As I mentioned before, I’m so sorry to ignore any readers who have come here looking for advice and sympathies on being an unemployed librarian. So I’ve prepared a series of posts to help guide you down your path of library job hunting. If you missed anything, check out part one, treat job hunting like your job, and part two, get organized.
Diversify your sources
I’ve posted about my top 5 job sites (or sources), but obviously there are others. The source I used the most and found to be the most helpful was the University of Texas’s iSchool Job Board. I got the emails (actually I still do) and printed out every job that looked like something I would be interested in. Other sources that I used, besides the ones on the list, include LibGig, the LIBJOBS listserv (run by IFLA), LibJobs.com, Library Journal JobZone, Higher Ed Jobs, and LISJobs.
The reason I subscribed and checked so many sources is because not every job gets posted all over the internet. For example, all of the jobs on ALA’s JobList will end up in a Texas iSchool email, but not the other way around. My job as a medical librarian at a community hospital was posted in our local paper (a great source for corporate/special libraries where the people doing the hiring aren’t librarians), and then later, on LibGig and MEDLIB, but not on any other site. So even though you may be seeing a lot of the same jobs being posted, you never know when you are going to run across something unique.
It’s also a good idea to check with local libraries. The branch libraries in my city have been hiring, but the jobs don’t get posted to national lists. They occasionally end up on the local library school listserv, but the posting is mainly confined to the library’s web page. So if you are interested in working in a specific area, check out the libraries’ web sites. The same goes for academic institutions, especially small and community colleges.
Coming Tuesday: Update your Resume and Cover Letter
What sources am I missing? What are your favorite sites to look for jobs?
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