The Trainee Programme is a mixture of planned events:
- A programme of library visits based on feedback from previous years and current trainees interests
- A practical website training session
- Social events such as the Welcome Party and the End of Programme Party to which previous years trainees are also invited – a great chance to pick their brains on the university to apply to and their trainee experiences
- At the end of the programme there is a Question and Answer Panel where a group of librarians are invited to answer questions on such issues as careers, trends, the future of librarianship or anything else the trainees care to ask
And potential opportunities:
- Trainees working for the University of London can take advantage of their IT Development Programme and do a range of computer based courses, such as the ECDL (European Computer Driving Licence), a useful add-on for a librarian’s CV. The University of London Staff Development Programme also runs other useful professional courses, for example ‘Disability Awareness’
- A chance to work on the this trainee website and change it or develop it further
And then there are the informal opportunities:
- The trainees’ blog set up to pass on details of interesting lectures or visits, comment on library visits, exchange ideas or just keep in touch
- The day trip to Oxford organised by the trainees to meet up with Oxford trainees, visit the Bodleian and anywhere else that takes their fancy
Finally to give potential trainees a real flavour of a trainee year you can look at a trainee’s diary