This anonymous interview is with a public librarian who has been a hiring manager. This person hires the following types of LIS professionals:
Branch librarians.
This librarian works at a library with 200+ 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?
√ Other: City HR forwards candidates to us
Approximately what percentage of those would you say were hirable?
√ Other: 50 – 75% of candidates interviewed
And how would you define “hirable”?
Capable of doing the job with minimal training.
How are applications evaluated, and by whom?
2 managers interview all candidates. Each answer is rated on a points scale, and interviewer also writes an overall impression at the end of interview. In a consensus meeting, interviewers discuss candidates with HR person and higher lever manager, and a candidates are ranked.
What is the most common reason for disqualifying an applicant without an interview?
I don’t play a role in this part of the process.
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?
Understand the library and the job they are applying for. Answer all of the questions fully and completely.
I want to hire someone who is
unflappable
How many staff members are at your library/organization?
√ 200+
How many permanent, full time librarian (or other professional level) jobs has your workplace posted in the last year?
√ 7 or more
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 fewer positions
Have any full-time librarian positions been replaced with part-time or hourly workers over the past decade?
√ Yes
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?
No, but it sure helps to have it. This is an urban library and those who don’t know what they are getting into will be at a disadvantage.
Is librarianship a dying profession?
√ No
Why or why not?
The only reason it might be dying is because of funding issues. As long as libraries continue to be funded, we will always have a purpose and fill a community need.
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 