37. The Museum-Library Career Crossover Episode with Alison King

Museum people and library people might have more in common than we realized. In this episode, Elin Filbey and Alli Schell are joined by Alison King, librarian-turned-career coach and founder of King Career Services, to talk about the surprisingly similar career challenges facing library and museum professionals and what we can learn from each other. After landing her childhood “dream job” as a children’s librarian, Alison eventually realized she had reached a career ceiling much earlier than expected. She shares how that realization, combined with difficult schedules, limited advancement opportunities, and growing resentment toward her work, eventually led her to make the leap from libraries into copy editing—and later, career coaching. Together, Alison, Elin, and Alli dig into:why reaching your “dream job” doesn't necessarily mean you've found your forever careerthe similarities between museum and library work, from low pay and limited advancement to being asked to do a lot with very few resourceswhat “vocational awe” looks like in libraries and why museum professionals may recognize it immediatelythe skills librarians often underestimate, including research, understanding user needs, communication, programming, and cross-functional workwhy translating your experience starts with understanding where you want to go, not simply rewriting everything you've ever donehow to “connect the dots” between your experience and what a new employer actually needswhy there isn't one magical list of jobs librarians, or museum professionals, can transition intowhat museum professionals should consider before assuming libraries are the escape hatch from the museum fieldwhy identifying the point where your job search is breaking down can help you figure out what actually needs fixing Plus, Alison joins us for a rapid-fire round covering resume mistakes, LinkedIn, networking, interview prep, feeling stuck in the job search, and the career-management hill she'll die on:You have to own your career. Your employer isn't going to do it for you.Mentioned in this episodeKing Career Services & Leaping Librarians – Job Search Pro https://kingcareerservices.com/Alison helps librarians take the next leap in their careers—whether that's advancing or moving within libraries or making the leap into something entirely new. Vocational Awe and Librarianship: The Lies We Tell Ourselves – In the Library with the Lead Pipe https://www.inthelibrarywiththeleadpipe.org/2018/vocational-awe/Alison recommends Fobazi Ettarh's essay on “vocational awe,” which explores what happens when libraries are treated as inherently good or sacred institutions—and how that framing can contribute to burnout, being under compensation, and unhealthy expectations for the people who work within them.