The 2023 Job Hunter’s Survey collects information from LIS workers who are currently looking for work, crossing multiple experience levels, specializations, and library types. There are 37 questions, including a special section that asks for information about the length of time taken to find the first post-grad school position (which for some respondents was quite a few years ago). The survey opened on February 2nd, 2023. It will remain open indefinitely, but as of March 16, there were 420 responses. Most chose to fill it out anonymously, but 30 people did leave contact information. I am posting both individual responses and statistics, as I can get them written up. Given the number of responses, it will most likely take more than a year for me to share them all. 

This is the third 2023 Job Hunter’s Survey statistics post! Please note I don’t use representative sampling, so it would be inappropriate to draw conclusions about the larger population of LIS Workers as a whole.

In this post, I’m looking at an entire section of responses, one that examines our experiences finding that first “professional” job after graduating with an MLIS or graduate-level degree in a LIS field.

I first want to acknowledge the problems with using the term “professional.” It is divisive and can undermine the value of work done by folks in “paraprofessional” positions. Why did I use it? I was attempting to distinguish jobs which required the Masters from jobs that did not. Calling these “professional” is a common convention in many systems. I’m currently feeling regret about using this term, because of both the harm it can do and the lack of clarity on what “professional” actually refers to (one respondent explicitly stated, “Not sure what “professional” means.”)

This section is really an area of our field that deserves further study. While Library Journal conducts an annual Placements & Salaries survey that provides great data about the first year for new MLIS grads, longer term data is missing. What is life like for new grads whose first post-MLIS position takes longer than a year to find? For those who start with temporary or pool work, how long does it take to find something full time (or are they even interested in full time)? My findings here are interesting, but this topic really deserves more rigorous research.

Of the 420 people who responded to my survey, 391 chose to fill out at least some of this section. It is titled Job Hunting Post Graduate School and includes the instruction (skip if N/A). The instructions read, “Questions for folks who have or are pursuing an MLIS or other graduate level degree in a LIS field, no matter how recent or long ago this may have been. If this doesn’t apply to you, please scroll to the bottom of the page and hit submit. Thank you!” None of the questions or sections on my survey are required so of the 29 respondents who did not fill out this section, it is possible that some folks with grad degrees just chose not to fill it out.

If you have a MLIS or other graduate level degree in a LIS field, what year did you graduate? (Or what year do you anticipate graduating?)

I was really interested to see the range of years represented! While there were certainly more recent grads, there were a not insignificant number of respondents with more established careers.

Year of Graduation	Number of Respondents	Percent of Total
1987	2	0.48%
1992	3	0.71%
1995	2	0.48%
1997	4	0.95%
1998	1	0.24%
1999	1	0.24%
2000	1	0.24%
2001	3	0.71%
2003	1	0.24%
2004	3	0.71%
2005	2	0.48%
2006	7	1.67%
2007	7	1.67%
2008	7	1.67%
2009	4	0.95%
2010	5	1.19%
2011	9	2.14%
2012	8	1.90%
2013	8	1.90%
2014	11	2.62%
2015	10	2.38%
2016	12	2.86%
2017	15	3.57%
2018	20	4.76%
2019	20	4.76%
2020	31	7.38%
2021	47	11.19%
2022	62	14.76%
2023	55	13.10%
2024	12	2.86%
2025	1	0.24%
2026	1	0.24%
No reply	29	6.90%
No reply (answered some Qs)	9	2.14%
Other	7	1.67%
Total	420	100.00%
Total minus No Reply	391	93.10%

When did you start your first job search for a “professional” position (or other position that utilized your degree)?

I have often seen it recommended that MLIS students begin their job search six months before graduating. In this survey, nearly a third of the 391 respondents started searching even earlier than that. However, when you look at the combined replies for people who said they started searching less than six months before graduating, or even after graduating, that number is even larger – nearly 40%.

More than six months before graduating with my MLIS/other LIS degree	120	30.61%
Six months before graduating with my MLIS/other LIS degree	90	22.96%
Less than six months before graduating with my MLIS/other LIS degree, but still before I graduated	96	24.49%
After graduating with my MLIS/other LIS degree	60	15.31%
No reply	4	1.02%
Other	21	5.36%

In relation to your graduation, when did you find your first “professional” position?

This question becomes a bit meaningless when considering all the answers, because it includes very recent graduates and even some folks who are still in school. Of the 109 people who said they were still looking, 94 had graduation years of 2020 or later. At the end of the post, I’ll break down the most popular answers within smaller date ranges.

