International job seekers may be more likely to find volunteer librarian positions than to find full-time paid jobs, says Meaghan O'Connor '08LS, because international development organizations generally don't hire subject specialists.

"If you're working on a project on agriculture, you might get a consultant who is a specialist, but the people who work on the project are in project management," she says. Her job is unique, but she hopes it won't always be. She'd like to create an internship program at IREX for American library students, and she wants to get many librarians involved in the projects she's now working on.

Her advice to current GSLIS students who are interested in overseas work:

• Get involved in the ALA's International Relations Round Table (IRRT). "You just never know what kind of people you're going to meet in the IRRT circle," she says. O'Connor learned about the IREX job through a contact at IRRT. Its members meet at ALA conferences, so O'Connor suggests taking advantage of the student rate and going to as many conferences as possible.
• Get international experience before applying for jobs. Some of that you can get through Simmons: Volunteer at the library in San Juan del Sur, Nicaragua, for example (see page 4 for more information); apply for a scholarship to attend the World Library and Information Congress of the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA); study abroad in courses offered by Simmons, UNC Chapel Hill (visit InfoLink Online's Online Exclusives page for more information), and others.
• Be flexible. "We all have a preferred region of the world where we'd like to work," says O'Connor. "If you can get in the door in any region of the world, you have more opportunity to get to the region you want. Don't pass up opportunities, because they might lead you there eventually."