Hey have you seen the new survey?
http://tinyurl.com/hiringlibJOBHUNTERsurvey
Co-written by Naomi House from I Need A Library Job, this is designed to open up employer/job hunter communication in the other direction. We’re hoping for honesty tempered with civility, but it’s hard not to call it “Job Hunter’s Revenge.”
Anyway, 103 people have responded already! The first anonymized response will go up in about five minutes, but to launch the presentation of this new survey, here are these initial:
Results!
(Please again forgive the cut off labels on the charts – this is how Google forms deals with verbosity)
Do you expect to see salary range listed in a job ad?
| Yes, and it’s a red flag when it’s not | 48 | 47% | |
| Only for certain kinds of employers | 8 | 8% | |
| No (even if I might think it *should* be) | 32 | 31% | |
| Other | 15 | 15% |
Have you ever stretched the truth, exaggerated, or lied on your resume, or at some other point during the hiring process?
| Yes | 16 | 16% | |
| No | 77 | 75% | |
| Other | 10 | 10% |
When would you like employers to contact you?
| To acknowledge my application | 70 | 68% | |
| To tell me if I have or have not been selected tomove on to the interview stage | 92 | 89% | |
| To follow-up after an interview | 73 | 71% | |
| Once the position has been filled, even if it’s not me | 95 | 92% | |
| Other | 9 | 9% |
How do you prefer to communicate with potential employers?
| Phone | 6 | 6% | |
| 47 | 46% | ||
| 0 | 0% | ||
| Phone for good news, email for bad news | 41 | 40% | |
| Other | 9 | 9% |
Which events during the interview/visit are most important to your assessment of the position (i.e. deciding if you want the job)?
| Tour of facility | 67 | 68% | |
| Being taken out to meal | 2 | 2% | |
| Meeting department members/potential co-workers | 89 | 90% | |
| Meeting with HR to talk about benefits/salary | 32 | 32% | |
| Being able to present | 15 | 15% | |
| Other | 29 | 29% |
Demographics
Are you currently employed, even if part time or in an unrelated field?
| Yes | 80 | 78% | |
| No | 21 | 20% |
Have you been hired in the last two months, even if part time or in an unrelated field?
| Yes | 26 | 25% | |
| No | 76 | 74% |
How long have you been job hunting (or if recently hired, how long did you look before that)?
| Less than six months | 26 | 25% | |
| Six months to a year | 29 | 28% | |
| A year to 18 months | 19 | 18% | |
| More than 18 months | 28 | 27% |
What type(s) of organization are you looking in?
| Academic library | 86 | 84% | |
| Archives | 47 | 46% | |
| Library vendor/service provider | 29 | 28% | |
| Public library | 77 | 75% | |
| School library | 23 | 23% | |
| Special library | 63 | 62% | |
| Other | 26 | 25% |
What position level are you looking for?
| Entry level | 79 | 77% | |
| Requiring at least two years of experience | 64 | 63% | |
| Supervisory | 23 | 23% | |
| Department Head | 12 | 12% | |
| Senior Librarian | 17 | 17% | |
| Branch Manager | 13 | 13% | |
| Director/Dean | 8 | 8% | |
| Other | 9 | 9% |
Where are you?
| Australia/New Zealand | 0 | 0% | |
| Canada | 2 | 2% | |
| Midwestern US | 26 | 25% | |
| Northeastern US | 28 | 27% | |
| Southern US | 27 | 26% | |
| UK | 0 | 0% | |
| Western US | 18 | 17% | |
| Other | 2 | 2% |
Where are you?
| Urban area | 38 | 37% | |
| City/Town | 32 | 31% | |
| Suburban area | 21 | 20% | |
| Rural area | 12 | 12% | |
| Other | 0 | 0% |
Are you willing/able to move for employment?
| No | 31 | 30% | |
| Yes, anywhere | 43 | 42% | |
| Other | 29 | 28% |
Would you like to include a short bio with your answers?
| No | 73 | 71% | |
| Yes | 27 | 26% | |
| Other | 3 | 3% |
Number of daily responses
So that’s the wrap up of statistics so far! We’ve got some great open-answer questions too:
What are the top three things you’re looking for in a job?
Where do you look for open positions?
What’s your routine for preparing an application packet? How much time do you spend on it?
What do you think employers should do to get the best candidates to apply?
What should employers do to make the hiring process less painful?
What do you think is the secret to getting hired?
Do you have any comments, or are there any other questions you think we should add to this survey?
If you’re looking, and haven’t taken the survey yet, please do! If you’ve got friends, please share the link:
Finally, if you have questions, comments or concerns, we’d love to hear them.
You can either comment below, or email hiringlibrariansATgmail.
Hiring Librarians 
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