This anonymous interview is with a librarian working in a joint-use facility who has been a hiring manager and a member of a hiring or search committee. This person hires the following types of LIS professionals:
Reference & subject specialist
This librarian works at a library with 50-100 staff members in a suburban area in the Southern US.
Approximately how many people applied for the last librarian (or other professional level) job at your workplace?
√ 75-100
Approximately what percentage of those would you say were hirable?
√ 26-50 %
And how would you define “hirable”?
Applicants who met the basic Job requirements
How are applications evaluated, and by whom?
I will head a search committee who use a rubric
What is the most common reason for disqualifying an applicant without an interview?
Do not meet basic requirements such as already have MLS or number of years required
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?
Write a good cover letter
I want to hire someone who is
Innovative
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?
√ 5-6
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 the same number of 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?
No
Is librarianship a dying profession?
√ No
Do you have any other comments, for job hunters or about the survey?
Make sure you are qualified for the position for which you are applying. Write a good cover letter. Be patient with the process.
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 