Responses to Question 22: “. . . what do you think recruiters are doing wrong?" Ronald D. Pollock Director of Career Services School of Information The University of Texas at Austin

Presentation | Survey Questions | Comments: Why Problems Recruiting | Comments: What Recruiters Doing Wrong

1.      A lot of them are not communicating directly with the schools that have the LIS programs.

2.      Again, I think salary makes a difference. It's really irritating to me that we are paid so low and we have advanced degrees.  To attract the best and brightest, you have to have a competitive salary structure.  One of my friends has been an assistant branch manager at a public library for several years and she laughs about her salary. She calls it her dress money.  She knows she is fortunate and can joke about it because her husband is a corporate executive and she can afford to work in a public library.

3.      ALA's website is a good place to start. I would halfway expect every librarian job available to be listed on the site, so the most people can see it. Word of mouth is good, but can be tricky. I would hate to think that I missed a job opportunity because I wasn't a member of the listserv the job was posted to.

4.      Appears some jobs are posted weeks or months BEFORE sending notices to library schools in hopes of enlarging their pool of candidates.

5.      Because I have never heard from one.

6.      Becuase while in school I never heard anything about the libray field or its opportunities. The only recruiting came from brochures from ALA that were made available to employees at the public libraries I worked at.

7.      County libraries recruit the same for all positions in county, through ad in papers, and postings.

8.      Don't know any library recruiters, can't say

9.      Even though my district's library coordinator is always looking for librarians each summer, I have never seen an announcement for our district on any of the web based listservs or school announcements.  The only place she recruits is through our district's web-site and job postings.  She doesn't advertise outside of our district.

10.  Everything Recruiting the wrong types of students (too many persons with social and psychological issues); Going to the wrong places to recruit; Sending the wrong types of persons to recruit--they need more lively, energetic, interesting recruiters with more class in fashion and appearance.  The majority of the recruiters I have seen look very matronly.  Interesting survey.  I do not expect much to come from it but...interesting.

11.  First of all, they need to know what it is a librarian does before recruitment can take place. 

12.  Have not had any contact with recruiters.

13.  Honestly, I didn't even know that there ARE library recruiters.  So they must not be doing a really great job of making themselves known.

14.  I am going to school online, across the country from where I live.  I have no idea how a UNT recruiter will ever find me in my home state.

15.  I am not sure the recruiters make mistakes. I think there is a general disconnect between recruiters and new graduates. The most difficult part of recruiting is finding an individual who came keep up with the characteristics of new graduates.

16.  I am truly not qualified to answer this question. I was employed as a librarian when I entered the program and I am a distance learner who has never seen a recruiter!

17.  I believe there are libraries who do not advertise positions adequately. They will only post jobs on their website and expect applicants to find them. I believe that they should post as widely as possible (listservs, associations and joblines, library school career services, etc) in order to attract a larger pool of applicants.

18.  I didn't even know library recruiters existed. 

19.  I do not SEE recruiters anywhere. So I would say...Not visible and supporting of programs on the university campus. Not providing scholarships from their business or association at specific universities. Not mentoring and interacting with students before and after they enter programs.

20.  I don't hear of many jobs opening - need to get info out to graduates - maybe have job fairs at university.  Most jobs posted are filled internally - it would nice to know that you actually have a chance to get the job.

21.  I don't know- I was never recruited and have no experience with recruiters

22.  I don't know of anyone who has ever even met one or heard of one. Enough said.

23.  I don't know what library recruiters are doing.  Haven't seen any or heard any.

24.  I don't see many openings for librarians.  In my area, many public and academic institutions are under hiring freezes.  The few entry level positions I have come across all want a few years of experience and offer depressingly low salaries.  I hope to change careers and am prepared to take a significant pay cut for the privilege, however I am concerned that I may be stuck in my current profession because I can't afford to be a librarian.

25.  I don't think they are aggressive enough in their recruiting strategies and are not as visible as they should be.

26.  I have never seen a library recruiter before.

27.  I have never seen a library recruiter. I don't think they're bothering to recruit at all because so many places have hiring freezes right now.

28.  I have not seen any who were seriously trying to get anyone's attention.  They are not aware of the potential client or they are too busy in their own, private conversations when you come to speak to them.  I think they should pay more attention and be fully prepared to answer questions instead of "we'll take your name and send information".

29.  I haven't anything publicized to that effect so I assume possible new recruits haven't seen anything either.

30.  I know that I did not see and librarian recruiters during career fairs at college.  I think that the best recruiters are librarians themselves in their own communities.  How do you promote a profession that requires more education and less pay? 

