Thursday, January 19, 2017

ALISE17 : Preparing MSLIS students for their career

ConfusedI attended a lively session on getting practitioner input on curriculum design.  What stood out to me is the continued need to:
  • Educate students about job opportunities for the MSLIS graduations.
  • Train students to dissect job advertisements so they know better how to position themselves to be seen as a top candidate.
  • Encourage students to take technology-focused classes.
  • Prompt students to have their resumes/CVs reviewed and commented on, so the students knows how to improve them.
  • Encourage students to expand and enhance their soft skills, which include communication, collaboration and leadership skills.
  • Listen to hiring managers and other members of the profession about what skills they want to see in job applicants (and new members of the profession), and use that information when modifying MSLIS classes.
  • Develop course assignments that allow students to develop and use the skills - even soft skills - that employers want.
  • Create ways for current students to network with and learn from members of the profession.
Some of this means getting students to recognize the important of an activity (e.g., developing soft skills), which likely also means getting them to acknowledge the real state of their own soft skills.  That will not be easy. (Trust me.)

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