Ace the Interview, Land a Librarian Job

Book excerpt: One of the most critical elements of achieving a successful career, interviewing with poise and tenacity, is a skill to be learned—and this practical guide leads readers through that process, step by step. In a competitive job market, all candidates need to prepare to succeed. This certainly applies to job seekers looking for professional librarian positions in public, academic, and/or special libraries—especially recent MLIS graduates and mid-career job-changers. Designed for today's competitive job market, this practical guidebook provides job applicants with practical tips and effective strategies for successful interview preparation and execution specific to seeking librarian positions. Unlike generic "how to interview" guides, this book recognizes that there is no "one-size-fits-all" interviewing method and teaches the techniques for excelling at the unique aspects of interviews for specific librarian positions such as reference librarian, electronic resources librarian, outreach librarian, youth services librarian, and adult programming librarian. The book opens with an overview of what is expected during today's librarian interview followed by descriptions by four experienced library directors of what makes an interview truly great. This guidebook includes 100 actual library interview questions to help readers best prepare for the specific position they seek and also contains a chapter that identifies mistakes all rookie librarians should avoid making.