This anonymous interview is with an academic librarian who has been a member of a hiring or search committee. This person hires the following types of LIS professionals:
Instruction, reference, catalog/systems, all are subject liaisons
This librarian works at a library with 10-50 staff members in a rural area in the Western 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?
√ Other: 1-2%
And how would you define “hirable”?
Had the qualifications for the job advertised.
How are applications evaluated, and by whom?
HR does not do any evaluating. We use a rubric disseminated to search committee members.
What is the most common reason for disqualifying an applicant without an interview?
Lack of qualifications and/or poor communication skills.
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 you are genuinely qualified for and write a well-written letter that maps your qualifications to the ones listed in the job ad.
I want to hire someone who is
talented
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?
√ 2
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 more positions
Have any full-time librarian positions been replaced with part-time or hourly workers over the past decade?
√ Other: tenured position replaced with non-tenure position
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 like to see evidence of volunteer and/or teaching experience while in school.
Is librarianship a dying profession?
√ No
Why or why not?
Library instruction is a growing field in higher education, as is electronic resources.
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 