Thing 10 - Graduate traineeships, Masters Degrees, Chartership, Accreditation

As I mentioned in a previous post I am already working towards Chartership.  It's been a lengthy process as I had quite major time off work (due to family bereavement) when I was due to complete and just never got back into the way of things again.  However I feel this blog has given me renewed spark and I am determined to finish by the end of the year.

I feel chartership is important to me as it shows my commitment to continuing professional development and I see it as a next step from my degree.  I decided to study full time for a degree in Information and Library Studies at Aberystwyth University after working as a Library Assistant for 6 years in a University.  I knew if I wanted to progress I would need qualifications and during my time as a Library Assistant I studied (distance learning) for a HNC in Library and Information Science from Edinburgh's Telford College.  I thoroughly enjoyed studying both qualifications and felt I had the right mix of experience to go with them.  After completing my degree I did struggle to find work for a few months and took up a position in the local public library as a library assistant.  It was my first time in the public library sector as I had only worked in HE up to that point.

I then applied for a job as a Regional Development Officer for a library partnership project, which I was successful and this took me to my first professional post.  I had some experience and the qualifications but this was a steep learning curve!  Not only did I have to learn very quickly about project management, I also had to learn about the various sectors the project worked across including HE, FE, public and health libraries.  I learnt so much from this role and thought it was a great opportunity to begin chartership.

The project came to an end at the start of the year and I was lucky enough to be given the opportunity to work with an amazing team at JISC RSC Wales as an e-learning advisor (learning resources).  I would say this is my second professional post and everything I have learned along the way is useful.  I have also been able to maintain contacts with various sectors but also work with experts in a variety of fields.  The team still astonish me with their professionalism and expertise every day and its from this team I am thinking of my next steps.

I have realised areas I'm not too confident in that my colleagues as amazing, such as training, presentations, research and would like to work towards a training qualification at some point but also keen to learn from them.  I am keen to stay in the library sector but now have a growing interest in learning technologies in education as well as training and staff development.  For now though I feel I should complete my chartership and see where I stand.