábhachtach don bhainistíocht shinsearach,,en,Tá sé ríthábhachtach a scanadh i gcónaí ar na spéire agus a ullmhú le haghaidh na treochtaí atá le teacht,,en,smaoineamh ar conas atá tú ag dul a bheith ullamh le haghaidh,,en,bhliain am le blockchain,,en,róbataic agus AI ar a mbealach,,en,ag encountere,,en,d Cur chuige coimeádach le nuálaíocht agus athrú ag amháin fostóir Sally chinneadh a fhágáil agus go mbeadh daoine eile a spreagadh chun a bhreithniú i gcónaí dhéanamh,,en,Agus ná bíodh eagla ort agallamh a chur fostóirí ionchasacha a sheiceáil go mbeidh siad a bheith ina oiriúnach maith agat chomh maith le vice versa,,en,Neil Infie,,en,ld,,en,Is céimí é de chuid Ollscoil Keele,,en,Neil Thosaigh a ghairm bheatha eolais ag obair ina leabharlann,,en,Bhí sé ceachtar go nó an teach tábhairne.,,en,Tar éis staidéar SCIEN ríomhaire,,en, led to her being a crucial advisor to senior management.
It is vital to always scan the horizon and prepare for the coming trends. Mar shampla, think about how you are going to be prepared for 5 years time with blockchain, robotics and AI on their way. Having encountere
d a conservative approach to innovation and change at one employer Sally determined to leave and would encourage others to always consider doing so. And don’t be afraid to interview potential employers to check they will be a good fit for you as well as vice versa.
Neil Infie
ld, Gnó & IP Bainisteoir Ionad,,en,Sally Connor,,fr,Anailísí Straitéiseach,,en,EY,,en,Virginia Malone,,en,Ceann na Seirbhísí Leabharlainne,,en,Ollscoil Greenwich,,en,Cerys Hearsey,,en,Príomhoide,,en,Comhairleach Luaidhe,,en,Postshift,,en, An Leabharlann na Breataine
A graduate of Keele University, Neil started his information career working in their library. (It was either that or the bar.) After studying computer scien
ce aimsigh sé raibh sé ag iarraidh rud éigin eile a dhéanamh,,en,A post catalógú ag South Bank Polytechnic ina dhiaidh sin agus ansin cúrsa eolais ag Polaiteicnice de North London,,en,le poist i leabharlanna éagsúla le linn na laethanta saoire,,en,Bhí An chéad fostóir tar éis an dara céim a Institiúid na Peitriliam,,en,In ainneoin oifigí glórmhar ar New Cavendish Street murals lena n-áirítear uasteorainn Neil bhraitear seans beag de cinn,,en,Bhog sé go dtí Bainistíocht Infheistíochta Hermes áit a raibh sé an-tacúil Phríomhfheidhmeannach,,en,bainistiú foireann seachtar agus chaith,,en,blianta sona,,en,Cuireadh bua mór a fhorbairt agus a seoladh a n-inlíon,,en,in ainneoin a Boss ag insint dó gan é a dhéanamh,,en,Iomarcaíocht - Ba chóir go mbeadh rud éigin do gach duine a ullmhú le haghaidh,,en,tháinig in éineacht le córas nua,,en! A cataloguing job at South Bank Polytechnic followed and then an information course at Polytechnic of North London, with jobs in various libraries during all the holidays.
First employer after second graduation was the Institute of Petroleum. Despite glorious offices on New Cavendish Street including ceiling murals Neil perceived little chance of advancement. He moved to Hermes Investment Management where he had a very supportive Chief Executive, managed a team of seven and spent 16 happy years. A major triumph was developing and launching their intranet, despite his boss telling him not to do it.
Redundancy – something everyone should be prepared for – came along with a new regime, thugann an deis a bheith ag obair le comhairleoirí gairmeacha Neil chun a fháil amach cad a bhí sé i ndáiríre a dhéanamh,,en,Thuig sé go raibh sé ag iarraidh leanúint ar aghaidh a grá aige,,en,a bheith ina eolais a fháil gairmiúla,,en,Le linn a chuid ama ag an scileanna nua BL curtha unearthed,,en,oiliúint mar chomhairleoir gnó agus cabhrú leis an laun,,en,ch gnólachtaí nua go leor,,en,Bí ag faire amach do seacláide Rope Amelia,,en,an Morpher clogad fillte,,en,an Digga Kikka agus Keep Me Seodra,,en,Leideanna do rath gairme,,en,nó conas an riosca teip a íoslaghdú,,en,Ná stop a fhoghlaim,,en,Glac páirt i ngníomhaíochtaí seach-churaclaim e.g,,en,shárú shyness,,en,Glacadh na meáin shóisialta,,en,A bheith uaillmhianach duit féin agus do do e.g fhoireann,,en,isteach gradaim tionscail,,en,A fháil a bhaineann e.g,,en,Ní fios duit nuair a bheidh caoi ann chuige a thagann ó,,en,Foghlaim a bhainistiú suas,,en. He realised that he wanted to continue what he loved – being an information professional.
