This is part of our series, Job Hunter’s Web Guide, which profiles online resources for LIS job hunters.
It’s been interesting for this American to get a few glimpses into librarianship in other countries. The UK’s main association for librarians is CILIP (the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals). I recently corresponded with their Workforce Development Manager, Helen Berry, to put together this profile. Please enjoy learning a bit about CILIP’s efforts, history, and goals around supporting library careers in the UK.
What is it? Please give us your elevator speech!
The CILIP Careers Hub is a dedicated area of the CILIP website with resources, support and guidance for those seeking a job in the information profession. It covers all stages of the career journey and is freely accessible to members and non-members alike.
The CILIP Job Board, Information Professional Jobs, is part of our Careers Hub and carries the largest number of LIS jobs in the UK. The roles cover the sectors of Academia, Health, Government, Public, Schools, Legal, Commercial and Special Collections.13000 people visit the site each month.
When was it started? Why was it started?
The job board was born out of a fortnightly jobs print supplement that went out to CILIP members from the Sixties right up until 2010. Initially entitled LISJOBNET.com, it rebranded in 2018 to align the brand with the membership journal and became Information Professional Jobs.
Who runs it?
CILIP, the library and information association.
Are you a “career expert”? What are your qualifications?
CILIP is the UK library and information association. We support, unite and develop information professionals and librarians across all sectors- the people who help the world make better decisions.
We also offer ttraining and Continuing Professional Development(CPD) to the profession, accredit LIS courses at Universities in the UK and internationally, led the trailblazer group to develop the Level 3 Library, Information and Archive Services Assistant Apprenticeship Standard for the UK and offer 3 levels of Professional Registration (Certification, Chartership and Fellowship) ourselves, backed by our Royal Charter and Professional Knowledge and Skills Base. Which is a slightly long winded way of saying, “yes, we do know quite a bit about the information profession!”
Who is your target audience?
Anyone working or wishing to work within the library, knowledge and information domains in the UK. Appealing to cross sectoral workers from Academic, Health, Government, Public, Schools, Legal, Commercial and Special Collections.
What’s the best way to use your site? Should users consult it daily? Or as needed? Should they already know what they need help with, or can they just noodle around?
Jobs are added to the site most days. Depending on your level of job-seeking seriousness, there is a mechanism to put you in touch with the latest jobs.
There is a real-time e-alert service that emails users details of jobs that fit their search criteria as they hit the database, so you aren’t inundated with irrelevant posts. You can also opt to receive these alerts hourly/daily or weekly, if you wish.
We also have a weekly e-newsletter that gives details of all the new jobs that week – everything for you to browse. 6,700 subscribe to this e-newsletter. The sign up page is here.
Does your site provide:
√ Job Listings
√ Answers to reader questions
√ Links
√ Research
Should readers also look for you on social media? Or is your content available in other formats?
√ Twitter: @CILIPInfoPJobs
√ Newsletter: Weekly Jobs Round Up
Do you charge for anything on your site?
Not for Jobseekers. Advertising is paid for.
Anything else you’d like to share with my readers about your site in particular, or about library hiring/job hunting in general?
For job hunters – never be afraid to reach out and ask questions. The library and information profession is vast, but full of very friendly people who are more than happy to share their experiences with new professionals. If there’s a particular sector you’re interested in finding out more about, there’s a good chance there’s a CILIP Special Interest Group for that area and our members are always willing to share their knowledge!
Hiring Librarians 