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?
State and sometimes ALA professional job postings
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: Beyond the minimum yes
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?
Did not meet minimum qualifications or left out critical information about minimum qualifications
Does your organization use one-way interviews? (Sometimes also called asynchronous or recorded interviews)
√ No
Do you provide interview questions before the interview?
√ No
Does your interview process include taking the candidate out for a meal?
√ No, and I don’t think we ever have
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: If asked
What is the most important thing for a job hunter to do in order to improve their hirability?
In resume, cover letter, and application cover the job applying for, read job description, research library, and community.
I want to hire someone who is:
Enthusiastic
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?
Librarian II/III
When was this position hired?
√ Other: Still in process
Approximately how many people applied for this position?
√ 25 or fewer
Approximately what percentage of those would you say were hirable?
√ more than 75%
And how would you define “hirable”?
Qualified enthusiastic about professional and ready to work.
How did the recruitment for this position compare with recruitments in previous years?
Less applicants than two years ago but what we saw pre pandemic. Post pandemic better qualified pool.
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?
√ 50-100
Are you unionized?
√ Yes, at least some workers are union members
How many permanent, full time job openings has your workplace posted in the last year?
√ 3-4
How many permanent, full time librarian (or other “professional” level) jobs has your workplace posted in the last year?
√ 2
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?
No, just librarians are not always willing to relocate for experience so rural and remote systems must depend on paras.
Demographics
This section asks for information about you specifically.
What part of the world are you in?
√ Western US (including Alaska, Hawaii and Pacific Northwest)
What’s your region like?
√ Rural area
What type of institution do you hire for (check all that apply):
√ Public Library
What type(s) of LIS professionals do you hire?
Children’s, Adult, Outreach, Branch regional, Supervisory and Management.
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,
√ Administrator
Do you have any other comments, for job hunters, other people who hire, about the survey, or for Emily (the survey author)?
Be real hire real people