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?
ALA, Chronicle, state library job site, other
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: Not for required
Does your workplace require experience for entry-level librarian positions? (Officially or unofficially…)
√ Other: Preferred
What is the current most common reason for disqualifying an applicant without an interview?
No ALA accredited MLS degree which is required
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?
Week before
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?
√ No
What is the most important thing for a job hunter to do in order to improve their hirability?
Read the posting, meet requirements, address posting topics, show interest in position and institution
I want to hire someone who is:
Forward-thinking
Is there anything else you’d like to say about hiring practices at your organization or in current trends?
All postings should list salary, all interviewees should be given the questions
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
When was this position hired?
√ Between six months to a year ago
Approximately how many people applied for this position?
√ 25-75
Approximately what percentage of those would you say were hirable?
√ 25% or less
And how would you define “hirable”?
Met requirements, had relevant knowledge, showed evidence of being able to do the work
How did the recruitment for this position compare with recruitments in previous years?
Same applications, fewer qualified
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?
√ 10-50
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?
√ None!
How many permanent, full time librarian (or other “professional” level) jobs has your workplace posted in the last year?
√ None!
Can you tell us how the number of permanent, full-time positions at your workplace has changed over the past decade?
√ There are fewer positions
Have any full-time librarian positions been replaced with part-time or hourly workers over the past decade?
√ Yes
Have any full-time librarian positions been replaced with non-librarian, lower paid staff positions over the past decade?
√ Yes
Is librarianship a dying profession?
√ Yes
Why or why not?
Vacated positions not being filled, positions replaced with non-credentialed or lower paid staff, ALA degree not required, traditional library positions eliminated
Demographics
This section asks for information about you specifically.
What part of the world are you in?
√ Northeastern US
What’s your region like?
√ Suburban area
What type of institution do you hire for (check all that apply):
√ Academic Library
What type(s) of LIS professionals do you hire?
All positions
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