MLIS Day 2014
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The State of Academic Library Jobs: What you need to know to be competitive Penny Beile, Assoc Director, University of Central FL Libraries Therese Triumph, Adjunct Librarian, Rutgers University UCF Libraries MLIS Day 2014
Transcript of MLIS Day 2014
The State of Academic Library Jobs: What you need to know to be competitive
Penny Beile, Assoc Director, University of Central FL Libraries Therese Triumph, Adjunct Librarian, Rutgers University
UCF Libraries MLIS Day 2014
Forbes, Leadership column, Jacquelyn Smith, 6/8/2012http://www.forbes.com/sites/jacquelynsmith/2012/06/08/the-best-and-worst-masters-degrees-for-jobs-2/2
“Library and information science degree-holders bring in $57,600 mid-career, on average…. and there are expected to be just 8.5% more of them by 2020. The low pay rank and estimated growth rank make library and information science the worst master’s degree for jobs right now.”
What do you need to know to be competitive in the current job market?• The state of the library job market– Number and types of jobs (hot jobs!)
– Skills needed for job vacancies (qualifications)
• How to position yourself for success– Acquire the skills sought by employers
– And… (stay tuned, that’s part 2)
This study… Describes the number, types and titles of jobs, qualifications and salaries of positions advertised on ALA JobLIST, CHE, and ARL in 2011.
Compares data to earlier analyses (1996 and 1988) to document changes in academic library job positions over time.
Methodology Duplicates, part-time or those < 1 year were removed.
1118 unique job advertisements reviewed.
2-year college positions and ads for deans and directors were removed (n=160).
Leaving 958 ads that met the criteria established by Reser and Schuneman in 1988.
Methodology con’t Coding categories included:
State and region Job title Presence of administrative duties Division Work experience Salary
Results• Is the number of advertised positions increasing or decreasing over time?
1988 1996 20111,133 900 958
Positions Advertised, by Division
2011* 1996 1988Electronic Services
138 14.6% 152 16.9% NA NA
Public Services
501 52.8% 549 61.0% 697 61.5%
Technical Services
309 32.6% 199 22.1% 436 38.5%
TOTAL 948 100% 900 100% 1,133 100%
•How many jobs are available across broad divisions? Are there differences?
*N=948, 2011 data excludes 10 Admin positions
• Do job openings tend to be heavily weighted to one part of the country or are they fairly evenly dispersed?
Positions Advertised, by Region
2011 1996 1988Midwest 208 21.7% 219 24.3% 293 25.9%
North Atlantic
272 28.4% 236 26.2% 326 28.8%
Southeast 228 23.8% 218 24.2% 239 21.1%West 250 26.1% 227 25.2% 275 24.4%
TOTAL 958 100% 900 99.9% 1,133 100.2%
Top Ten States, by Job Openings
CA NY IL PA TX FL VA IN MA GA0
2
4
6
8
10
12
10.2
7.9
5.4 5.2 5.14.6
3.7 3.3 3.3 3.2
Figure 1. Job Advertisements, Top Ten States( % of Total)
Value %
Previous Work Experience, Overall
If you don't have any prior professional experience, what percentage of the jobs
would you apply to?Required 56.5%Preferred 12.6%Entry level 1.3%Not stated 29.6%
• What were prior work experience requirements across divisions for 2011 ads?
Previous Work Experience, by Division
Electronic Services
Public Services
Technical Services TOTAL
Not stated
49 35.5%
150 30.0%
82 26.5%
281 29.6%
Entry level
3 2.2% 7 1.4% 2 .07% 12 1.3%
Preferred
15 10.8%
76 15.2%
28 9.2% 119 12.6%
Required
71 51.5%
268 53.4%
197 63.8%
536 56.5%
TOTAL 138 100% 501 100% 309 100% 948* 100%
*N=948, data excludes 10 Admin positions
Minimum Advert’d Salaries, by Division
• What’s the range in salaries across divisions for 2011?Divisio
nNumber N
reportedRange Mean
Electronic
Services
138 58 $28,000-$81,699
$47,651
Public Service
s
501 166 $30,000-$200,000*
$47,986
Technical
Services
309 104 $29,000-$105,000
$49,619
TOTAL 948 328 $28,000-$200,000
$48,846
The $200,000 salary is an outlier; the next highest salary is $105,000
Positions Advertised by Job Title, 2011
• Top five positions in each division, plus OtherElectronic
ServicesPublic Services
Technical Services
Digital 42 Reference 162
Special Coll 83
Systems 40 Liaison 92 Cataloging 46
Elec Resources 20
Instruction 64
Collect Mgt 44
Web Services 12
Head, PS 39
Metadata 27
Schol Comm 11
Access Serv 18
Acq/Head, TS 23
Other ES 13 Other PS 126 Other TS 86
TOTAL ES 138 TOTAL PS 501 TOTAL TS 309
N=948, 10 Admin positions not included*Acquisitions and Head, TS both had N=23
New Job Titles, Electronic Services
1996 2011Head, ES Head, ESElectronic/Tech Services
Data Set
Electronic/Public Services
Digital
Other Electronic ResourcesEmerging TechnologiesScholarly CommunicationSystemsWeb ServicesOther
New Job Titles, Public Services 1996 2011
Head, PS Head, PSAccess/Circulation/ILL Access/CirculationBranch BranchInstruction InstructionReference/Gov Docs Reference/Gov DocOther Other
Assessment LiaisonOutreachPublishing Support/Scholarly Communication
New Job Titles, Technical Services
1996 2011Head, TS Head, TSAcquisitions AcquisitionsCataloging CatalogingCollection Mgt Collection MgtPreservation/Spec Coll Preservation/Spec CollSerials Serials
Digital/DiscoveryElectronic ResourcesMetadata
What’s the take away?• Today’s library jobs require new skills and are becoming increasingly specialized.
