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?
Seek, listserv, organisational website, library association website
Do you notice a difference in application quality based on where the applicant saw the job ad?
Yes for sure – Seek applications tend to be on the lower quality end
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: Sometimes – more no than yes. But it depends on where the job market is at that time.
Does your workplace require experience for entry-level librarian positions? (Officially or unofficially…)
√ Other: We require a low level Cert 3 from a technical training provider for library assistant roles, but not work experience
What is the current most common reason for disqualifying an applicant without an interview?
No experience in libraries or no 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?
√ Other: If requested by candidate
Do you (or does your organization) give candidates feedback about applications or interview performance?
√ Other: If requested by candidates. I sometimes do it if I see an application from a library career starter that needs some feedback on the application to get a foot in
What is the most important thing for a job hunter to do in order to improve their hirability?
Follow the job application guidelines and submit an application tailored to the job you are applying for. If we ask for a cover letter, supply one and make sure it is for the job you’ve applied for. I’ve declined so many people before the interview stage simply because of this.
I want to hire someone who is:
positive
Is there anything else you’d like to say about hiring practices at your organization or in current trends?
Library jobs are very competitive. Over the past few years, this hasn’t been the case. It’s been hard to find good people.
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?
Children & Youth Librarian
When was this position hired?
√ Within the last three months
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”?
Someone who meets the essential criteria of the role and wants the job.
How did the recruitment for this position compare with recruitments in previous years?
We had to advertise twice to get the right person. And even then we had to reduce the essential criteria of library qualifications to someone who was near graduation. Less applications than normal, and very few hirable applicants.
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?
√ 2
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 more positions
Have any full-time librarian positions been replaced with part-time or hourly workers over the past decade?
√ Other: One position changed to two part time roles with extra hours.
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?
More people are entering library education to become librarians. The competition for jobs has only increased, and the applicants more qualified/experienced than before. Myself (library manager) and my team leaders often say we’d never get an entry level job if we were applying today. I started in 2007, it’s changed dramatically since then. I think people are seeing libraries as a way to help communities. A way to step away from capitalism and make an impact so they feel good. I think parts of librarianship are dying. These are the more technical work like reference services or cataloguing.
Demographics
This section asks for information about you specifically.
What part of the world are you in?
√ Australia/New Zealand
What’s your region like?
√ Urban 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 librarians, multicultural librarian, local history, digital services, Tech librarian, collections staff (cataloguing and selection is out sourced), creative programming.
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