Amy,

I was a fellow student with Katherine who just recently graduated from the
UM School of Information, and I know exactly what you're going through
because I am planning on staying in Michigan.  The job market is very tough,
especially for entry-level records management positions.  While I was in
school I noticed that students interested in records management did not have
the same support system as library science or archives students; this is
only because RIM is an emerging field, and I'm sure it will come in time.
Regardless, I knew I had to take my career into my own hands.  I made sure I
attended as many ARMA-Detroit meetings as possible, both to learn and to
meet active professionals in the area.  I think that was the most important
thing I did in securing my internships.  Plus, any job/internship I took
were more records related, and even if there wasn't a strong records
management component, I made up RIM projects for myself anyway.

To sum up, I would *highly* recommend coming to the local ARMA meetings this
fall.  It is a wonderful place to market yourself as an up-and-coming RIM
professional.  There are three chapters in Michigan - Detroit, Mid-Michigan,
and Western Michigan - depending on your location.  Their websites are also
a good source of local job postings.  If you're intersted in the Detroit
chapter, contact me off list and I can give you any details you would like.

Good luck!  It'll get better in Michigan, I promise!

Emily Gierada Cogswell
MSI '09
Archives and Records Management/Information Policy
[log in to unmask]

On Fri, Jul 31, 2009 at 9:11 PM, Katherine Goodwin <[log in to unmask]>wrote:

> Hi Amy,
> I just graduated from the School of Information at the University of
> Michigan with a specialization in Archives and Records Management in May,
> so
> I'm a little familiar with the area.  Do you mind letting me know what
> program you'll be involved with?  I think Wayne State has an RIM
> certificate.  Is that it?
>
> Anyway, regardless of what program you're in, I'd suggest getting involved
> with the local ARMA chapter.  I know of at least two in Michigan, there's
> one in the Detroit area and I think another around Lansing.  There may
> actually be more, but those were the two I encountered while I was there.
>  Since Detroit was closer, that's the one I heard from/about the most
> often.
>  I wasn't actively involved with their chapter since most of their meetings
> were at times conducive to working people and not so much to student
> schedules.  (It can be really difficult to take an entire day off from work
> and classes to attend a meeting.)   Since you're just getting started, I
> think it could be really helpful for you to attend a meeting or two even if
> you have to skip class to do it.  If you're going to the Wayne State
> program, I know several of their faculty members are heavily involved with
> the Detroit ARMA chapter, so you'll probably hear about it shortly after
> school starts anyway.
>
> I'm still job hunting, but it seems like most of my successes in finding
> both internships and job opportunities came about from talking to people at
> meetings and conferences.  (I actually found out about at least one job a
> couple of months before it was posted that way.)  I think mentioning to
> people at meetings like this that you're looking for experience might even
> create opportunities for you.  It seems like sometimes people don't think
> about doing internships or special projects until someone asks them about
> the possibility.  It seems like graduate education for records managers is
> actually a fairly new concept.  I went to a conference on electronic
> records
> in May and most of the people there were originally in other fields and
> just
> sort of found themselves with records management responsibilities.  Often
> these people were completely astounded that these kinds of educational
> programs existed.
>
> Best of luck to you in your job search!  If you have any other questions
> you
> think I could help with, please don't hesitate to ask.
>
> Katherine Goodwin
>
> On Fri, Jul 31, 2009 at 3:59 PM, Amy J. Lee <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>
> > I have been a public librarian for ten years, and I'm going back to
> school
> > to begin my RIM certificate this fall.
> >
> > I'm trying to find entry level RIM positions, including project-based
> jobs
> > and part-time openings.  I check the AIIM and ARMA sites often, look for
> > openings on my university's library science program listserv and check
> > sites
> > such as LibGig too.  I live in Michigan and it's a very tough market
> right
> > now, and I was wondering if any of you kind record managers would know of
> > another source for networking.
> >
> > Thanks for your thoughts. Wishing you all a nice weekend.
> >
> > Amy Lee
> >
> > Amy J. Lee, MLIS
> > email: [log in to unmask]
> >
> > List archives at http://lists.ufl.edu/archives/recmgmt-l.html
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> >
>
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-- 
Emily Gierada Cogswell

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