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:
reference, instruction, web and systems, technical services
This librarian works at a library with 10-50 staff members in an urban area in the Northeastern 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”?
Met the educational requirements (MLS + second post-grad degree) and had at least some relevant experience.
How are applications evaluated, and by whom?
CVs are sorted into 3 catagories: 1) does not meet minimum qualifications (usually because they do not have an MLS or because they don’t have the 2nd degree); 2) meets minimum quals; 3) meets preferred quals; Hiring committees usually consist of several tenured librarians, one non-tenured librarian, one library staff member, and a tenured professor from outside of the library.
What is the most common reason for disqualifying an applicant without an interview?
Not having the required education.
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?
Directly address the required and preferred qualifications from the job posting in the cover letter. Be specific about projects, experience, and industry-specific knowledge in the interview. Express your passion for the field or for what you do.
I want to hire someone who is
dedicated
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?
√ 3-4
How many permanent, full time para-professional (or other non-professional level) jobs has your workplace posted in the last year?
√ 1
Can you tell us how the number of permanent, full-time librarian positions at your workplace has changed over the past decade?
√ I don’t know
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?
No
Is librarianship a dying profession?
√ No
Why or why not?
Librarians are branching out and taking on non-traditional roles. I honestly feel like we’ve adapted well and are actively working to help make sense of the deluge of information available to people. As long as we keep up with technology and technological standards the career will be as vital as ever, it will just require more specialized training and perhaps attract different kinds of people.
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For some context, look at the most recent summary of responses.
Hiring Librarians 