This anonymous interview is with a school librarian who has been a member of a hiring or search committee. This person hires the following types of LIS professionals:
Director/Cataloger, School Teacher Librarians, Media/Serials Librarian
This librarian works at a library with 0-10 staff members in an urban area in the Western US.
Approximately how many people applied for the last librarian (or other professional level) job at your workplace?
√ more than 100, but less than 200
Approximately what percentage of those would you say were hirable?
√ 25% or less
And how would you define “hirable”?
Had the required qualifications, such as MLIS degree, library experience, other desired qualifications.
How are applications evaluated, and by whom?
All applications are viewed by all members of a committee
What is the most common reason for disqualifying an applicant without an interview?
Resume, letter of interest. Lack of necessary qualifications. Lack of 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?
Apply for jobs they are a good match for, have relatable experience for.
I want to hire someone who is
qualified
How many staff members are at your library/organization?
√ 0-10
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?
√ 1
Can you tell us how the number of permanent, full-time librarian positions at your workplace has changed over the past decade?
√ There are fewer 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?
Experience is required and listed as so in the job ads.
Is librarianship a dying profession?
√ I don’t know
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 