This anonymous interview is with an academic librarian who has been a member of a hiring or search committee. This person hires the following types of LIS professionals:
Instruction and reference librarians
This librarian works at a library with 100-200 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?
√ more than 100, but less than 200
Approximately what percentage of those would you say were hirable?
√ 25% or less
And how would you define “hirable”?
Met the required minimal qualifications and submitted the appropriate documentation
How are applications evaluated, and by whom?
A committee with a checklist (for documents and qualifications) and then a rubric for cover letter and preferred quals
What is the most common reason for disqualifying an applicant without an interview?
Does not yet have the degree required OR Does not yet have the years of experience required (it’s a tie between these two reasons)
Do you (or does your library) give candidates feedback about applications or interview performance?
√ Other: If asked after making it to an inteview
What is the most important thing for a job hunter to do in order to improve his/her/their hirability?
Read the job description and requirements and use that to develop your materials.
I want to hire someone who is
engaged
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?
√ 3-4
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 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?
For most entry level positions no, but it is preferred and experience can include in grad school, para-professional, etc.
Is librarianship a dying profession?
√ No
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