More than three years after graduating	10	2.56%
Two to three years after graduating	5	1.28%
18 months to two years after graduating	9	2.30%
A year to 18 months after graduating	16	4.09%
Six months to a year after graduating	33	8.44%
Less than six months after graduating	78	19.95%
I was actually hired before I graduated	91	23.27%
Hasn’t happened yet – I’m still looking	109	27.88%
No reply	10	2.56%
Other	30	7.67%

What kind of work was your first post-graduation “professional” position? (check all that apply)

This was a surprising result. My assumption has been that most first post-graduation positions are pool or part-time positions. But more than 40% chose full time.

Full Time	161	41.18%
N/A – hasn’t happened yet	111	28.39%
Part Time	66	16.88%
Temporary/Limited Term	65	16.62%
Contract	40	10.23%
Other	22	5.63%
No reply	10	2.56%
Substitute/Pool position	9	2.30%
Residency	5	1.28%

Did you get support from your library school for your first job hunt (and/or any subsequent ones)?

This was another surprising result. I generally think that library schools should offer assistance in finding at least that first full time job. But many answers indicated that this is not the case. Some were bitter and scathing, for example, “Lol no” and “No. My school was useless.” Others qualified that while some employment was facilitated, they had to do a lot on their own: “sort of…I interned at the place I ended up for my first post-MLIS job, but I made the connections and applied on my own.” Others said that the help that was offered was…not very helpful, such as “All of the “support” meetings offered were only available at strange times, like 2pm on a Thursday. I could not attend them.”

No	166	42.46%
Some	85	21.74%
no reply	61	15.60%
yes	59	15.09%
Unknown/not applicable	20	5.12%

Grouping Responses by Dates

Now I want to first look at the most selected responses in different decades (or portions of decades). Let’s start with the oldest first.

1987-1999

Initially there were 13 replies in this date range, but I ended up removing responses from a person who had received their MLIS in 1992 but seemed to be replying in relation to the certificate program they were currently attending. No one who replied indicated that it took them more than a year to find their first position, and all but one took 6 months or less. In the table below I indicate the question I asked, and the answer that was chosen by the largest number of people in this date range.

Question	Answer	Number Who Chose	Percent Who Chose
When did you start your first job search for a “professional” position (or other position that utilized your degree)?	Less than six months before graduating with my MLIS/other LIS degree, but still before I graduated	4	33.33%
In relation to your graduation, when did you find your first “professional” position? (Two tied top answers)	I was actually hired before I graduated	5	41.67%
	Less than six months after graduating	5	41.67%
What kind of work was your first post-graduation “professional” position?	Full Time	8	66.67%
Did you get support from your library school for your first job hunt (and/or any subsequent ones)?	No	7	58.33%

2000-2009

There were 35 total replies in this date range, 11 of which graduated in 2008 or 2009 (the Great Recession). However, folks who graduated these two years do not seem to show additional difficulty in finding that first post-graduate job, when compared to others in this decade.

In the table below I show the question I asked and the answer that was chosen by the largest number of people in this date range. Then I added an extra row for responses to the question “In relation to your graduation, when did you find your first “professional” position?” This row gathers together all the answers indicating it took a year or longer.

As the table indicates, the majority of folks said that their first position was full time. This question was a “Check all that apply” question, and two of the people who chose full time also indicated that this position was Temporary or Limited Term.

In response to the question about getting support for the job search from the graduate school, only one out of 35 people indicated that they did receive support.

Question	Answer	Number Who Chose	Percent Who Chose
When did you start your first job search for a “professional” position (or other position that utilized your degree)?	More than six months before graduating with my MLIS/other LIS degree	12	34.29%
In relation to your graduation, when did you find your first “professional” position?	I was actually hired before I graduated	16	45.71%
	Combined replies – took a year or longer to find first “professional” position	10	28.57%
What kind of work was your first post-graduation “professional” position?	Full Time	21	60.00%
Did you get support from your library school for your first job hunt (and/or any subsequent ones)?	No	23	65.71%

2010-2014

There were 41 total replies in this date range. I would also fall in this category, and my experience does not echo the most frequently selected responses. I graduated while in a paraprofessional position I really liked, so I didn’t start looking for my first job until I got laid off about six months later. It took me the next 6 months to find my first very part time “on-call” librarian position, and a little over a year to get into a (nearly) full time gig. But enough about me.

Initially this decade seemed suspiciously rosy – the most popular choice was “I was actually hired before I graduated.” However, when I combined all the choices that indicated it took a year or more to get their first job, I found that was a slightly larger group.

Out of the 28 people who said that their first job was full time, 4 said that it was also Temporary or Limited Term.

Question	Answer	Number Who Chose	Percent Who Chose
When did you start your first job search for a “professional” position (or other position that utilized your degree)?	More than six months before graduating with my MLIS/other LIS degree	13	31.71%
In relation to your graduation, when did you find your first “professional” position?	I was actually hired before I graduated	12	29.27%
	Combined replies – took a year or longer to find first “professional” position	13	31.71%
What kind of work was your first post-graduation “professional” position?	Full Time	28	68.29%
Did you get support from your library school for your first job hunt (and/or any subsequent ones)?	No	25	60.98%

2015-2019

There were 78 replies in this date range. Of the 43 people who said their first position was full time, 4 were Temporary/Limited Term, 1 was substitute/pool, and 1 was a Residency.

