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How do I get a job?Evidence-based advice
Judith Logan, University of TorontoSandra Herber, University of Guelph-Humber
“Real, practical work experience is what will get you a job after school. For students what that means is that seeking out, securing and excelling in an internship is key to the library school experience. “
Vandegrift, M. (2013, March 21). [Series] Experiencing LIS – The Internship Edition. Retrieved from http://hacklibschool.wordpress.com/2011/03/21/internship/#more-731
Agenda
1.About the project2. Interesting findings3.Actionable findings
‘pPLWE’ =
Pre-professional LIS work experience
Primary research question
How do pre-professional LIS work experiences affect LIS students’ subsequent career success?
Secondary research questions
● What pre-professional LIS work experiences (pPLWE) do students have access to?
● What outcomes do students get out of their pPLWE?
● What external factors affect the influence of these pPLWE?
Methodology
Icons by Sarah Abraham and Brennan Novak at the Noun Project
Unstructured interviews
Fall 2013Online survey
Fall 2014
Inclusion criteria
Interviews● U of T iSchool or Western FIMS● 2008-2012Survey● U of T iSchool● Must have had LIS concentration● Graduated 2008-2013
n=88 / 554 eligible16% response rate
Interesting findings...but not necessarily actionable if you’re already in a LIS program
Today’s measure of impact
Time (in months) it took respondents to get a job after graduation
Icon by Wayne Middleton at the Noun Project
Did previous work in a library make a difference in how fast people got jobs?
Not really. Of people who had previous library work:● 21% had a job before
graduating● 52% got a job within 6
months● 8% got a job in 7-12
months
But…that wasn’t much different from everyone else
Of those who had careers before doing an LIS:● 44% were ‘early career’ (1-3 years of experience)● 16% were ‘mid career’ (4 - 6 years of experience)● 40% were ‘late career’ (more than 7 years of experience)
It seems those ‘early career’ people have a slight
advantage
Did having more than a Bachelor’s degree make a difference in how quickly people got jobs?
Not really. In fact...
...it took people with Master’s degrees longer to get jobs
There is a trajectory everyone goes through
Actionable findingsif you’re a pre-professional or an LIS
student
Types of pPLWEs
1.Formal, programmatica. Practicumsb. Virtual reference internshipsc. Job shadowing
2.Matrix a. Paid vs. unpaidb. Within the university vs. outside of the
university3.None
Icons by Sergi Delgado and iconsmind.com at the Noun Project
Subjective Objective
vs
Of all experiences, respondents chose paid work as the most impactful
What respondents who got jobs in under 6 months had done
What all respondents said was most impactful
Paid work in the library system of my LIS program’s university
1 2
Paid work in a library or information centre setting outside of my LIS program’s university
2 1
Job shadowing 3 7
Practicum (105 hours) 4 3
Practicum (45 hours) 5 4
Unpaid/volunteer work in a library or information centre setting outside of my LIS program’s university
6 5
Virtual reference internship 7 7
Rankings
What respondents who got jobs in under 6 months had done
What respondents who got jobs in under 6 months said was most impactful
Paid work in the library system of my LIS program’s university
1 1
Paid work in a library or information centre setting outside of my LIS program’s university
2 2
Job shadowing 3 0
Practicum (105 hours) 4 4
Practicum (45 hours) 5 3
Unpaid/volunteer work in a library or information centre setting outside of my LIS program’s university
6 5
Virtual reference internship 7 0
Rankings
“You feel differently about a job when you’re being paid for it. … I think people give you different things to do. They treat you in a different way when you’re being paid.”
-Interviewee
Most impactful experience
People who said paid work was the most impactful, got these things out of the experience
1.Added to my professional resume (98%)
2.Taught me practical professional skills (95%)
3.Helped me build my professional network & Clarified my professional aspirations (93%)
Interestingly...
The paid work was less likely to introduce you to new areas of librarianship not previously considered (32% said it did not).
How many hours do you need to work?
Of the people who had jobs within 6 months of graduation…● 40% worked less than 10 hours weekly
in their most impactful field experience
Takeaways
1.Stop worryinga. Previous library work experienceb. Length of time in previous careerc. Master’s d. Trajectory towards permanent, full time takes
time2.Get paid work 3.Under 15 hours (even under 10 hours)
weekly is enough
