Robyn Hall» Employment Resources

Open Cover Letters

Robyn — Tue, 08 May 2012 22:01:47 +0000

The other day I was browsing through Library Journal’s “Movers and Shakers 2012” (Vol. 137 No. 5). Among the featured information professionals was Emerging Technologies Librarian Stephen X. Flynn who has created a site for job seekers:

Open Cover Letters

It’s an open repository of samples of cover letters for a variety of professions to help inspire those among us who, like myself, get frustrated trying to craft the perfect sentences to grab the attention of hiring committees.

Great idea!

Librarian interview questions

Robyn — Fri, 26 Mar 2010 17:50:20 +0000

Once you have landed an interview for a library job, it’s very wise to practice interview questions commonly asked of applicants seeking librarian positions.

A few sites that provide examples of interview questions include:

101+ Commonly Asked Interview Questions- Compiled from materials available at an Illinois Library Association conference session
Having a Successful Job Interview- From the Special Library Association CapLits (Summer 1997)
Frequently Asked Interview Questions- Prepared by the University of South Carolina School of Library & Information Science
Reference Librarian Interview Questions – From the PUBLIB electronic discussion list
Questions Asked on Library Interviews- Prepared by Joe Hardenbrook

Most of these resources came from HOWTO:Apply for a library job – LISWiki. This is a great page that provides advice on every step of the job search process.

Canadian Job Boards

Robyn — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 19:09:45 +0000

Aka the most important employment resources online for Library & Information Science job seeking Canadians…

ABQLA: Quebec Library Job Postings and Resources: Parlez-vous français? The employment site of L’Association des bibliothécaires du Québec / Quebec Library Association features postings for LIS jobs throughout Quebec.

CLA’s Library Careers: Features job postings received by the Canadian Library Association.

FIMS JobWeb: Features Canadian and American job postings received by the Faculty of Information & Media Studies, University of Western Ontario. (Currently seems to be down as of March 30, 2011.)

FLA Jobline: The Foothills Library Association job board features library employment ads for jobs in Western Canada, with a focus on jobs in Calgary, Alberta.

MLA Job Listings: Features library jobs for the province of Manitoba received by the Manitoba Library Association.

Partnership Job Board: The Provincial and Territorial Library Associations of Canada Job Board. Features job postings from across Canada in the library and information science sector.

U of T’s Faculty of Information Online Job Postings: Features job ads for positions in Information Studies across Canada received by the University of Toronto’s Faculty of Information.

LIScareer.com

Robyn — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 23:15:31 +0000

There are lots of online resources for recent library school graduates that provide advice about job searching.

One notable example is the Job Searching Articles on LIScareer.com.

Articles of particular interest if you’re just starting your job search include:

Bliss, Laurel. “Interviewing at Academic Libraries.” (Feb 2004)
Block, Karla J. “Surviving (and Even Impressing!) the Search Committee.” (Nov 2003)
McKay, Beatrice and Clare Dunkle. “Top of the Heap or Bottom of the Barrel? Tips for JobApplicants.” (Nov 2001)
Moran, Jessica. “On Being an Experienced, Flexible Specialist: Finding Your First ProfessionalLibrarian Position.” (May 2005)
tenBroek, Barbara. “Is There a Library Job in Your Future?” (Jan 2006)
York, Amy. “Should You Take a Temp Job?” (Mar 2006)

… and many more. Check it out!