Question	Top Answer	Number Who Chose	Percent Who Chose
When did you start your first job search for a “professional” position (or other position that utilized your degree)?	Less than six months before graduating with my MLIS/other LIS degree, but still before I graduated	24	30.77%
In relation to your graduation, when did you find your first “professional” position?	Less than six months after graduating	24	30.77%
	Combined replies – took a year or longer to find first “professional” position	21	26.92%
What kind of work was your first post-graduation “professional” position?	Full Time	43	55.13%
Did you get support from your library school for your first job hunt (and/or any subsequent ones)?	No	36	46.15%

2020

There were 31 total replies for 2020. What a tough year to graduate! Responses for this year were pretty evenly spread out; you can see in the table below that several answers were tied, or very close.

It seems possible that many people who graduated in 2020 might be settling into their first position now, and not actively looking for work. Satisfactorily employed 2020 grads will then be under-represented here; this survey is aimed at people who are currently looking for work.

From this year forward, we will also begin to see larger proportions of respondents who are still looking for that first position.

Only one person who said their first position was full time was also Temporary/Limited Term.

Question	Answer	Number Who Chose	Percent Who Chose
When did you start your first job search for a “professional” position (or other position that utilized your degree)?	Less than six months before graduating with my MLIS/other LIS degree, but still before I graduated	8	25.81%
	Six months before graduating with my MLIS/other LIS degree	8	25.81%
	More than six months before graduating with my MLIS/other LIS degree	8	25.81%
	After graduating with my MLIS/other LIS degree	6	19.35%
In relation to your graduation, when did you find your first “professional” position?	Hasn’t happened yet – I’m still looking	8	25.81%
	Less than six months after graduating	5	16.13%
	I was actually hired before I graduated	5	16.13%
	A year to 18 months after graduating	5	16.13%
What kind of work was your first post-graduation “professional” position?	Full Time	12	38.71%
Did you get support from your library school for your first job hunt (and/or any subsequent ones)?	No	13	41.94%

2021

There were 47 responses for this year. “I’m still looking” tied for top answer with “I found my first job less than six months after graduating.” 5 of the 18 people who said their first job was full time indicated that it was also Temporary/Limited Term.

Question	Answer	Number Who Chose	Percent Who Chose
When did you start your first job search for a “professional” position (or other position that utilized your degree)?	More than six months before graduating with my MLIS/other LIS degree	14	29.79%
In relation to your graduation, when did you find your first “professional” position? (Two tied top answers)	Hasn’t happened yet – I’m still looking	12	25.53%
	Less than six months after graduating	12	25.53%
What kind of work was your first post-graduation “professional” position?	Full Time	18	38.30%
Did you get support from your library school for your first job hunt (and/or any subsequent ones)?	No	19	40.43%

2022

There were 62 responses for this year. The most commonly picked reply, at slightly less than half, was that 2022 grads are still looking for that first position. As I mentioned back in 2020, it is likely that 2022 grads who already found their first job would not have responded to this survey, so responses will be skewed there.

Question	Answer	Number Who Chose	Percent Who Chose
When did you start your first job search for a “professional” position (or other position that utilized your degree)?	Less than six months before graduating with my MLIS/other LIS degree, but still before I graduated	22	35.48%
In relation to your graduation, when did you find your first “professional” position? (Two tied top answers)	Hasn’t happened yet – I’m still looking	30	48.39%
What kind of work was your first post-graduation “professional” position?	N/A – hasn’t happened yet	29	46.77%
Did you get support from your library school for your first job hunt (and/or any subsequent ones)?	No	23	37.10%

2023

There were 55 total respondents in this year. As above, it is likely that 2023 grads who already found their first job would not have responded to this survey. Responses to “Did you get support from your library school for your first job hunt?” are really evenly split here between Yes, No, and No reply.

Question	Answer	Number Who Chose	Percent Who Chose
When did you start your first job search for a “professional” position (or other position that utilized your degree)?	More than six months before graduating with my MLIS/other LIS degree	25	45.45%
	Six months before graduating with my MLIS/other LIS degree	17	30.91%
In relation to your graduation, when did you find your first “professional” position? (Two tied top answers)	Hasn’t happened yet – I’m still looking	35	63.64%
	I was actually hired before I graduated	11	20.00%
What kind of work was your first post-graduation “professional” position?	N/A – hasn’t happened yet	40	72.73%
Did you get support from your library school for your first job hunt (and/or any subsequent ones)?	No reply	16	29.09%
	Yes	14	25.45%
	No	12	21.82%