So it’s been a slow year for the original survey. The last time I posted statistics (October 2012), there were 160 responses, 50 of which had been collected in the prior six months, with the remaining majority having been collected in the first month (March 2012).   There are currently 179 responses.

Distribution of Responses Over Time

You can see in the chart above that responses spiked after the What to Wear survey, and have been at a very slow pop since. Even with the relatively small increase from last year, it’s been long enough that I’d like to post statistics from this survey again.

This post uses responses collected from the survey’s launch, on February 24, 2012 to November 30th, 2013. The charts and tables in this post are automatically generated by the Google Form.  So there are a few problems, including the truncation of labels on the charts.

Please remember the limitations of this project, which is more for FUN than for SCIENCE. The survey responses are a result of non-probability sampling. I have no way of knowing that the people who responded actually have anything to do with library hiring – they are mostly anonymous, even to me. In addition, these charts and tables mash together the disparate hiring practices of academic, public, school, special and other library organizations (hence the conflating of resume/cv).

As with most career sites, I think job hunters should completely disregard anything stated here when appropriate. You’re a unique person, and so is the organization that wants to hire you.

That being said, here are the aggregated:

RESULTS!

Applications

How many pages should a cover letter be?

Only one!		88	49%
Two is ok, but no more		47	26%
As many as it takes, but shorter is better		30	17%
As many as it takes, I love reading		1	1%
Other		13	7%

How many pages should a resume/CV be?

Only one!		6	3%
Two is ok, but no more		48	27%
As many as it takes, but keep it short and sweet		88	49%
As many as it takes, I want to look at every accomplishment		17	9%
Other		20	11%

Do you have a preferred format for application documents?

.doc		4	2%
.docx		2	1%
.pdf		56	31%
No preference, as long as I can open it		103	58%
Other		14	8%

Should a resume/CV have an Objective statement?

Yes		14	8%
No		91	51%
I don’t care		60	34%
Other		14	8%

If applications are emailed, how should the cover letter be submitted?

In the body of the email only		3	2%
As an attachment only		69	39%
Both as an attachment and in the body of the email		33	18%
I don’t care		54	30%
Other		20	11%

Demographics

What library/institution type do you hire for?

Academic library		78	44%
Public library		55	31%
School library		4	2%
Special library		15	8%
Archives		6	3%
Other		21	12%

How many staff members are in your library?

0-10		47	26%
10-50		68	38%
50-100		25	14%
100-200		21	12%
200+		16	9%

Are you a librarian?

Yes		161	90%
No		7	4%
It’s complicated		9	5%

Are you now or have you ever been:

a hiring manager		152	86%
a member of a hiring committee		142	81%
human resources		8	5%
Other		6	3%

People may select more than one checkbox, so percentages may add up to more than 100%.

Thank you again to all the people who hire librarians that responded! 

We will continue to collect responses. If you hire librarians, and you’d like to take this survey, the link is: http://tinyurl.com/hiringlibsurvey

Thank you again for reading!

I’d love to hear your thoughts!

Have you noticed any interesting commonalities among the longer interviews? Is there advice you agree or disagree with? Did anything particularly surprise you?  

And what should we ask about next?  Here at Hiring Librbarians, question suggestions and survey ideas are always welcome. And the comments are always open.