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:
catalogers, children’s librarians, reference librarians, managers
This librarian works at a library with 100-200 staff members in an urban area in the Southern 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?
√ 25% or less
And how would you define “hirable”?
Had minimum qualifications, didn’t have job requirements we couldn’t meet
How are applications evaluated, and by whom?
First weeded by HR through unknown set of criteria, then by search committee head and then search committee
What is the most common reason for disqualifying an applicant without an interview?
Doesn’t have minimum required qualifications (no experience in needed field, etc.)
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?
articulate professional experience in terms of the job one is applying for
I want to hire someone who is
teachable
How many staff members are at your library/organization?
√ 100-200
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 more positions
Have any full-time librarian positions been replaced with part-time or hourly workers over the past decade?
√ I don’t know
Have any full-time librarian positions been replaced with para-professional workers over the past decade?
√ I don’t know
Does your workplace require experience for entry-level professional positions? If so, is it an official requirement or just what happens in practice?
yes, officially
Is librarianship a dying profession?
√ No
Why or why not?
Always need someone to navigate resources, whether in print, online, or in some multimedia format. Librarian work has become more important, and while one can get the needed education via experience, professional training is a much needed component for most.
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 