INTERVIEW
Follow the path, but don’t be afraid to explore different routes
Jake Hearn is a legal information professional. He has just taken the next step in his career after three years with a London-based legal firm with an international reach. He talks to Rob Green about his first role and making the transition from student to professional, and why it pays to keep an open mind.
A WELL-trodden path from Weekend Assistant in a public library to a career as an information professional may sound familiar to many readers. Legal information professional Jake Hearn is one of those who have followed the path, but as he points out there are many different routes along the way. He has recently joined his second legal organisation after a successful three years in his first post, which he began as an MA Student on UCL’s LIS course. Jake says: “My first experience of working in libraries was during my time at college when I was an A-Level student and I secured a Saturday job in my local public library. This is prob- ably a recognisable trope for many people in the profession today. I worked in Essex Public libraries for eight years, while I was in full-time education – A-Levels first, then a four year degree and then my first Masters degree.”
Commitment
In 2015, Jake graduated from his Master’s degree, in environmental literature, he then worked as a special educational needs teaching assistant. However, this was only a temporary position and in 2016, he was looking for another post and successfully applied for a role as library assistant at a
28 INFORMATION PROFESSIONAL
Rob Green (
rob.green@
cilip.org.uk) is Editor, Information Professional.
local FE and HE college. His experience working in public libraries helped, and Jake says: “It was at that point that I decided to make the commitment to the profession and do the MA degree. So I started that while I was working at the college as a library assistant.
“It was in 2018, half way through my degree at UCL, that a job came up at a law firm. I applied, was successful, and was there for three years before securing my new role this summer. When I started, it was a full-time position but they were aware that I was doing the MA and only half way through. They gave me one day off a week to complete it, so I was part-time
September 2021
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