Internal candidates can receive interview feedback with HR

This anonymous interview is with a public librarian who has been a hiring manager and a member of a hiring or search committee.

This librarian works at a library with 50-100 staff members in Canada.

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?

√ 25% or less

And how would you define “hirable”?

Met the education and experience requirements

How are applications evaluated, and by whom?

HR weeds based on required experience and union affiliation for internal positions. If applicant pool is still too large HR weeds based on additional qualifications (public library experience vs other, length of experience, how recent is experience). Then interviews with hiring committee of HR and librarians

What is the most common reason for disqualifying an applicant without an interview?

Lacking required education or experience.

Do you (or does your library) give candidates feedback about applications or interview performance?

√ Other: Internal candidates can receive interview feedback with HR

What is the most important thing for a job hunter to do in order to improve his/her/their hirability?

Be sure to clearly demonstrate how you meet the listed requirements or you won’t get past the initial screening.

I want to hire someone who is

adaptable

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?

√ 1

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?

√ Yes

Does your workplace require experience for entry-level professional positions? If so, is it an official requirement or just what happens in practice?

Not required, but preference may be given to those with experience.

Is librarianship a dying profession?

√ No

Why or why not?

Librarians always adapt to provide a variety of services to their communities. It may look different than the past but will always be a vital role.

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.