This series is a collaboration with Hack Library School (HLS). HLS is written by library school students. In this series, the students interview their schools to dig deeper into the resources provided for job hunting and career support. We are cross-posting here and on Hack Library School. This post is written by Lauren Bauer, who is the current managing editor for HLS.
By the way, if you are an employer looking to get your job ad out to library schools, Hilary Kraus (who you may also know from Further Questions) has created a very helpful spreadsheet with the best process to reach each of the 63 ALA continually accredited library schools.
This interview is with Anna Motes, who is a Career Coach and supports the students at the College of Information (COI) at UNT Discovery Park.
Anna has an M.S. and a B.S., both in Mathematics, from Texas A&M University in College Station. She comes to UNT with 8 years of experience in the K-12 Education sector, managing an after-school math program. Anna likes helping UNT students because she loves to build relationships with her students, and she is continuously impressed by their hard-work and passion for their education and their futures.
Career Center Information
What does the school do to support students and alumni as they look for jobs?
University of North Texas (UNT) supports students and alumni as they look for jobs through the Career Center and other programs like the Mean Green Mentors Program, the Dr. Yvonne J. Chandler Mentorship Program, and incorporating career readiness material into classes & degree plans. The Career Center provides a full range of services to support undergraduate students, graduate students, and alumni at all points along their career journey, including personalized career and internship advising, access to job and internship postings, career fairs and networking events with employers, workshops on timely career topics, presentations for student organizations, career-focused videos, on-demand resources, and much more.
Are there “career experts” on staff? What are their credentials?
Yes, our Career Coaches are here to help students with their careers! The Career Coach position at UNT requires a master’s degree and two years of experience in student services, counseling, or advising. Each Career Coach’s background is different – I came to UNT after working in industry as an educator, manager, and hiring manager. UNT’s Career Coaches have trained in career counseling theory, and I participate in several professional organizations & communities, learning as much as possible to keep up with today’s ever-changing job world & better help my students.
Does the school have a job board or an email list with job postings?
Yes, Handshake
If so, how can employers get their job listing included?
Register on Handshake & request/get approved to post to UNT students – once a job is posted on Handshake, you can email the posting to the relevant College’s Career Coach & ask that they share it with their students. Each Coach is different in how they get the word out, I will generally share relevant jobs to the Career Center’s website and the College of Information Community page on LinkedIn.
Do you require that a salary be included on job listings?
Handshake requires specifying if an internship/job is paid or unpaid but putting a salary amount is optional.
Are there any other requirements for job listings?
An employer needs to be approved to post to Handshake first, and the job posting will also need to be reviewed & approved by our Career Center team.
Does the school provide any of the following?
√ General career coaching
√ Resume/CV review
√ Help writing cover letters
√ Literature/articles
√ Interview practice
√ Networking events (virtual or in-person)
√ Other: Career Fairs, Employer Tabling/Informational Events, Major Exploration & Assessments, LinkedIn Tips
Does the school provide any of the following in-person career services?
√ Appointments
√ Speakers, or programs that present experts
√ Mixers or other networking events
√ Job Fairs
√ Drop-in career center:
- Mon/Wed 8 am – 12 pm
- Tue/Thurs 3 pm – 5 pm
- Fri 1 pm – 5 pm
Does the school provide any of the following online career services?
√ Website with resources
√ Blog: intermittent updates with Career Center news
√ Webinars
√ Podcasts: Get Hired, UNT (on Apple Podcasts) and Hidden Points (on YouTube)
√ Social Media: Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram
√ Newsletter: There is a student employment newsletter and some of the Career Coaches write newsletters for specific colleges within the University. So far, there are newsletters for the College of Liberal Arts & Social Sciences, and the two Colleges housed at Discovery Park: the College of Information and the College of Engineering.
What do you think is the best way for students to use career help provided by the school?
Take advantage of Career Services early & often! Don’t wait until you’re about to graduate to get some insight into the process. Meeting with your Career Coach to prepare your application materials, attending Career Fairs, and following up with the companies that you met at the Career Fair are some of the easiest ways to make the job searching process smoother.
May alumni use the school’s career resources?
Yes
Are there any charges for services?
No
Can you share any stories about job hunters that found positions after using the school’s career resources?
I have lots of stories about the students that have found positions, but the ones that are nearest & dearest to my heart are the students that I meet with several times and go through the process with them from start to finish. One student that sticks out was an international student that graduated last year – over the course of about 6 months, I met with them to help develop their resume, practice interview skills and good answers, and several other times when the job search was not going well. International students have a deadline for their work authorization, and they might have to leave the country if they don’t find a job before their deadline. My last meeting with this student was 2 weeks before their deadline, and they messaged me the next week that they found a job in their desired field. It’s so meaningful for me when I get to go through the process with my students and share in their success when they find a job!
