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:
Adult reference librarians; library pages
This librarian works at a library with 200+ 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?
√ 25-75
Approximately what percentage of those would you say were hirable?
√ 25% or less
And how would you define “hirable”?
Has a Masters in Library Science; has Library work experience; expresses/presents themselves well on the application.
How are applications evaluated, and by whom?
Hiring team of three upper level librarians review applications.
What is the most common reason for disqualifying an applicant without an interview?
Applicant does not have a Masters in Library Science.
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?
Have proper education and work experience; read job description carefully and only apply to those positions that your education/work experience match.
I want to hire someone who is
Excited about contributing to the team at our library.
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?
√ 5-6
How many permanent, full time para-professional (or other non-professional level) jobs has your workplace posted in the last year?
√ 3-4
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?
√ No
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 but it is not an official requirement.
We generally have enough applicants to select only those that have experience.
Is librarianship a dying profession?
√ No
Why or why not?
A large percentage of the public still needs assistance finding their information needs and/or using technology. Librarianship has changed, but it is not dying.
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 