Please note: This is an anonymous response to an online survey; I do not have any way of contacting the respondent or verifying responses. Their answers may reflect good, bad, or middling hiring practices. I invite you to take what’s useful and leave the rest. If you are someone who hires Library, Archives or other LIS workers, please consider giving your own opinion by filling out the survey here.
Current Hiring Practices and Organizational Needs
These questions are about your current hiring practices in general – the way things have been run the last year or two (or three).
Where do you advertise your job listings?
CLIR/DLF, ALA, Black Caucus of ALA, APALA, Reforma, Code4Lib, ARL, state library association, HBCU Job Board, I Need a Library Job, Autocat, Metadata Librarians, Troublesome Catalogers, alumni lists, individual contacts
Do you notice a difference in application quality based on where the applicant saw the job ad?
No
Do you include salary in the job ad?
√ Yes
Do you use keyword matching or any automation tools to reduce the number of applications a human reads while considering candidates?
√ No
Do you consider candidates who don’t meet all the requirements listed in the job ad?
√ Other: Yes, unless they do not meet the degree requirements.
Does your workplace require experience for entry-level librarian positions? (Officially or unofficially…)
√ No
What is the current most common reason for disqualifying an applicant without an interview?
Didn’t meet the minimum requirements and enough other candidates did.
Does your organization use one-way interviews? (Sometimes also called asynchronous or recorded interviews)
√ No
Do you provide interview questions before the interview?
√ Yes
If you provide interview questions before the interview, how far in advance?
screening interviews: 24 hours. Finalist interviews: 5 days
Does your interview process include taking the candidate out for a meal?
√ No, but we used to
How much of your interview process is virtual?
√ First round/Initial Screen
Do you (or does your organization) give candidates feedback about applications or interview performance?
√ Other: Only if asked.
What is the most important thing for a job hunter to do in order to improve their hirability?
Address the qualifications as listed in the job ad.
I want to hire someone who is:
emotionally intelligent
Is there anything else you’d like to say about hiring practices at your organization or in current trends?
Use the questions provided to prepare for the interview!!
Your Last Recruitment
These are questions about the last person you hired (or the last position you attempted to fill). This person may not have been a librarian, and that’s ok.
Think about the most recent time you participated in hiring someone (or an attempt to hire someone) at your organization. What was the title of the position you were trying to fill?
Manager, Metadata Services
When was this position hired?
√ We were not able to fill the position
Approximately how many people applied for this position?
√ 25 or fewer
Approximately what percentage of those would you say were hirable?
√ 25% or less
And how would you define “hirable”?
met the minimum qualifications
How did the recruitment for this position compare with recruitments in previous years?
fewer applications. Anecdotally, I heard from several potential candidates that they would have applied if the position were eligible for fully remote work.
Your Workplace
This section asks for information about your workplace, including if you have lost positions in the last decade.
How many staff members are at your library/organization?
√ 200+
Are you unionized?
√ No
How many permanent, full time job openings has your workplace posted in the last year?
√ 5-6
How many permanent, full time librarian (or other “professional” level) jobs has your workplace posted in the last year?
√ 3-4
Can you tell us how the number of permanent, full-time positions at your workplace has changed over the past decade?
√ There are more positions
Have any full-time librarian positions been replaced with part-time or hourly workers over the past decade?
√ No
Have any full-time librarian positions been replaced with non-librarian, lower paid staff positions over the past decade?
√ No
Is librarianship a dying profession?
√ No
Why or why not?
We are a vital service to the University. I am actually seeking to hire more librarians and advertising entry level. The cataloging team is smaller than 20 years ago, however the needs are different. I need a smaller group of people able to deal with a variety of issues rather than a cadre of copy catalogers. I am very off-put by this question.
Demographics
This section asks for information about you specifically.
What part of the world are you in?
√ Southeastern US
What’s your region like?
√ Suburban
What type of institution do you hire for (check all that apply):
√ Academic Library
What type(s) of LIS professionals do you hire?
catalogers, metadata librarians
Are you a librarian?
√ Yes
Are you now or have you ever been:
√ A hiring manager (you are hiring people that you will directly or indirectly supervise)
√ A member of a hiring or search committee
√ Human resources
Do you have any other comments, for job hunters, other people who hire, about the survey, or for Emily (the survey author)?
The question about “dying profession” seems judgmental and asking for my opinion in a survey that is otherwise factual. I am interested to know the trends from the other answers and I’m uninterested in the personal opinions about the profession. I’ve been in the profession nearly 30 years and I see a future for cataloging/metadata/descriptive work.
Hiring Librarians 