31.  I never dealt with a recruiter in my application process --  I worked in a library (and most of the people I know were not recruited, either)

32.  I never see them...

33.  I think many MLIS students are liberal thinkers and extremely creative.  It seems that recruiters focus on a list of qualifications rather than detailing opportunities available through the job position.

34.  I think more employers should send announcements to schools who then may pass the information on to students and alumni.

35.  I think recruiters are forgetting what it is like to begin a new field, especially after graduation, and how hard it is to get into a library. 

36.  I think they are failing to consider non-monetary issues like work environment, benefits and quality of life.

37.  I will graduate after one more semester, and the biggest problem I have with job announcements is the lack of salary and benefit information.  Also so many announcements do not fully explain work tasks in a professional and clear manner.

38.  I'm not sure, but I get a feeling that many within the field have not moved forward in their thinking.  Recent graduates are developing new skills which most Directories may not appreciate or be aware of.  These new skill sets need to be recognized.  Directors/recruiters need to embrace the skills new graduates may bring and get a feel for what a new graduate may bring to his or her organization.

39.  It is not what recruiters are doing wrong. Many people do not wish to return to school once they have completed their undergraduate education.

40.  It seems that most of the position postings I have seen require 2 to 3 years of prior library experience, which is sometimes hard to obtain unless we are willing to volunteer our services, which between school and working at a paying job to pay our bills we don't have much free time to take on the library jobs that real librarians won't touch.  Vicious circle.

41.  It seems they don't believe in training. They don't want to deal with new graduates at all, everybody wants experienced professionals.

42.  I've met two kinds of recruiters: human resources personnel who seem to view students/applicants as replaceable resources, and librarians who have little to no control of the hiring process who are there to build enthusiasm about their institution. I was really impressed with the latter type, but in the one instance in which this led to an invitation for me to apply for a position, they passed my name to human resources who waited until just a few days before the position closed to notify me that I should be applying. I wasn't very impressed.

43.  I've never known anyone to recruit graduates for library jobs.  Moreover, it seems to me it's an employers market right now, and that they don't have to work very hard to find applicants.

44.  job announcements do not always reflect what the job is; they need to work on that for proper recruiting

45.  librarians are professionals just like doctors and lawyers but don't seem to be treated as such; recruiters should inquire as to what the interests are of the librarian and then place that person in a position that matches their interest rather than stick people where they need a live body; recruiters should describe the opportunities within the organization for growth and development, advertise the continuing education that is offered or sponsored by the library; when people don't thrive they become apathetic and this reflects in the service they provide and the view of them as "less" than professional.

46.  Locally? Low pay.

47.  Looking for only MLA students and not looking for students with the same education but a Master's.

48.  low visibility at the undergraduate level

49.  Many of the recruiters are not librarians themselves and they don't know what questions to ask or what they are looking for

50.  More effort should be made to work with career services offices at library schools.

51.  Most do not recruit, rather they open the job and wait for resumes.  There are too many graduates and not enough jobs, and in this economy the employers really do not need to recruit to get resumes.

52.  Need to aggressively post job listings to listservs, schools, and general Library Science-oriented online job postings to create largest pool of candidates.

53.  Never saw or heard about a recruiter during schooling.

54.  Not advertising in professional publications.   No campus presence.

55.  Not aggressive in their communications.

56.  Not enough communication regarding employment opportunities.

57.  Not enough exposure, more marketing needed.

58.  not going to the schools or targeting  new graduates, not promoting the professional to those interested in graduate studies, poor benefits and uncompetitive salaries, slow and lengthy application and interview processes

59.  Not necessarily specific recruiters fault, but if the current trends continues, it will have very series impact in the future of our profession. For instance this deep routed 'image' problem, among other factors, already reflected in LIS school and prevent them from attracting bright students (from the very beginning).

60.  Not paying enough money!

61.  Not providing an accurate picture of what possibilities and jobs are available for librarians, both within libraries and the greater job market.

62.  not providing information about the diverse areas of librarianship

63.  not putting the information out where it would do most good and not being personal about recruitment

64.  not visible enough or clear enough about what they are looking for

65.  Only by word of mouth, not by direct contact.

66.  Recruiters are representative figures of their programs/institutions. They seem unable or unwilling to address the decision making questions regarding short/long term salary, license and certification policies, or projected job security. I truly believe more work needs to be done by the existing library "world" to sell by "example" the job positions they are trying to fill. How about bringing along actual professionals able to honestly give their own experiences. Potential interviewers would give undivided attention!