During his time at the BL new skills have been unearthed, training as a business advisor and helping the laun
ch of many new businesses. Look out for Amelia Rope chocolate, the Morpher folding helmet, the Kikka Digga and Keep Me Jewellery.
Tips for career success (or how to minimise the risk of failure):
- Never stop learning
- Get involved in extra-curricular activities e.g. CLS
- Overcome shyness
- Embrace social media
- Be ambitious for yourself and your team e.g. enter industry awards.
- Get connected e.g. LinkedIn. You never know where that next opportunity will come from.
- Learn to manage upwards
- Más mian leat, an eagla agus é a dhéanamh ar aon nós - caint phoiblí,,en,am Leath ina dhiaidh sin le sólaistí ar fáil le caoinchead an CLS,,en,Superficially tá Virginia bhí an bhfostóir céanna ar feadh beagnach,,en,Ní sin a dhéanamh ceartais di líon fórsa agus éagsúlacht na rólanna,,en,cuireadh i bpost Ag teacht as an Dúiche Loch a bheith ag obair le haghaidh Údarás Istigh Londain Oideachas Virginia go Woolwich Coláiste Breisoideachais,,en,Go luath ina gairme i,,en,fuair sí amach éirim do bhainistíocht foirne mar Leabharlannaí suíomh i Charlton,,en,Maraon le fonn chun bogadh isteach Ardoideachas thug uirthi a céad post ag Thames Polaiteicnice,,en,ina dhiaidh sin Ollscoil Greenwich,,en,mar Léitheoir Leabharlannaí Seirbhísí,,en,Avery Hill i,,en,Ina dhiaidh sin fhionnadh ar shuíomh nua a bhí a oscailt Virginia achainí a rith sé,,en,éirí Leabharlannaí Suíomh ag Deptford in,,en!
Half time followed with refreshments provided courtesy of the SLA.
Virginia Malone, Head of Library Services, University of Greenwich
Superficially Virginia has had the same employer for almost 30 bliana. That does not do justice to her sheer number and variety of roles.
Arriving from the Lake District to work for Inner London Education Authority Virginia was posted to Woolwich College of Further Education. Early in her career in 1984 she discovered an aptitude for team management as site Librarian in Charlton. Coupled with a desire to move into Higher Education it led to her first position at Thames Polytechnic, later University of Greenwich, as Reader Services Librarian, Avery Hill in 1988.
Subsequently discovering a new site was to open Virginia petitioned to run it, becoming Site Librarian at Deptford in 1990.
seasaimh Breise agus áiteanna ina dhiaidh sin lena n-áirítear athlonnú na hOllscoile don stairiúil Sean Ríoga Choláiste na Seirbhíse Cabhlaigh,,en,D'fhorbair Virginia saineolas a bhainistiú agus leabharlanna ag gluaiseacht mar a bhí siad comhdhlúite de réir a chéile ó,,en,An post seo chugainn mar thoradh ar obair dheonach a bhainistiú an leabharlann ag Medway,,en,Comhoibriú idir Greenwich,,en,Kent agus Canterbury Christ Church Ollscoileanna,,en,An leabharlann Halla Druileáil cruthaíodh as an nua,,en,méadar,,en,an faide san Eoraip,,en,bhí,,en,taisteal míle,,en,Ach sé bliana ina dhiaidh sin sásta mar Bhainisteoir,,en,A filleadh abhaile ina dhiaidh sin,,en,bhí faighte ag an ollscoil ar shuíomh leabharlainne nua i lár Greenwich Shráid Stockwell agus Achadh an Iúir chaith trí bliana ag obair le hailtirí agus pleanáil le haghaidh na,,en,oscailt,,en,An tírdhreachú leabharlainne feiceáil,,en,gairdíní dín agus na háiseanna is nua-aimseartha,,en. Virginia developed expertise in managing and moving libraries as they were gradually consolidated from 13 to 3.
The next post resulted from volunteering to manage the library at Medway, a collaboration between Greenwich, Kent and Canterbury Christ Church Universities. The newly created Drill Hall library, (184 metres – the longest in Europe), was a 30 mile commute! Yet six happy years followed as Manager.
