This anonymous respondent serves as a solo librarian in a multi-campus academic system and has been a hiring manager and a member of a hiring or search committee.This librarian hires the following types of LIS professionals:
Solo librarians with a wide variety of duties – marketing, instruction, promotions, cataloging, reference, experience with Learning Management Systems and MS Office (in order to help students, staff, and faculty).
The library is in a suburban area in the Midwestern US.
Approximately how many people applied for the last librarian (or other professional level) job at your workplace?
√ 25-75
Approximately what percentage of those would you say were hirable?
√ 26-50 %
And how would you define “hirable”?
MLS, realistic salary expectations, relocation, socially and technologically adept and involved.
How are applications evaluated, and by whom?
I work with my manager on evaluating resumes and cover letters. We decide which librarians we would like to phone screen. If someone does well in the phone screen, we do a WebEx interview (if travel is difficult, which it usually is). HR does not see or weed any resumes. We do not have a rubric, but we work with leadership at the campuses with vacancies before making a final decision.
What is the most common reason for disqualifying an applicant without an interview?
No MLS
Do you (or does your library) give candidates feedback about applications or interview performance?
√ Yes
What is the most important thing for a job hunter to do in order to improve his/her/their hirability?
Be enthusiastic and engaged about the profession. Stay current on new trends and developments in libraries, information, technology, and pedagogy.
I want to hire someone who is
excited
How many staff members are at your library/organization?
√ 10-50
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?
√ Other: 0
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?
We only hire MLS librarians. Each of our positions is a solo librarian.
Is librarianship a dying profession?
√ No
Why or why not?
People will always need assistance navigating, accessing, evaluating, and communicating information.
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 