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 hiring practices. I invite you to take what’s useful and leave the rest. If you are someone who hires Library, Archives or other LIS workers, please consider giving your own opinion by filling out the survey here.
Current Hiring Practices and Organizational Needs
These questions are about your current hiring practices in general – the way things have been run the last year or two (or three).
Where do you advertise your job listings?
University web site, relevant professional listservs, job listservs for universities with LIS programs, social media
Do you notice a difference in application quality based on where the applicant saw the job ad?
We don’t ask where they saw it
Do you include salary in the job ad?
√ Yes
Do you use keyword matching or any automation tools to reduce the number of applications a human reads while considering candidates?
√ No
Do you consider candidates who don’t meet all the requirements listed in the job ad?
√ No
Does your workplace require experience for entry-level librarian positions? (Officially or unofficially…)
√ Other: Work experience or years of college education is acceptable
What is the current most common reason for disqualifying an applicant without an interview?
Lack of required qualification(s).
Does your organization use one-way interviews? (Sometimes also called asynchronous or recorded interviews)
√ No
Do you provide interview questions before the interview?
√ Yes
If you provide interview questions before the interview, how far in advance?
48 hours
Does your interview process include taking the candidate out for a meal?
√ Other: Depends on the classification. Entry level no, other positions yes.
How much of your interview process is virtual?
√ First round/Initial Screen
Do you (or does your organization) give candidates feedback about applications or interview performance?
√ No
What is the most important thing for a job hunter to do in order to improve their hirability?
Answer questions and follow discussion prompts thoroughly
I want to hire someone who is:
realistic
Is there anything else you’d like to say about hiring practices at your organization or in current trends?
Wages haven’t kept up with rising prices so people have to job hop to avoid getting paid less for their increasing experience and skill. I set the over-under on most people as lasting 3 years here before they leave for better starting pay at another institution.
Your Last Recruitment
These are questions about the last person you hired (or the last position you attempted to fill). This person may not have been a librarian, and that’s ok.
Think about the most recent time you participated in hiring someone (or an attempt to hire someone) at your organization. What was the title of the position you were trying to fill?
Electronic Resources Librarian
When was this position hired?
√ Between three to six months ago
Approximately how many people applied for this position?
√ 25 or fewer
Approximately what percentage of those would you say were hirable?
√ 26-50%
And how would you define “hirable”?
Within 1 year of starting they could perform the required duties of the job independently
How did the recruitment for this position compare with recruitments in previous years?
I was not involved with recruitment or hiring of the previous person in this position
Your Workplace
This section asks for information about your workplace, including if you have lost positions in the last decade.
How many staff members are at your library/organization?
√ 50-100
Are you unionized?
√ Other: Some positions yes, some no
How many permanent, full time job openings has your workplace posted in the last year?
√ 7 or more
How many permanent, full time librarian (or other “professional” level) jobs has your workplace posted in the last year?
√ 3-4
Can you tell us how the number of permanent, full-time positions at your workplace has changed over the past decade?
√ There are fewer positions
Have any full-time librarian positions been replaced with part-time or hourly workers over the past decade?
√ No
Have any full-time librarian positions been replaced with non-librarian, lower paid staff positions over the past decade?
√ Yes
Is librarianship a dying profession?
√ Yes
Why or why not?
All professions are dying. Late stage capitalism views workers as an expense to be cut and not the source of all wealth.
Demographics
This section asks for information about you specifically.
What part of the world are you in?
√ Midwestern US
What’s your region like?
√ Urban
What type of institution do you hire for (check all that apply):
√ Academic Library
What type(s) of LIS professionals do you hire?
Technically our dean does all hiring we just issue reports about candidates
Are you a librarian?
√ Yes
Are you now or have you ever been:
√ A member of a hiring or search committee
Hiring Librarians 