67.  Recruiters did not understand what basic classes are no longer required (bibliography, cataloguing, etc.).  They also place too much value on direct library experience and do not seem to appreciate how non-library work experience could, in fact, really add to one's value and perspective as a future library employee.

68.  Recruiters need to actively seek out graduates who choose to not utilize the degree.

69.  Recruiters need to understand the courses in LIS programs and be prepared for more technological advancements at their work places.

70.  Recruiters of school librarians are often not aware of School of Information as a source for librarians.  Potential applicants must look to the education career office and educational sources in order to find out about openings.

71.  Recruiters are all but invisible. Many people do not consider this career simply because the idea has never occurred to him. Recruiting needs to be more proactive and appeal to a wide variety of individuals rather than the "standard" set (white women).

72.  Send more information to listservs.

73.  Some do, others seem to have a stereotyped view of what a librarian should look like.

74.  The focus is very heavy on librarian positions rather than alternative career paths.

75.  The general population as a whole does not generally understand what a librarian does in their profession.  This ignorance hinders librarians from doing their job and resulting in a stressful situation.

76.  The listserv has been my most reliable source of job openings.  I have actually been wondering if people were employed as library recruiters on a full time basis.

77.  The only recruiting I've had exposure to is through Listserv announcements.  Being employed full time and a distance learning student, there are no other recruiting methods I've been exposed to while in the program.  More aggressive recruiting outside of the campus is necessary.

78.  The recruiters may not see how important it is to be able to come into a community and set up times and offer this opportunity to applicants who may live far away.

79.  The recruiters sometimes pay attention to the superficial vocal power of the graduate and do not consider the potential power and productivity of the other ones who are not very vocal but are more qualified and use their brains.

80.  The way I was recruited was from other unfinished graduate students.  I had to research to find the answers to my personal questions.  It was only after I started classes that, my school district put out a email on how to become a librarian in the school district.  Recruiters need to go through other careers and colleges to notify students and those working, that there is a need. Work through school districts more closely to get the word out.  Find Pre-Law and Pre-Med students that there are other avenues.  Public libraries could hold workshops on how to become a librarian for interested patrons.  Recruiters need to find the traits they want, and put themselves in places those individuals are.  Colleges, Schools, Libraries, and those spaces in between.

81.  There is not enough advertising in media about what a librarian is and does.  The perception is that all librarians do is check books in and check books out.  There needs to be some kind of public advertising campaign to inform the public of what librarians REALLY do and what is taught in library schools.  Also, the public needs to be re-taught how to use the library as an information resource.

82.  There is too much emphasize on library tools and not services. The library's do not emphasize what new librarians can do instead they concentrate on the equipment that librarians will be using to do their jobs.

83.  These recruiters are apparently pretty invisible -- I didn't know there was such a thing!   I am in library school because I nurtured an interest in librarianship for nine years before I ran into a friend's sister-in-law who (unknown to me) was a professor in an MLS program. AFTER I told her about my interest, she told me about her job and encouraged me to enter the program. Librarians simply don't promote themselves or what they do. People won't know if we don't tell them that it's a great career choice.

84.  They are obviously not going straight to the graduates, because I know several recent graduates who have never been contacted by recruiters and have no library jobs.

85.  They don't offer enough "opening level" positions.

86.  They don't stress the variety of positions within the profession or address the negative stereotypes.

87.  They fail to realize that a library system is a place to learn.  Experienced librarian are few and far between due to all the radical shifts in technology and access.  Recruiters need to take more chances on inexperienced, young, vibrant professionals. 

88.  They must be informative about the MLS programs and should have been a part of the programs or know some extensive knowledge about it.

89.  they need to emphasize more of the non-traditional roles of librarians

90.  They never tell you rate of pay, hours, or corporate culture (the last one is a must!)

91.  They're not giving the new graduates proper credit for their education and practical experience gained during their education.

92.  Though I'd like to see more librarians/LIS students of different ethnicities and backgrounds

93.  To my knowledge there are none in my area.

94.  Too strong on corporate or academic structuring and too little human considerations.

95.  Well, I've never seen a library recruiter, and I've been in the program for two years.  So I'd have to say they're not very good at seeing everyone.

96.  When I interviewed at Houston Public Library for an entry level job, the recruiter concentrated on lack of experience although I had retired as a high school librarian before I got my MLS. I felt that HPL had little professional teamwork to offer me.

97.  Where are you?

98.  With so many library students completing courses online, there needs to be more online resources for job searching. Right now, there are online job databases/sites for prospective librarians, but they are scattered.

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Comments to ron.pollock@alumni.utexas.net
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© 2004, Ronald D. Pollock