• Drivers may include the changing publishing environment and the evolution of librarian roles in the academy.
• Things aren’t any worse than they were 15 years ago regarding the number of jobs advertised and those that pre/req prior work experience. OR ARE THEY?
Job market compared to graduate pool
• Bonfield notes that library schools are graduating more people per year. •Trending upward from 4,451 in 2000/01 to 6,987 in 2009-10.
•BLS projects the need for 54,500 librarians between 2008 and 2018, or 5,450 per year.
• For our purposes, even more germane than “producing an appropriate supply of new librarians” is “also ensuring these new librarians have the requisite skills to meet the demands of the marketplace.” [emphasis added]
In the Library with the Lead Pipe, Is the United States training too many
librarians or too few?, Brett Bonfield, 9/21/2011
The Chronicle of Higher Education, The Long Odds of the Faculty Job Search, Audrey Williams June, 5/24/2013
A review of candidate CVs from actual searches for assistant-level professors revealed that candidates have a wide range of credentials. Committee members acknowledged how competitive the job market has grown. Be acutely aware of the competition.Successful candidates employed a variety of strategies: be aware of your audience, do your research, draw a connection between you and your work and the position and institution. What credentials do your colleagues have? Are you competitive? Is your CV lacking?
Stand out from the crowd• Position yourself for success!
– Acquire the skills sought by employers– Follow the job market, see what others are saying, be engaged and become part of the conversation!
– Follow a few library blogs… and post comments
– Visit sites like Lead Pipe and Hack Library School – And read this post from Joanna Junehttp://hacklibschool.wordpress.com/2013/02/20/apply-yourself/
Mr. Library Dude’s blunt advice…• Work in a library before attending library school
• Get as much experience as you can – staff position, volunteer, internship, student worker
• Get a mentor• Market yourself• Apply, apply, apply!
Mr. Library Dude, I graduated from a top library school. Yeah, so what?,
Joe Hardenbrook, 7/21/2011
My Stephen Flynn story• Who is Stephen Flynn• How we met… twice!• Why is Stephen Flynn important• His advice:
– start looking at job ads as soon as you start library school, not when you’re ready to look for a job– Get the skills being requested– Bring something to the table
•Plain Language Medical Dictionary app•http://opencoverletters.com•http://www.wooster.edu/bios/sflynn/
References American Library Association. (2011). Joblist. Retrieved from http://joblist.ala.org Association of Research Libraries. (2011). Job Announcements. Retrieved from
http://www.arl.org Beile, P.M. & Adams, M.M. (2000). Other duties as assigned: Emerging trends in the academic
library job market. College & Research Libraries, 61(4), 336-347. Bonfield, B. (9/21/2011). Is the United States training too many librarians or too few? In
the Library with the Lead Pipe. Retrieved June 5, 2013 from http://www.inthelibrarywiththeleadpipe.org/2011/is-the-united-states-training-too-many-librarians-or-too-few-part-1/
Chronicle of Higher Education. Careers: Jobs Inside. (2011). Hardenbrook, J. (7/21/2011). I graduated from a top library school. Yeah, so what? Mr.
Library Dude. Retrieved 5/30/2013 from http://mrlibrarydude.wordpress.com/2011/07/21/i-graduated-from-a-top-library-school-yeah-so-what/
June, A. W. (5/24/2013). The long odds of the faculty job search. The Chronicle of Higher Education, A22-A26.
June, J. (2/20/2013). Apply yourself. Hack Library School. Retrieved June 5, 2013 from http://hacklibschool.wordpress.com/?s=apply+yourself.
Reser, D.W. & Schuneman, A.P. (1992). The Academic library job market: A content analysis comparing public and technical services. College & Research Libraries, 53, 49-59.
Smith, J. (6/8/2012). Leadership column. Forbes. Retrieved 5/30/2013 fromhttp://www.forbes.com/sites/jacquelynsmith/2012/06/08/the-best-and-worst-masters-degrees-for-jobs-2/2
Thank youPenny [email protected]
Associate Director, Information Services and Scholarly CommunicationJohn C. Hitt LibraryUniversity of Central FloridaOrlando, FL 32816-2666
Therese [email protected]
Adjunct LibrarianKilmer LibraryRutgers University LibrariesRutgers, The State Universityof New JerseyPiscataway, NJ 08854
