Please note: this is an anonymous response to an online survey; I do not have any way of contacting the respondent or verifying responses. Their answers may reflect good, bad, or middling job searching practices. I invite you to take what’s useful and leave the rest.
Your Demographics and Search Parameters
Why are you job hunting?
√ Looking for more money
Where do you look for open positions?
NCPH and ArchivesGig
What position level are you looking for?
√ Requiring at least two years of experience
√ Supervisory
√ Other: Digitization Librarian
What type(s) of organization are you looking in?
√ Academic library
√ Archives
√ Special library
What part of the world are you in?
√ Southeastern US
What’s your region like?
√ Urban area
Are you willing/able to move for employment?
√ No
What are the top three things you’re looking for in a job?
Higher pay, flexibility, relaxed setting
What steps, actions, or attributes are most important for employers to take to sell you on the job?
√ Pay well
√ Having (and describing) excellent benefits
√ Funding professional development
√ Prioritizing EDI work
√ Prioritizing work-life balance
Do you expect to see the salary range listed in a job ad?
√ Yes, and it’s a red flag when it’s not
Other than not listing a salary range, are there other “red flags” that would prevent you from applying to a job?
High turnover, constantly in the news, they show the salary range and its low, bad staff personalities, bad administration personalities
The Process
How do you prefer to communicate with potential employers?
When would you like potential employers to contact you?
√ To acknowledge my application
√ To tell me if the search is at the interview stage, even if I have not been selected
√ Once the position has been filled, even if it’s not me
How long do you expect an organization’s application process to take, from the point you submit your documents to the point of either an offer or rejection?
1 month or less.
How do you prepare for interviews?
Ask others in similar positions I know about their interviews, Google questions
What are your most hated interview questions, and why?
Day long interviews–it’s exhausting and I have to take an entire day off from my other job.
During your current search, have you had any of the following experiences:
- Submitted an application and got no response √ Happened the majority of the time or always
- Had an interview and never heard back √ Happened once
- Interviewed for a job where an internal candidate was eventually chosen √ I don’t know
- Asked for an accommodation for a disability √ Not Applicable
- Withdrawn an application before the offer stage √ Not Applicable
- Turned down an offer √ Happened once
If you’ve turned down an offer (or offers), why?
Yes. The company was not responsive and seemed to be dodgy when I had questions about the job.
What should employers do to make the hiring process better for job hunters?
Make sure to have a pre-written email that lives somewhere they can access to send out to individuals when they don’t get selected for an interview or were not chosen after the interview.
You and Your Well-Being
How are you doing, generally?
√ I’m maintaining
√ I’m frustrated
What are your job search self-care strategies?
Embroidery, coloring
Job Hunting Post Graduate School
When did you start your first job search for a “professional” position (or other position that utilized your degree)?
√ More than six months before graduating with my MLIS/other LIS degree .
Hiring Librarians 