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 job searching practices. I invite you to take what’s useful and leave the rest.
Your Demographics and Search Parameters
How long have you been job hunting?
√ Less than six months
Why are you job hunting?
√ This is the next step after finishing library/archives/other LIS graduate degree,
√ I’m underemployed (not enough hours or overqualified for current position),
√ Looking for more money,
√ I want to work at a different type of library/institution,
√ My current job is temporary,
√ My current job provides insufficient or no benefits (Healthcare or beyond)
Where do you look for open positions?
Archivesgig, my LIS school’s job board, SAA, ALA JobList, a listserv for cultural heritage workers in my region, and big local university job boards
What position level are you looking for?
√ Entry level
What type(s) of organization are you looking in?
√ Academic library,
√ Archives,
√ Special library,
√ Other: Rare books dealers
What part of the world are you in?
√ Northeastern US
What’s your region like?
√ Urban area
Are you willing/able to move for employment?
√ Yes, to a specific list of places
What are the top three things you’re looking for in a job?
Living wage, related to my academic interests in historic and rare books, located near my family and friends
How many jobs have you applied to during your current search? (Please indicate if it’s an estimate or exact)
7 (exact)
What steps, actions, or attributes are most important for employers to take to sell you on the job?
√ Pay well,
√ Having a good reputation,
√ Funding professional development
Do you expect to see the salary range listed in a job ad?
√ Yes, and it’s a red flag when it’s not
Other than not listing a salary range, are there other “red flags” that would prevent you from applying to a job?
No real clarity on actual job duties (what *is* the day to day work?), or asking for too much education/experience in relation to the stated job duties
The Process
How much time do you spend preparing an application packet?
2ish hours, depending on how complex the application website is
What are the steps you follow to prepare an application packet?
Reread job ad, edit a basic cover letter (which I wrote at the start of my job search) to reflect job ad’s stated qualifications, move things around in my basic CV (also wrote at start of job search) in case some experiences are better suited for this job than others
How do you prefer to communicate with potential employers?
When would you like potential employers to contact you?
√ To acknowledge my application,
√ Other: Once I’m out of the running
How long do you expect an organization’s application process to take, from the point you submit your documents to the point of either an offer or rejection?
About 3 months
How do you prepare for interviews?
Review my cover letter and the job ad, write out any questions I have for the employer, review my answers to standard interview questions (which I found on Ask A Manager and prepped pretty thoroughly before my first ever full-time job interview), get a good night’s sleep
What are your most hated interview questions, and why?
Anything about technical or metadata standards and how I’d use them on the job. I know them, I swear, but I can never remember acronyms on the spot and we are a professional full of acronyms. Also I feel like most institutions use such specific interpretations of the standards that me making up an answer in the interview would have no relevance to how I’d actually be trained to use them.
During your current search, have you had any of the following experiences:
- Submitted an application and got no response √ Happened more than once
- Had an interview and never heard back √ Happened once
- Interviewed for a job where an internal candidate was eventually chosen √ I don’t know
- Asked for an accommodation for a disability √ Not Applicable
- Withdrawn an application before the offer stage √ Not Applicable
- Turned down an offer √ Not Applicable
What should employers do to make the hiring process better for job hunters?
Please just let me know where I am in the process in a timely fashion — most of these employers are using HR software that should be able to automatically generate an email acknowledging my application or rejecting me. Waiting six weeks to hear back after an interview, only to be rejected, is insane.
You and Your Well-Being
How are you doing, generally?
√ I’m optimistic,
√ I feel supported in my search
What are your job search self-care strategies?
Did a lot of sending off the application and then immediately pretending I hadn’t got it so that any response was a nice surprise
Do you have any advice or words of support you’d like to share with other job hunters, is there anything you’d like to say to employers, or is there anything else you’d like to say about job hunting?
Unfortunately, I think getting a job in this field is still really reliant on who you know. I have been lucky to work in well-regarded archives/libraries throughout undergrad and the MLIS and to know a lot of librarians in my area who have served as my references. I reached out to many of my connections when I started the job search and and most of the phone screens/interviews I’ve had included some amount of “oh you know so-and-so?” chit-chat. The networking did work: the job I was just offered and accepted never even posted a job ad — a friend put me in touch with the manager and I didn’t even have to write a cover letter. I’m actually excited about the job (I start next month), but it was all very casual, and I feel weird about the nepotism since I know that most new MLIS graduates do not have these connections to rely on. It was completely different from the experiences I’ve had with past part-time library work or with the other full-time jobs I applied to this time around, but this is a private business (though still working with books) so I guess there are different standards.
Job Hunting Post Graduate School
If you have an MLIS or other graduate level degree in a LIS field, what year did you graduate? (Or what year do you anticipate graduating?)
2023
When did you start your first job search for a “professional” position (or other position that utilized your degree)?
√ Six months before graduating with my MLIS/other LIS degree
In relation to your graduation, when did you find your first “professional” position?
√ I was actually hired before I graduated
What kind of work was your first post-graduation professional position?
√ Full Time
Did you get support from your library school for your first job hunt (and/or any subsequent ones)?
No