Anything else you’d like to share with readers about your services in particular, or about library hiring/job hunting in general?
I know the job searching process can be frustrating, but don’t be disheartened or give up! Check out the Career Services at your school, they’re there to help you.
Students’ Career Paths
Can you share any statistics about employment rates after graduation?
We collect graduate’s employment information through our First Destination Survey – our latest published report is from our 2020 graduates (we are still gathering information from our 2021 & 2022 graduates) and can be found here. In the 2020 Report, about 68% of respondents were working (includes full-time jobs, part-time jobs, volunteering, military service, and enrolled in continuing education) and 32% of respondents were seeking employment. According to niche.com, 93% of UNT graduates were employed 2 years after graduation.
Can you talk a little bit about the school’s approach to internships, practicums and/or volunteering?
Many degree programs at UNT require either an internship (this includes student teaching), a practicum, a research project, or a volunteer project, and those Colleges have staff/faculty that approve & track past internship/practicum locations – usually, the Colleges that do not require any of these still recommend that students do an internship/practicum if they can. The Career Center has Internship Specialists & an Employer Services team that reach out to employers to create partnerships, along with the Career Coaches that assist students in their search.
Does the school have a stated approach or policy on helping students to find careers?
UNT’s President has a Career Readiness initiative, which so far has expanded the Career Center staff, created a First-Year Career Readiness course, created a Get Hired Grad resource page (which includes on-demand videos of industry panels), and encouraged faculty & staff to incorporate high-impact learning experiences into courses and extra-curricular opportunities.
Does the school have any relationships with organizations that offer fellowships or other post-graduate opportunities?
UNT partners with Forage and Parker Dewey for internship alternatives: Forage is a virtual work experience program and Parker Dewey is a micro-internship program. The Career Center also partners with several companies on our Employer Advisory Board, which keeps us informed of changing hiring trends and allows us to educate our partners on new recruiting initiatives we have put in place.
Are there any notable graduates?
“Mean” Joe Greene and Dr. Phil McGraw are some notable graduates, along with other alumni that attended but did not graduate like Norah Jones, Pat Boone, Roy Orbison, Thomas Haden Church, “Stone Cold” Steve Austin, and Anne Rice.
Demographics
How many students in the library school?
There are over 44,000 students enrolled at UNT, approximately 2,400 students in the College of Information, 550 in the Library Science Master’s program, 210 in the Information Science Bachelor’s program, 520 in the Information Science Master’s program, and 100 in the Information Science PhD program.
What degree(s) do you offer?
The College of Information offers several degrees that are related to Library Science, most of these degrees also have different concentration areas like Information Organization, Archival Studies, Law Librarianship, etc. The degree options at the College of Information related to Library Science are a Bachelor of Science in Information Science, Master of Science in Information Science, Master of Science in Library Science, and PhD in Information Science. Students can also earn Graduate Academic Certificates by taking certain classes, like Storytelling or Digital Curation and Data Management. The College of Information has more degree choices in fields like Data Science, Learning Technologies, and Linguistics, and there are over 200 degrees at UNT as a whole.
Is it ALA accredited?
Yes
What are the entrance requirements?
Applicants must apply to both the Toulouse Graduate School (TGS) & the College of Information. Apply to TGS through the statewide ApplyTexas application ($75 application fee), along with official transcripts from every college or university attended. Then applicants need to apply to the Department of Information Science – which requires the department’s application form, a statement of purpose & goals, resume, and 2 letters of recommendation.
The Information Science department has minimum GPA requirements of 3.0 on the last 60 hours of a bachelor’s degree, a 3.0 cumulative undergraduate GPA, or a 3.5 GPA on a completed master’s degree. Applications that do not meet these requirements will be reviewed on an individual basis. Students who have a lower GPA (2.6 or above) can be considered and may be conditionally admitted to the program or considered through course leveling – take 4 information sciences undergraduate courses at UNT, if As and Bs are earned in those 12 hours, students can then request admission to the MS program.
When was the library school founded?
1939
Where are you?
√ Southern US
Where is the school located?
√ Suburban area
This interview was conducted by Ashley Young.
Ashley is a current online MLS student at University of North Texas and works as a Library Supervisor in Special Collections at the University of Houston. Her academic focus is information literacy, digital platforms, management, and academic research initiatives. Ashley hopes to stay in academic librarianship after graduation. Outside of the LIS world she loves being outdoors, fostering kittens, and collecting records.
Hiring Librarians 