Careers 

Virtually everyone has to figure out what they want to do with their life—even billionaires. Take Bill Gates, for example. He’s a billionaire who’s already “won” the equivalent of one hundred super jackpot lotteries, yet he hasn’t quit his job. The reason he still goes to work everyday is that he picked the perfect career for Bill Gates.

In other words, he loves his job.

That’s one of life’s most important challenges: Finding a means of employment that (1) you enjoy, (2) you’re qualified to do, and (3) pays well enough.

How do you find such a career? You can observe and talk with many people in a variety of occupations, or you might work as a volunteer or take a lower-level job in the work environment you think you’ll enjoy.

But as much as you do this, your perfect job may be one you’ve never heard of—perhaps a job that doesn’t exist in your home state or even your country.

Regardless of how far you’ve traveled down the path toward finding a career, the Camden County Library can help make your trip easier and less tortuous. We have information about thousands of careers and the qualifications you’ll need to get your ideal job.

Here are just a few of our career resources. In most cases, they’re located at your local Camden County Library branch:  

4Your librarian: Unless you have experience finding the types of sources listed below, the best starting point would be to ask for assistance from your librarian. She or he is trained to help you find the resources you’ll need.  
4Encyclopedia of Careers and Vocational Guidance is a four-volume set that has information about more than 900 careers, including the education and/or experience needed, the salary range, and job outlook. This reference source is available at our Bellmawr, Gloucester, Haddon, South County, and Voorhees Branches, and can be found under the call number “Ref 331.702 Enc.” 

4Occupational Outlook Handbook is written by the U.S. Department of Labor. Although less comprehensive than Encyclopedia of Careers..., it has excellent information on job outlook and earnings. All of the Camden County Library Branches have this resource, and it’s filed under “Ref 331.702 Occ.” If you prefer, you can access this reference source from your home computer, at http://www.bls.gov/oco/. 

4The Camden County Library has books with in-depth information about individual careers (e.g., Careers in Finance or Careers in Cosmetology).   

4Colleges, Universities, and Vocational Schools: Our local and regional branches have up-to-date reference information about schools where you can get the education and training needed for your chosen career. These resources will help you choose the schools that best suit your area of study. Start your search by using our higher education pathfinder: http://www.camdencountylibrary.org/pathfinders/highered.htm  

4Financial Aid: We have a variety of information sources to help you find financial aid for your education. A good place to start your search would be to determine which colleges and universities offer merit or need-based scholarships. Sometimes, you need look no further than that. Other sources of information can be found by using our financial aid pathfinder (http://www.camdencountylibrary.org/pathfinders/finaid.htm) or the COIN 3 database, described above.  

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Jobs  

You have the training you need; now it’s time to find a job. Even if you were a top student, recruiters rarely contact you to offer employment. To the contrary, you have to sell yourself to a potential employer. This involves writing resumes and cover letters, making phone calls, and going on interviews.

To do these well, you’ll have to learn a new set of skills that are just as important as the ones you learned in college or technical school. Fortunately, the Camden County Library has books at all of its branches that guide you through this process. You can find books on cover letters, resumes, and interviews filed on our shelves from 650.14 through 650.142.

Camden County librarians have created an Employment Subject Guide, with links to websites on everything from creating a résumé to local job listings to government employment. In addition you can check out our Recommended Websites and Subject Guides.  Look under the heading "Employment/Careers."

 If you have any questions about our resources, please ask us to help you. We have trained staff at all of our branches. In addition, if you’d like to reserve any of our materials from your home computer, go to our online catalog.  After you find the item you want, click on “Request Item” and follow the directions. When the item you requested is ready for pickup at the library, we’ll send you a notice in the mail or by e-mail. 
 

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