This anonymous interview is with an academic 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, acquisitions, general 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?
√ 25-75
Approximately what percentage of those would you say were hirable?
√ 25% or less
And how would you define “hirable”?
Qualified for the specific job advertised (not an archivist applying for a cataloging position)
How are applications evaluated, and by whom?
HR does not prescreen applicants.
We use hiring committees.
The committees use rubrics based on the job description and desired traits.
What is the most common reason for disqualifying an applicant without an interview?
No MLIS or no work experience in the specialty.
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?
Get some experience in the specialty. We recognize and accept volunteer experience when evaluating aptitude, but generally not coursework.
Check your application materials for errors. Make sure that you address key points in the job description, since that is what the hiring rubric is based on.
I want to hire someone who is
adaptable
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?
√ 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 the same number of positions
Have any full-time librarian positions been replaced with part-time or hourly workers over the past decade?
√ Yes
Have any full-time librarian positions been replaced with para-professional workers over the past decade?
√ Yes
Does your workplace require experience for entry-level professional positions? If so, is it an official requirement or just what happens in practice?
It depends on the position: some require library experience, some don’t.
Is librarianship a dying profession?
√ I don’t know
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 