It is hard to imagine all the form completing and hoop jumping I have been doing really results in finding quality staff

Laura Perenic is loudly proclaiming her love for Ohio, spicy food and dogs. She is quietly marinating on a tattoo while taking her 12 years of library experience to new employment. She writes puns in her spare time. She is also a job hunter who is not currently employed (even if part-time or in an unrelated field), has not been hired within the last two months, and has been looking for a new position for Less than six months. She is looking in Public libraries and Special libraries, with a focus on Information Service or Youth Service at the following levels: Requiring at least two years of experience, Supervisory, Department Head. Ms. Perenic is in a suburban area, in the Midwestern US and is willing to move anywhere in the tri state area. She is all over the web at: One for the Books, @LpPerenic, and on Goodreads

What are the top three things you’re looking for in a job?

Position ie is it what I am trained for

Location, I don’t have a lot of money to move or move far

Salary; I sort of keep lowering my standards. Despite my MLS and 12 years of work in public libraries, I see jobs that match skill set that offer 13$/hr. If I had student loans it would be hard to dig myself out of debt with such financial limitations.

Where do you look for open positions?

ALATT
Indeed
INALJ
LISJOBS
State lists like SWON and OPLIN

Do you expect to see salary range listed in a job ad?

√ Yes, and it’s a red flag when it’s not. (I have written a few employers and asked what the salary range is for the position. Most often the range is not posted because it is low.)

What’s your routine for preparing an application packet? How much time do you spend on it?

The packet requirements seem to vary quite a bit. For the standard resume and cover letter I will read and rewrite for maybe an hour. For packets that have an application, questionnaire, and other details it would not be unusual to take several days to gather everything.

Have you ever stretched the truth, exaggerated, or lied on your resume, or at some other point during the hiring process?

√ No. (I have had some questions that were tricky and I worried that I was answering them incorrectly. I had a question about my unemployment benefits and if I had run out of my allotment. I am not receiving any benefits but there was not a way to indicate this from the online form.)

When would you like employers to contact you?

√ To tell me if I have or have not been selected to move on to the interview stage

How do you prefer to communicate with potential employers?

√ Email

Which events during the interview/visit are most important to your assessment of the position (i.e. deciding if you want the job)?

√ Meeting department members/potential co-workers

What do you think employers should do to get the best candidates to apply?

It is hard to imagine all the form completing and hoop jumping I have been doing really results in finding quality staff. If there is a way to expedite the process that would definitely be appreciated. I have been asked a lot of questions that I didn’t have the answer for and didn’t know how to get the answer quickly. I’ve been asked for my high school gpa, a type written list of my graduate school courses but not a transcript and also how much money I made at a job I had more than ten years ago.

Paying more couldn’t hurt.

What should employers do to make the hiring process less painful?

I know they don’t have time but it sure would be nice to know how we interview, i.e. if I totally flubbed. I have a library system I’ve interviewed with twice for 6 positions and never gotten anywhere.

What do you think is the secret to getting hired?

I wish I knew, I sure don’t have any tips to share.

Maybe it’s networking? I would be curious to know if I have a good/bad reputation or something that is holding me back. I have really benefitted from having other professionals to check in with help me as an employment coach. A former boss has really helped keep me on target with what I want from my next job.

Do you have any comments, or are there any other questions you think we should add to this survey?

I submitted my resume for review, do you ever review other materials such as the pre-employment questionnaire? I just completed two sets of essays for my employment applications; one with 5 short essays and the other with 4 short essays.

For some context, take a look at the most recently published summary of responses.

Are you hunting for a new LIS job? Take the survey! http://tinyurl.com/hiringlibJOBHUNTERsurvey

This survey was co-authored by Naomi House from I Need A Library Job – Do you need one? Check it out!