Creating a Pathfinder

A pathfinder is a group of descriptive resources geared towards a particular group or community for a specific purpose.  I had to create a pathfinder with a group of other students for our final project in our Reference and Information Services class.  We visited the Somerville Public Library ans spoke to Kevin O., a Reference Librarian there.  We asked questions about the community the Somerville Library serves and found out that they have a large population of unemployed patrons over fifty looking for jobs.  This group was two-fold, where half of the patrons were non-degree holders that needed to learn/brush-up on computer and English skills in order to find work and the other half were degree holders that had been laid off.  The second group would also benefit from learning more technology skills and, in addition, were interested in starting their own small businesses.  We decided to focus our pathfinder on these groups and after much research and a few visits to the library we came up with a detailed list of resources that we thought were beneficial.  We broke our pathfinder into relevant sections so that the librarian or patron can go right to the topic they need.  Each heading includes a list of resources including books, websites and even e-books. 

Job Resources for People Over 50 Subject Headings:

Searching for Opportunities
Developing Skills
Perfecting Your Resume & Interview
Making Connections
Changing Careers
Thinking Outside the Office
Putting Your English to Work

 The purpose of a pathfinder is so reference librarians can have quick access to a detailed list of resources for particular reference questions that they receive often.  We hope the Somerville Library will find our pathfinder useful for their patrons.  This topic is a prevalent one now, not only for Somerville, but all communities.  Unemployment is at an all time high.  Although out pathfinder does include specific community resources for Somerville, there are a lot of great general resources for the over fifty set.  Here are a few of my group's favorites:

Martini, Kitty and Candice Reed. Thank you for Firing Me!: How to Catch the Next Wave of Success after you Lose your Job. New York: Sterling Publishing Co. Inc, 2010.

            Kitty Martini and Candice Reed take on a decidedly sassy tone in this morale-booster of a career-hunting guide. Their sharp tone both bullies and encourages the reader to get out of an unemployed funk and into a new, passion-filled career. Although this book isn’t specifically for over 50, chapter 10, “Banking on Boomers,” deals with the baby boomer industry. Yet, some readers might enjoy the fact that this isn’t written specifically for the job hunter over 50 because the authors talk about new trends in career searching without any hint of condescending patience towards the non-tech-savvy individual. Readers of any age are urged equally to get excited about and embrace new job opportunities and methods of job searching. You can also visit Candice Reed’s Blog at http://jobs4yourfiredass.blogspot.com/ for a continuously updated perspective.

Breitbarth, Wayne. The Power Formula for LinkedIn Success: Kick-start Your Business, Brand, and Job Search. Austin, TX: Greenleaf Book Group Press, 2011.

This timely title focuses just on LinkedIn (see below) and how to use it most effectively during a job search. With witty headings and a conversational tone, this book is both informative and entertaining. Perhaps one of the most helpful sections can be found on pp. 145-152, where the author outlines a six-week, two-hour-per-week start-up and maintenance plan for creating an account on LinkedIn.

HireCulture, http://www.hireculture.org (accessed May 1, 2011).

           HireCulture.org is a job bank created and managed by the Massachusetts Cultural Council. Listings are primarily by Massachusetts cultural organizations, both non-profit and commercial. Searches can be modified by region, category, type, and organization. Posted positions include the Job Title, Date Posted, and Organization Name. Listings include information about the organization, the organization’s website and contact information, if available, and a breakdown of the position. HireCulture.org also makes available their contact information, a list of Frequently Asked Questions, and Other Resources where one might extend their job search. This is a simple, easy-to-use job bank with no advertising.

USAJOBS - The Federal Government's Official Jobs Site. “Resume and Application Tips.” http://www.usajobs.gov/ei/resumeandapplicationtips.asp (accessed May 3, 2011).  

This government site requires the user to create a free account to guide potential federal job candidates through the job search process. However, resume tips can be accessed from the web address above without creating an account. Tips include “paying attention to keywords,” “being concise,” and “using numbers to highlight your accomplishments,” which are helpful in any kind of resume writing. The USAJOBS Resume Builder helps tailor a unique resume that provides the information needed to seek employment at any government agency.

LinkedIn, http://www.linked.com (accessed April 30, 2011).

LinkedIn is a career networking site for connecting with former, current, and potential colleagues. Users can create personal profiles documenting their job history and experience as well as upload resumes. Your LinkedIn contacts enable you to increase your own online network and contacts; they can also write recommendations for you that other users, such as potential employers, can see. Groups and discussion boards are other helpful LinkedIn features; “What’s Next,” a group of users who are contemplating midlife career changes, can be found at http://www.linkedin.com/groups/Whats-Next-Midlife-Career-Change-2080874.

U.S. Department of Labor. “MySkills, MyFuture.” http://www.myskillsmyfuture.org (accessed May 3, 2011).

            This subset of the Department of Labor’s CareerOneStop website is targeted toward workers who have lost their jobs and wish to find careers that use the skills they already have. It draws on data from the Occupational Information Network (O*Net) to score careers on 120 components of knowledge, skills, and abilities. When workers enter the job they’ve lost, the site uses relevancy matching to suggest other careers for which they would be “neither greatly over- or under-qualified.” Results are presented in a grid that shows typical wages and training required, with symbols to indicate “bright outlook” careers in growth industries and “green” opportunities. Listings for each career include descriptions, statistics, job duties, and links to the CareerOneStop site for further details. Unfortunately, these links do not lead directly to the career being researched, but to the CareerOneStop home page. It’s also not clear how frequently the site is updated, although it makes the claim that “CareerOneStop is updated with the newest data as it is released and provides the most recent data available.”

U.S. Small Business Administration. “Follow These Steps to Starting a Business.” http://www.sba.gov (accessed May 3, 2011).

This informative government site features a ten-step process for starting a small business, with helpful links for finding a mentor, writing a business plan, marketing, licenses and permits, loans and grants, business laws and regulations, and even counseling and training.  The site also offers a “local resources” link where entering a zip code supplies contact information for local government offices of the Small Business Association. Entering the Somerville zip code yields results for the Massachusetts District Office, Boston SCORE (Service Corps of Retired Executives), and the Boston U.S. Export Center. Other links of note include “Women’s Business Ownership: Starting, Financing and Growing the Right Way” and “Determining Your Financing Needs.”

Hemmert, Amy, and Tina Sander. Out & About in the World of Computers: An Introductory Computer Course for Beginning English Language Learners. Burlingame, CA: Alta Book Center Publishers, 2008.

            The superb design of this book makes it a good resource for job-hunters even though it does not specifically address employment. An overview of the book’s scope and sequence appears in table form on the first four pages. While an introduction for teachers suggests the book is primarily intended for classroom use, self-directed learners would be able to navigate the resource with the help of clear section headings, as well as teal-colored type for URLs, examples, and arrows pointing to screen shots. General tips for computer use, such as “Stand up and stretch every 20 minutes,” are interspersed with detailed introductions to word processing (Microsoft Word), e-mail, and the Internet. Reviews of these three topics at the back of the book include page numbers, so that quick reference can lead to more information as needed. While the target audience is clearly English language learners, if native English speakers weren’t bothered by activities like “Who is famous in your native country?” they might also find the book useful.

I have quite a few more resources I can recommend, so please make a comment on this blog entry if you'd like to look at a complete list!