SLIS Alumni News

Each year on October 15th, the Library Journal launches an issue dedicated to job placements and salaries. This issue includes the Annual Placements & Salaries Survey of the previous year graduates (from master degree programs of schools accredited by the American Library Association.) Articles highlight trends in the profession, and can provide current students with important information as they begin their careers. The survey results include trends by region, career niche, and other categories.

The cover photo this year is of SLIS and SPEA alumna Kristin Centanni (MIS/MPA'08.) She was interviewed by Library Journal's Editor-at-Large John N. Berry III for a "From the Class" article (see excerpts here):

Placements & Salaries Survey 2009 -
Change Agent: Kristin Centanni, Class of 2008

A recent SLIS graduate working in change management shares her insights
by John N. Berry III - Library Journal, 10/15/09

• …Kristin Centanni accepted [a job] at Diamond Consultants in Chicago, a technology management consulting firm with other offices in New York; Hartford, CT; Washington, DC; London; and Mumbai… Centanni is currently assigned to a project helping "a large transit agency in Chicago" upgrade its technology systems. Her focus is on change management.
• "I'm dealing with people and processes, not the technology, mostly working to get people there to accept the alternative," she says.
• Centanni found that both her IS and PA education helped in her current position. In the SLIS program, students analyzed how organizational processes flow and studied how to communicate change and articulate its different stages to individuals. Students analyzed "tons of case studies" to gain insights into how organizations deal with restructuring.
• "Because we're [moving] the client from a manual system to a more automated one, it is very difficult for the staff. There has been a lot of pushback and fear that they'll lose their jobs, to be replaced by this technology," she says. "I try to help them understand that [this] is an opportunity for them to learn a new skill set that will actually expand their individual tool kit. 'You are becoming more valuable,' I say, and they are slowly buying into that idea. The more you can get them [operating] with the development of the project itself, the more they begin to see the light."
• Although her career is in IS, Centanni feels confident that the future for librarians is as strong as it is for IS graduates. She notes the "huge surge in public library use" in Chicago, where she regularly takes advantage of the Humboldt Branch of the Chicago Public Library.
• "There are the job seekers using the resources, outreach programs packing them in. They do a fabulous job there," she reports. "Patrons learn how to research jobs on the Internet, how to format a résumé, and simply how to get plugged in." That's something every generation needs, she says, the ability to plug in and keep up…

Posted Oct. 20, 2009