I confess, I volunteered!

Ah, this is almost the last item to be explored and written about for CPD23. A hot topic locally and nationally - volunteers.

In December 2007 when I had recently moved to the UK from the US I wrote:
"On volunteers in Libraries Based solely on my inquiries, the London libraries do not use volunteers to help complete routine responsibilities (shelving books, making up labels etc). Given the library funding crunch in many councils, I wonder why? Some reasons may be: fear of further deprofessionalizing library work, UK socialist desire to pay everyone, concern over the management of volunteers."

Flash forward to October 2011: the issue of volunteers in libraries is being forced at the same time as huge budget cuts. I've gained respect for the (endangered) UK social welfare practices which show respect for human lives and potential. Other than that my views are the same - good idea, bad timing: .

I have worked as a volunteer in libraries three times:
1) in a public library in the USA., doing shelf-reading on a weekly basis. This was prior to starting my Master's degree and just after I'd moved house. The library seemed a good place to reconnoiter my new town and I made friends with other volunteers. The schedule was based around the volunteers' availability and we checked the shelves to make sure the books were in correct order, also pulling out books that needed repair or replacement. There were a number of volunteers doing this task, so it was not an inconvenience to the library if one or more of us couldn't work as planned. As it was a small library the manager trained and supervised the volunteers.

2) as an intern in a larger public library in the USA, during my Master's degree.  While this was work experience and a requirement of my Master's degree, I consider it volunteer work. I was not being paid, and I carried out three projects which the library had outlined but did not have staff available to complete. I surveyed teens on social media and used the result to create a teen blog. I wrote and taught a teen class on creating web pages and researched foreign language collections at area libraries. These projects were all at a professional level of work and helped me to win my first professional library job.

3) in a primary school library in the UK, after my Master's degree - while trying to find a public library position. The school library had 80 boxes of books starting to mold in a storage shed while they waited for staff to find time to merge the Key Stage 1 and 2 collections. A crash course for me in early education curriculum and school libraries, with lots of reading and consultation with the local public librarian. My work was primarily behind the scenes; weeding, repairing, working on displays and ordering furniture, as well as training other volunteers. The funding from the parent association covered materials but not staff and although I recommended it the school did not want to hire the local Schools Library Service. I put a great deal of time into the project and earned a reference which was a fantastic help to me. The improved library saw much more use; when the funding improved a part time staff position was added to maintain and develop the collection.

I think volunteers in libraries are a fine idea if there are well-defined unmet needs in the library, organised infrastructure to support volunteers and the net effect on resources and services is positive. Having benefited socially and professionally from my volunteer experiences I would be hard-pressed to deny others unless it was endangering jobs in the foreseeable future. In a public library, the community-building mission of the library can be supported by including volunteers. My pessimistic (perhaps short-sighted) view is that given technology and social change, the future of libraries is too cloudy to worry about five or ten years hence.

covering the gaps in your employment history

Gaps in employment are tricky to handle in job applications and interviews (from both side of the desk). Your prospective employers want to understand your work history, but they certainly don't want to ask any unlawful or inappropriate questions. And their curiosity is understandable - one thing I learned in  interviewing training is that past actions are the clearest indicators of future actions.

So how to satisfy the reasonable concerns of the employer, without getting mired in the details of your personal life? Here are my tips:

1. Don't lie.
2. Make sure your employment history is a story with a plot that the interviewers can follow. The activity during employment gaps may provide needed information about your career moves and ambitions. 
3. Keep it simple: child or elder care, education, illness, relocation for family or financial reasons, travel. You and you interviewers may both be uncomfortable if you share too many details and it will likely take the interview off-track.
4. If you can (without breaking rule #1) reassure the interviewer that this situation is unlikely to recur.
5. Non-chronological CVs highlight employment gaps, rather than hiding them. The CV reader will immediately start trying to assemble a timeline in their head, which is annoyingly hard to do.
6. When possible, insert a line or two in your cover letter or personal statement explaining the gaps. Some applications will require you to do this, but otherwise imagine the shortlisters scratching their heads when they read your employment chronology.
7. If you did something during the gap that is worthy of note, try adding it to your CV in the correct chronological space. Worthy of note activities include formal and informal volunteer work and professional development/education. Now take another look at your CV and decide if the new version is stronger or weaker.
8. Bottom line - you can't hide them, so take initiative to present gaps in the best light.

Other suggestions?