“the administration wants to eliminate a librarian position the next time it becomes vacant and make it a lower paid staff position”

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?

Institution website and sometimes Indeed

Do you notice a difference in application quality based on where the applicant saw the job ad?

Do you include salary in the job ad?

√ Other: Yes and no. If the institution does post it, they hide behind using the matrix indicator and not the actual dollar amount

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?

√ Yes

Does your workplace require experience for entry-level librarian positions? (Officially or unofficially…)

√ N/A – we don’t hire librarians

What is the current most common reason for disqualifying an applicant without an interview?

Not enough applicable experience. Doesn’t have to be library experience, but needs to have transferable skills.

Does your organization use one-way interviews? (Sometimes also called asynchronous or recorded interviews)

√ No

Do you provide interview questions before the interview? 

√ Other: Morning the part, but I’ve asked to do so in current and future postings

If you provide interview questions before the interview, how far in advance?

Plan to provide the day before

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?

√ None: 

Do you (or does your organization) give candidates feedback about applications or interview performance?

√ Other: I would if asked. This is something I would explore doing proactively in future postings

What is the most important thing for a job hunter to do in order to improve their hirability?

Follow instructions of application process/provide a complete application package

I want to hire someone who is: 

Teachable

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?

Coordinator of Library Services

When was this position hired?

√ Within the last three months

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”?

Applicable experience and education

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?

√ 0-10

Are you unionized?

√ No

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?

√ 1

Can you tell us how the number of permanent, full-time positions at your workplace has changed over the past decade?

√ There are the same number of 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?   

√ Other: No, but the administration wants to eliminate a librarian position the next time it becomes vacant and make it a lower paid staff position. I’m prepared to vigorously oppose that action leading up to and when the attempt is made

Is librarianship a dying profession?

√ No

Demographics

This section asks for information about you specifically.

What part of the world are you in?

√ Southwestern US

What’s your region like?

√ Rural area

What type of institution do you hire for (check all that apply):

√ Academic Library 

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

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