Placements & Salaries Survey 2009: Change Agent: Kristin Centanni, Class of 2008
A recent SLIS graduate working in change management shares her insights
John N. Berry III -- Library Journal, 10/15/2009
Kristin Centanni's job search came before the recession got to its deepest levels, a jump-start that may have made all the difference. A 2008 graduate of the School of Library and Information Science (SLIS) at Indiana University (IU), Bloomington, Centanni earned a combined master's in Information Science (IS) and Public Affairs (PA), taking coursework at both SLIS and the IU School of Public Affairs (SPA). Centanni worked in the office of both as a student.
She also took advantage of regular sessions run by both schools to help students find jobs, prepare résumés, practice at mock interviews, and hear from experts in the field from both the faculty and from firms in the vicinity—supported by the schools' career counselors and placement specialists. The IU placement counselors also keep students aware of openings in their field. Centanni registered for only the top one of the three salary ranges the placement program offered, for positions paying $60,000 or more.
Ultimately, she was invited for some ten interview visits to companies, a grueling process that usually included some ten interviews at each firm. From the resulting five job offers, Centanni accepted one at Diamond Consultants in Chicago, a technology management consulting firm with other offices in New York; Hartford, CT; Washington, DC; London; and Mumbai. The effects of the economic decline worsened after she was placed, and she believes that students who interviewed later had a tougher time.
Centanni is currently assigned to a project helping "a large transit agency in Chicago" upgrade its technology systems. Her focus is on change management.
Enabling change
"I'm dealing with people and processes, not the technology, mostly working to get people there to accept the alternative," she says.
"There are both politics and internal policy changes involved. We focus on how to communicate that to [employees] there. It also impacts the riders on the system, everyone who lives in the communities, and the whole public image of the enterprise."
Centanni found that both her IS and PA education helped in her current position. In the SLIS program, students analyzed how organizational processes flow and studied how to communicate change and articulate its different stages to individuals. Students analyzed "tons of case studies" to gain insights into how organizations deal with restructuring.
"Because we're [moving] the client from a manual system to a more automated one, it is very difficult for the staff. There has been a lot of pushback and fear that they'll lose their jobs, to be replaced by this technology," she says. "I try to help them understand that [this] is an opportunity for them to learn a new skill set that will actually expand their individual tool kit. 'You are becoming more valuable,' I say, and they are slowly buying into that idea. The more you can get them [operating] with the development of the project itself, the more they begin to see the light."
Drawn to the public sector
Centanni was drawn to Diamond, which recruited at IU, by the firm's reputation for expertise within the public sector. That is her career interest; she has been involved with nonprofits almost since childhood. Growing up in Texas, she started a nonprofit to get young high schoolers doing things for their community, everything from cleaning up parks to helping out in nursing homes. Centanni's current assignment is her first experience interacting with unions and in a quasigovernment agency.
"The public sector is really different from business. Usually you are dealing with a public good, so you have to have a different perspective on things," says the IU grad. "You are getting public money, and you have to be skilled in fundraising to add private money to that. You can't be as cutthroat as you could in business."
An "I" student who loves libraries
According to Centanni, the difference between SLIS students emphasizing library science (LS) or IS is hardly noticeable to their fellow students. She shared many classes with LIS students who were earning joint degrees in IS and LS. "That takes a lot more classes, but it gives them an edge," she asserts. She feels students from both LS and IS concentrations bring useful, distinctive perspectives.
Although her career is in IS, Centanni feels confident that the future for librarians is as strong as it is for IS graduates. She notes the "huge surge in public library use" in Chicago, where she regularly takes advantage of the Humboldt Branch of the Chicago Public Library.
"There are the job seekers using the resources, outreach programs packing them in. They do a fabulous job there," she reports. "Patrons learn how to research jobs on the Internet, how to format a résumé, and simply how to get plugged in." That's something every generation needs, she says, the ability to plug in and keep up. "I think old and young are in the same boat. I learn something new every day," she says. "My mother just joined Facebook."
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