As I progress in life, the old adage “if I’d only known then what I know now” comes to mind.
To those of us in professional life, what is the one thing that you wish you had learned at university that wasn’t offered?
To those of you who are still students, what is the one thing you wish was offered (but isn’t) that you think is necessary for your future professional life?
I come a few blog posts after the fact but wanted to weigh in regardless.
This isn’t as easy as it sounds. There are a couple of things that I would wish for but on the other hand I am not really sure. See what I mean? This is a little more complex than it seems.
For me it was a matter of confidence. I didn’t realize I had experience and ability to make the right decisions until I was well into things… probably 5 years later than I should have. True, I was and still am, outspoken when I believe in something to do with my work, but it actually took me some time to believe in myself. Hokey and cheesy as that might sound, it’s that belief in my own self, and the skills I gained in order to make decisions that I wish I had recognized a whole lot sooner. Not sure it would have made that much difference in my choices, but perhaps I would have let the stress go a whole lot sooner and had a little more fun in the decision making.
These are what they call the “soft skills.” The programme provides the foundational skills, the things you need to operationalize and work a library/information centre type place. I don’t think the university can really teach these skills, but then again perhaps it is doing so in a more subtle way that we don’t really realize.
This is an ongoing discussion among hiring managers, those who lead in the operational world, and those who teach the ones we hire. At what point does academia leave off and professional development post MLS kick in to continue the journey?