Jerb
Last week, Jenny forwarded me a job posting from the history department listserv for a position at USC's Digital Collections. I did a lot of digitization work for the Carolina Bands Collection and the Digital Sheet Music Project as a volunteer before I started my master's program, and since I had attended a presentation by the head of Digital Collections around the same time that I began volunteering, I felt that I had some familiarity with their work. My experience with Web design has been pretty limited-aside from the HTML I've used in text such as this-but I figured that with some coding projects in my Information Technologies course this semester, I could catch up.
I sent off an introductory response e-mail on Sunday afternoon. The head of the department replied the next morning to ask, "Do you have some time to meet this week or next?" It sounded like an interview request, though I wasn't sure. I treated it as such and set up a time to come in on Wednesday. She also asked for a résumé, and though I attended the LISSA résumé workshop last month, I hadn't really revised my clunky, old-fashioned chronological one. I quickly assembled a one-page functional résumé highlighting my digitization and conservation work (such as the book repair at UVa) and sent it off.
I arrived at Hollings Library on Wednesday morning and was led down to the secured Digital Collections facility that I had toured in October during the SEMLA Annual Meeting. On the way to the department head's office, I passed by the conglomeration of cubicles with names like Engelbert Humperdinck and The TARDIS that housed the scanning stations. The department head had a printout of my résumé on her desk, and the staff member who'd led me downstairs began to take notes. So it was an interview! I'd come prepared, however, and the questions were more about my experience with digitization than anything else.
Within fifteen minutes, we were done with the formalities, and we chatted over by the scanning stations. The department head asked me to let her know when I would be able to start, after which we could work on transferring me to her department on the appropriate date. As before, there was no explicit "You have this job" language or paperwork, but yes, I got the job! (One of my history student friends-through-Jenny who worked in Digital Collections said that this implicit language is that person's trademark-understated news is good news!)
The position will be 20 hours per week and a minimum of 12 months, which means that not only will I have a job this summer, but I will also have the option of extending it through the transitional summer after I graduate and get married.
Speaking of which…Jenny and I agreed on a date, and we're waiting for the contract with the venue to be made up. Unless our plans somehow change, we're looking at a wedding at Montfair on 06/09/12. (Yes, we'll be making Save-the-Dates. But this is a little heads-up!)
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Hey, our pub quiz team won for the first time ever last week, earning the coveted $50 Whig bar tab certificate. (I wish I had been able to scan it. It was old-timey.) This week, we were tied for first place in the penultimate round, but it was the audio round (name the song title and artist) that cut us from the running. We'll continue to try to reclaim our ephemeral title!
◘
I'm gradually teaching myself CSS as part of a small Web design project for one of my classes. I've found it to be exciting on a level typically reserved for playing with Legos. I may end up redesigning this blog a little if I find myself with more free time than usual.
◙
I sent off an introductory response e-mail on Sunday afternoon. The head of the department replied the next morning to ask, "Do you have some time to meet this week or next?" It sounded like an interview request, though I wasn't sure. I treated it as such and set up a time to come in on Wednesday. She also asked for a résumé, and though I attended the LISSA résumé workshop last month, I hadn't really revised my clunky, old-fashioned chronological one. I quickly assembled a one-page functional résumé highlighting my digitization and conservation work (such as the book repair at UVa) and sent it off.
I arrived at Hollings Library on Wednesday morning and was led down to the secured Digital Collections facility that I had toured in October during the SEMLA Annual Meeting. On the way to the department head's office, I passed by the conglomeration of cubicles with names like Engelbert Humperdinck and The TARDIS that housed the scanning stations. The department head had a printout of my résumé on her desk, and the staff member who'd led me downstairs began to take notes. So it was an interview! I'd come prepared, however, and the questions were more about my experience with digitization than anything else.
Within fifteen minutes, we were done with the formalities, and we chatted over by the scanning stations. The department head asked me to let her know when I would be able to start, after which we could work on transferring me to her department on the appropriate date. As before, there was no explicit "You have this job" language or paperwork, but yes, I got the job! (One of my history student friends-through-Jenny who worked in Digital Collections said that this implicit language is that person's trademark-understated news is good news!)
The position will be 20 hours per week and a minimum of 12 months, which means that not only will I have a job this summer, but I will also have the option of extending it through the transitional summer after I graduate and get married.
Speaking of which…Jenny and I agreed on a date, and we're waiting for the contract with the venue to be made up. Unless our plans somehow change, we're looking at a wedding at Montfair on 06/09/12. (Yes, we'll be making Save-the-Dates. But this is a little heads-up!)
◘
Hey, our pub quiz team won for the first time ever last week, earning the coveted $50 Whig bar tab certificate. (I wish I had been able to scan it. It was old-timey.) This week, we were tied for first place in the penultimate round, but it was the audio round (name the song title and artist) that cut us from the running. We'll continue to try to reclaim our ephemeral title!
◘
I'm gradually teaching myself CSS as part of a small Web design project for one of my classes. I've found it to be exciting on a level typically reserved for playing with Legos. I may end up redesigning this blog a little if I find myself with more free time than usual.
◙