This anonymous interview is with an academic librarian who has been a hiring manager and a member of a hiring or search committee. This person hires the following types of LIS professionals:
All types-Technical services, children’s, research, technology, marketing, subject liaisons, etc.
This librarian works at a library in a suburban area in the Southern US.
Approximately how many people applied for the last librarian (or other professional level) job at your workplace?
√ 25 or fewer
Approximately what percentage of those would you say were hirable?
√ 25% or less
And how would you define “hirable”?
Professional dispositions and alignment with our university’s doctrinal statement
How are applications evaluated, and by whom?
weeded out by hiring manager; evaluated by internal committee; phone interview; then background check
What is the most common reason for disqualifying an applicant without an interview?
Credentials and experience
Do you (or does your library) 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 his/her/their hirability?
Personable and demonstration of professionalism
I want to hire someone who is
personable.
How many staff members are at your library/organization?
√ 50-100
How many permanent, full time librarian (or other professional level) jobs has your workplace posted in the last year?
√ 3-4
How many permanent, full time para-professional (or other non-professional level) jobs has your workplace posted in the last year?
√ 7 or more
Can you tell us how the number of permanent, full-time librarian positions at your workplace has changed over the past decade?
√ There are more 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 para-professional workers over the past decade?
√ No
Does your workplace require experience for entry-level professional positions? If so, is it an official requirement or just what happens in practice?
No experience for entry level positions
Is librarianship a dying profession?
√ No
Why or why not?
We are in the information age and librarians are the ones who help to manage it and teach others how to evaluate, select, and use the vast amount of information available in a variety of formats.
Do you hire librarians? Take this survey: http://tinyurl.com/hiringlibjobmarketsurvey or take other Hiring Librarians surveys.
For some context, look at the most recent summary of responses.
Hiring Librarians 