on reading cover letters and resumes from Laura Crossett. She lists 6+ great ideas she’s come up with after reading 40+ applications for a single position. She also adds “make one additional plug for social networking in general and for the Library Society of the World in particular. There are several LSW FriendFeed room denizens who are starting library school and/or new jobs, and I know they’ve gotten a lot of help from the people who hang out there. We’d be more than happy to help you, too.” Laura also hit Cover Letters last year.
Over at Swiss Army Librarian Brian Herzog has Notes on Reading Resumes. He lists 15 ideas from reading over 50 resumes for a single position.
On Information Wants To Be Free Meredith Farkas has some DO’s and DONT’s listed on Tips for library job applicants in a tight market
The gang over at In The LIbrary With The Lead Pipe has a great collection of DONT’S: What Not to Do When Applying for Library Jobs. “This group post is our way of pulling together our collective experiences as both interviewees and interviewers and offering up some practical advice to our readers. “
Are there any jobs left?
Are there any jobs left?
Thanks
We need more practical, pragmatic advice like this from experienced librarians and hiring directors. Thanks for posting, please post more info like this, we unemployed librarians need it!!! I graduated from library school with my MLIS in December 2009, and have been out of work since August of that year. It’s more than a tight job market out there, it seems downright impossible sometimes. If I can’t find a library position this year or get more experience, I’m going to have to consider going into another field, which I don’t want to do, because I love libraries to pieces. But sometimes dreams don’t work out.
Crossing Over to the Dark Side
How’s the (evil) library vendor market?
With Sirsi-Dynix consolidating to Utah, closing up shop in Alabama and Missouri, there are some jobs opening up on their employment board. They’re mostly not typical MLS stuff, but for somebody willing to work on an additional skill set, I know a lot of library vendors value the library perspective that an MLS brings.
Anybody else seen anything on the Dark Side?
Library vendor jobs
I’d definitely advise those struggling to find traditional library jobs to consider working for a vendor. I’ve worked on the “dark side” for ten years and it’s not so bad. If you have some special technical skills or are willing to travel a bit, it’s certainly a plus. I won’t post a link to my company’s job listings or even mention who I work for, though, as it seems spammy. But those of you in or recently graduate from library school certainly know who the big vendors are.