Welcome aboard the Good Ship Records Management....

Like any career choices, you probably should ask yourself a couple of
questions that might help you focus your approach to looking for work.

Do I know the breadth of this field?
If you look at RM on the surface, it may seem a rather narrow field, but it
runs the gamut from focusing on a specific form/format of materials
(artifacts, papers, historic, music... paper, film, electronic) to working
as a practitioner, consultant, sales person or storage provider supporting
others within the field

Is there an aspect of RM I find most interesting and caters to my personal
desires?
As listed above, you can align yourself with active records, historic
preservation, public service, conversion of source materials to digital
forms, research, providing access to collections or many others.

Have you selected an industry segment you'd like to work in?
The two primary choices would be private and public, but within those there
are a vast array of options. Research and Development, Finance, Education,
Engineering, Petroleum, Legal, Communications, Science, Pharmaceutical,
Medical, Transportation to name a few.  The practices at varying levels are
similar, but the types of records and people you work with differ greatly.

Where do you want to be in 5, 10, 25 years in the field?
As Peter pointed you to the "Competencies" document, it helps you identify
your gaps to progression in the field. But there are some people that
choose a different path and may want to be in a certain place at a certain
point of their life... possibly where you have access to records that are
of great interest to you personally that you wouldn't otherwise have the
ability to see.  (Examples that I've been exposed to, but can't get close
enough to now, would be the Baseball Hall of Fame or the Grateful Dead
Archives)

Where do I want to be geographically?
There are many opportunities  across North America, but also in other
Nations... don't limit yourself if you're young and mobile enough to
consider spreading your wings.

Lastly, how much money do I need to survive and achieve the "where I want
to be in the future" goal?
We have all seen the salaries posted for some archives and library
positions, where they seek individuals with "a Masters degree that can lift
40 pounds" and pay them essentially minimum wage following an hourly
breakdown. This isn't a field you're going to get rich in instantly, but
careful consideration of your options will get you a salary that allows you
to live comfortably enough to not have to take a second job or avoid
vacations.

You may find some internships that give you the ability to grow and gain
some practical experience- you might also want to consider attending some
NARA Training Courses, many of which are free or very reasonably priced and
then look into Federal Positions where you can cut your teeth and get some
valuable exposure.  The Federal arena allows you the ability to move around
quite a bit, have a decent starting salary and benefits.

Good luck in your search... ask lots of questions, become a 'sponge' and
absorb as much information as you can from a wide range of sources, and
verify/validate any information you're given by a minimum of two sources- a
lot of what you'll hear will either be opinion, or relevant to a specific
industry segment or public/private sectors ONLY... there are a number of
CORRECT answers depending on how the question is asked.  As we say here
regularly, "It depends...."

Larry
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-- 
*Lawrence J. Medina
Danville, CA
RIM Professional since 1972*

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