Information Scotland The Journal of the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals in Scotland ISSN 1743-5471 Issue contents | Journal contents | About the online edition of the journal December 2006 Volume 4(6)

Future of the profession

Trying to get to a higher level?

Nicola Franklin takes a look at career progression in the higher education sector in Scotland.

Anecdotal evidence suggests that in Scottish HE institutions there can be a lack of opportunities for progression. The opinion seems to be that there are plenty of opportunities for entering work in HE, but people may have to stay ‘at the bottom’ for too long. Young, enthusiastic people may then leave to find more challenging work in different sectors.

Talking to a number of senior managers at Scottish universities and elsewhere in academia, I found this idea largely borne out across the board. One person I spoke to, who lectures part-time in information management, commented: “I think the comment is fairly true for the regions and in particular Scotland. There has always been an oversupply of people, so what happens is that people find a job and stick in it.” They added: “There is little job mobility because people are less willing to commute in Scotland because distances are bigger (for example, three hours on the train from Aberdeen to Edinburgh or Glasgow), and also there is less population (5 million, mostly in Glasgow/Edinburgh), therefore fewer jobs.” Another person added that this problem was particularly acute in the Borders and the far North.

The point was also made that once people have found work in library and information roles in academic institutions, they tend to stay put. This makes it very difficult for new joiners to the profession looking for career progression (in reality, not that different from remote areas such as South West England or Wales).

A senior manager of an academic library and information service in Scotland described their search for a suitable role when they moved north three years ago. Despite starting their job search well in advance of their move, drawing on networks established through CPD, it took five months after their arrival in Scotland to find a permanent post.

Here is some advice to others following in their footsteps:
>> Be prepared to be adaptable
>>Take advantage of any sort of temporary or interim roles that are available, even if they are in different sectors or locations than your target areas
>>Make full use of networks you have established from your CPD activities
>>Be prepared to take a more junior role as a way to get ‘local’ experience on your CV
>>Consider taking a role in a more distant location than ideal, even if the travel costs mean only breaking even financially, again as a tactical move to get some work experience on your CV
>>Be prepared for a ‘Disclosure Scotland’ to take anything from six weeks to three months – this may significantly delay your taking up a new post with consequent financial implications
>>Keep up your involvement in professional development activities, both to keep your network fresh, keep your skills up-to-date and to help you stay positive and focused on your job searches. IS

Nicola Franklin is Head of Information Recruitment at Sue Hill Recruitment.

Information Scotland Vol. 4(6) December 2006

Information Scotland is delivered online by the SAPIENS electronic publishing service based at the Centre for Digital Library Research. SLAINTE (Scottish libraries across the Internet) offers further information about librarianship and information management in Scotland.