This anonymous interview is with a public librarian who has been a hiring manager and a member of a hiring or search committee. This person hires the following types of LIS professionals:
Children’s librarians and library technicians
This librarian works at a library with 10-50 staff members in an urban area in Canada .
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?
√ 26-50 %
And how would you define “hirable”?
Met the basic requirements of the job description.
How are applications evaluated, and by whom?
Two or more librarians usually form a hiring committee.
What is the most common reason for disqualifying an applicant without an interview?
Not have the basic requirements (education). We have limited time to conduct interviews, so we usually choose the top three candidates (based on to what extent they meet other criteria we have set out like years of experience, relevant experience, interests relating to the job).
Do you (or does your library) give candidates feedback about applications or interview performance?
√ Yes
What is the most important thing for a job hunter to do in order to improve his/her/their hirability?
Keep the cover letter under one page, in a normal sized font.
I want to hire someone who is
awesome
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?
√ 5-6
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?
√ 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 usually ask for 1-2 years experience for entry level positions, but have often hired candidates with less experience or directly out of school.
Is librarianship a dying profession?
√ No
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Hiring Librarians 