A return home followed. The university had acquired a new library site in central Greenwich in Stockwell Street and Virginia spent three years working with architects and planning for the 2014 opening. The library featured landscaping, roof gardens and the most modern facilities, gach atá i gcomhréir le treoirlínte Suíomh Oidhreachta Domhanda,,en,Bhí sé ar an,,en,RIBA dámhachtainí gearrliosta,,en,rath tuilleadh tháinig,,en,Ceann na Seirbhísí Leabharlainne in,,en,chruthú,,en,Daoine Ag ceangal le Eolas,,en,plean straitéiseach,,en,chomhdhlúthú trí Córais Bhainistíochta Leabharlann ollscoil i gcóras roinnte amháin,,en,Le linn a gairme Tá Virginia léirítear ceacht amháin eochair go mbeadh sí a roinnt,,en,in iúl do dhaoine nuair atá tú réidh le haghaidh athrú,,en,ar shlí eile beidh na deiseanna nua iontach dul in áit eile,,en,Post * athrú,,en,Cerys Ghlac riamh go raibh sí plean gairme,,en,raibh sí ag affinities luath ar fhaisnéis,,en,codlata ar chairn de leabhair mar leanbh,,en,agus le hathrú,,en,ag gluaiseacht ar fud an domhain le haghaidh a céad,,en,ag freastal,,en,scoileanna,,en,sé céim amach i,,en. It was on the 2015 RIBA awards shortlist.
Further successes came: Head of Library Services in 2014; creation of Connecting People to Knowledge 2015 strategic plan; consolidation of three university Library Management Systems into one shared system.
Throughout her career Virginia has exemplified one key lesson she would share: let people know when you are ready for a change, otherwise those great new opportunities will go elsewhere!
Cerys Hearsey, Principal & Lead Consultant, Post*shift
Cerys accepted that she never had a career plan. She did have early affinities for information, sleeping on piles of books as a child, and for change, moving around the world for her first 17 bliana, attending 12 schools.
Graduating in 2003 Cerys decided against archaeology and returned to education at library school at Birmingham also undertaking a Masters in Artificial Intelligence.
Cerys has fond memories of her first job in the Foreign Office library, positioned beneath the famous stuffed snake!
Cerys’s belief was formed that it is not enough to be focused purely on a single discipline, a love of information is applicable to any practical application. She also discovered she loves working with people who dream big, know how to have fun and get sh*t done.
Time was spent working with an early mentor Judi Vernau, building taxonomies, and then as a Department for International Development researcher.
After that Cerys validated her own skills using capability mapping against potential roles. This led to a great role at Headshift, "A bunch daoine aonair iontach faoi stiúir Lee Bryant",,en,le leanúint ag an taithí díomá a fheiceáil fuair sí agus go héifeachtach stoptar síos trí chomhdhlúthú,,en,piqued seo spéis acu sa chultúr agus iompar corparáideach,,en,as a dtiocfaidh Cerys a thógáil bonn eolais chun cabhrú le athrú ar an mbealach daoine ag obair,,en,Ina dhiaidh sin chuaigh ag Lee agus Liz Wilson a bheith páirteach gcuid Post gnó * Shift nua,,en,Cerys thosaigh ag obair le gnólachtaí chun a fháil amach conas a ghiaráil an saol digiteach a sruthanna nua ioncaim a chruthú,,en,Bhí a bunachar eolais feistithe ceart i,,en,Tá sí ag taitneamh,,en,mar shampla,,en,ag obair le cliaint ar nós Bosch agus Schlumberger chun próisis innealtóireachta a fheabhsú agus siorcanna a dhíspreagadh ó ithe trealamh taiscéalaíochta ola,,en,A cuid taithí mar thoradh ar Cerys a béim ar an tábhacht meantóirí i bhforbairt gairme,,en, followed by the disappointing experience of seeing it acquired and effectively shut down through consolidation. This piqued an interest in corporate culture and behaviours, leading Cerys to build a knowledge base to help change the way people work.
Subsequently approached by Lee and Liz Wilson to join their new business Post*Shift, Cerys started working with businesses to discover how to leverage the digital world to create new revenue streams. Her knowledge base fitted right in! She has enjoyed, for instance, working with clients such as Bosch and Schlumberger to improve engineering processes and deter sharks from eating oil exploration equipment!
Her experience leads Cerys to emphasise the importance of mentors in career development, and to have no regrets.
Some common themes had emerged….
- Studying one discipline at graduate level can lead to embracing information as a whole and a change in direction
- The benefits of anticipating and embracing change
- An appreciation of information management can be leveraged and applied to anything
Q&A Followed
What do you feel are essential careers skills?
- Basic programming (Cerys)
- People skills, awareness to assess what opportunities exist in the future or wider world (Achadh an Iúir)
- Understanding the role of technology (Neil)
What is your next career move?
- Semi retirement but putting those business start up experiences to the test (Neil)
- Depends on whether the university wants to move libraries around again (Achadh an Iúir)
- No idea (Cerys)
We retired to the pub to review our own careers following an entertaining and thought-provoking evening. Thank you to all our contributors.