FINALLY there is a thoughtful article on the entry-level library job shortage! Finally, there is an article that actually uses current research to describe the job market rather than statistics that are based on projections that are based on fallacies. I urge everyone to read this Library Journal article by Rachel Holt and Adrienne Strock, which paints a realistic picture of the job market for new librarians. This more closely resembles the reality I’m living in than anything else I’ve read.
One thing Holt and Strock mention is the lack of mentors for new graduates. I completely agree that this is a problem. I went to a recruitment conference a few months ago where one speaker said “the reason most experienced librarians don’t become mentors is because they don’t think they have anything to offer.” Trust me, you do. What I wouldn’t give to have a mentor myself, an experienced librarian who could offer advice, encouragement, critique my cover letters, give me the dirt on places I’m applying, etc. And that is stuff that any experienced librarian could offer. I, and other new graduates, are basically going into this job hunt blind, and at least having a mentor would make us feel more a part of the profession and would give us some direction in becomming professionally involved.
I urge all experienced librarians to become mentors. Whether it’s through a formal program or just informally mentoring a new librarian you know, you have the ability to do someone a tremendous amount of good. You do have something to offer!
there are also good self-help groups available for newer library students and grads that have a lot of good information even if it’s not quite mentoring. I read the Library Lovers Live Journal
http://www.livejournal.com/community/libraries/
which has a lot of library students and others who can talk in an informal setting [and often more or less anonymously] to ask questions abotu what they are doing and where they are going.
Your comment on the lack of mentors in the LIS field is interesting, because I hear otherwise from people who run formal mentoring programs at the library schools. I’ve been listed as a possible mentor at my alma mater, the University of Michigan, for the past eight years. I got a followup phone call from the program coordinator about a year ago. She asked how things were going, and I replied that no recent or soon-to-be grads had gotten in touch with me. Her reply was that she’d heard similar things from nearly all of the librarians she had called, which she thought was disappointing. My name’s also on the list at the other institutions I attended, and I’ve yet to hear from anyone. I wondered if new grads were just unaware that these programs exist, but UM does a pretty good job of PR. Are they shy about taking advantage of it? I don’t know. But there are people out there willing to help! (Occasionally I do hear again from people whose resumes I’ve reviewed for NMRT, and I give them feedback on other things, so maybe that counts to some degree.)
I just read the article as well, and I have to say it reflects my experience from my grueling job search almost perfectly. While I was lucky that my supervisor where I worked provided some mentoring, there were no real mentor systems in my school. The article brought back a large blend of good and not so good memories of rejections, times wondering why I was not qualified for what seemed a very basic entry level job, and so on. By the way, I am 35, a career changer, and I think I am still enthusiastic and ready. I don’t regret my decision to become a librarian; it is probably my best destiny to be an instruction librarian, but given my experiences, there is a clear disconnect between the promotion that jobs will be out there and plentiful and the reality of the workplace. Thank you for pointing me to the article.
I agree with Meredith that we need more mentors and with Sarah that we don’t seem to utilize the ones we’ve got. I helped start a mentoring program with our local SLA chapter. Guess how many students requested mentors? Two. Me and the other student who is on the student liaison committee. If anyone has ideas about how to get something like this really rolling, I would love to hear them.
And then there are those of us who volunteered to be mentors (say, through both our LIS school and our state library organization), and were never contacted to mentor anyone. If anyone wants a mentor in the technology side of librarianship, let me know. I’m available!
Interesting observations! My school never offered a mentoring program and our faculty advisors only existed to approve our “plan of study” (and it took my advisor nearly 2 months to return my email about that!). I think people can have unclear expectations of what the mentoring relationship consists of, and that might be to blame for people’s hesitance in seeking the help (or offering it).
I’d also like to add a few things.
With regards to mentorship: First, students don’t need a mentorship program to find mentors. In fact, I think it is a better strategy simply to establish relationships on one’s own. And relationship-s — meaning plural — is important as well. Job seekers need networks, not just insider friends. The mentorship idea, of course, is pretty much a strategy to get students to think outside the box that is library school though. And that means making your own mentors out of the average everyday librarians that you see around.
With regards to the labor market, here is my view. The statistical trends for information professionals have been pretty solid. The profession as a whole is shrinking while there is an expecting increase in retirement. The problem is that Library Schools have marketed this as an “easy jobs” scenario, when this is just not the case. First, there is the short-term (we hope) trend of a current stagnant US economy and future uncertainty. Second, there is the issue that the US feds will have to cope with the huge deficit, meaning fewer grants for education, meaning fewer librarians.
But most important is the misconception that retirements translate into entry-level jobs. My view is that the real gaps in the library world are going to happen in the area of library management. This would not be a problem if non-managing librarians could and would step up, but many do not want to because a) they do not feel they have (or realistically admit they do not have) management skills, b) the financial rewards do not adequately compensate for the increased headaches and responsibility or c) they simply like their current jobs. This means you have surplus supply at the bottom rung and deficit in management. My suggestion is that library students should think about a management degree (MBA or MPA) to go along with their MIS and/or gather some adept knowledge of finance and/or managerial accounting, project management, human resources and the like.
That said, being on a job hunt is no fun — but seeing the ideas coming so far on this blog, I am sure that anyone would be absolutely ecstatic to know that Meredith Farkas was in their hiring pool. It’s all about the competition — and every opportunity lost or found has a reason. That’s what I believe anyway.
“I am sure that anyone would be absolutely ecstatic to know that Meredith Farkas was in their hiring pool”
Well, that would be nice. Thanks for the confidence booster, Ryan! 🙂
I’m currently an MLIS student due to graduate in December. I have to admitt that the Holt and Strock novel has left me feeling very apprehensive about starting my job search. The idea of pursuing an additional degree in management sounds very practical but it’s also extremely depressing. For one thing, I can’t afford it and for another, I’m tired of school!
Another thing that I’ve been concerned about for awhile is that I still feel incredibly ignorant in the field of information technology. I expected to learn a lot more about computer technology and some of the more cutting edge stuff like wiki’s, blogs, social bookmarking, etc. My classes have failed to even brush the surface of such topics. I’m not going to say that I don’t feel the degree has been valuable to me. It has. I’ve learned a great deal. I just feel like there is so much happening in this field right now that it’s almost impossible to feel completely prepared when it comes time to find a job. I guess, I’m sort of starting to loose confidence in my abilities. I’m not even sure I would hire me!
Please accept my apologies if there happens to be any atrocious spelling errors is this comment. I just finished my final paper last night and I’m running on two hours sleep. Nothing like procrastination and last minute writing to spin you into the depths of despair. 🙂
“I just feel like there is so much happening in this field right now that it’s almost impossible to feel completely prepared when it comes time to find a job.”
Carleen, it’s so very true that so much is happening, and 1) I would be really surprised to learn that ANY LIS school is including all of this stuff in their curriculum, and 2) those of us who are currently employed are having just as hard (or fun) a time learning about all these topics you mention. We’re learning by reading and doing and following our own noses, and you should do the same. You’ll never learn everything you need or want to learn in school – keep on with the learning outside the classroom 🙂 No pressure or anything, but you’ve got another subscriber to your blog 😉