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>> Welcome to the School of Library and Information Science, Career Colloquia Session.
My name is Jill Klees and I'm the SJSU Career Center Liaison to SLIS.
Thank you for joining me tonight.
We have the great pleasure to have three librarians from the San Jose Public Library
with us to share their tips and pointers for making it
through the application process and on to the interview.
So let's get it started.
Our first speaker is Sandra Stewart.
So, go ahead Sandra, take it away!
>> Okay, hello everybody.
I'm Sandra Stewart.
I'm the Acting Division Manager at San Jose Public Library.
And [pause] I get to introduce our session.
We're covering the application process, supplemental questions,
we're going to have some interview tips, a little true or false session,
and then we'll open it up to questions from the group.
[Pause] San Jose Public Library is a large, urban public library.
We now have 23 library locations.
We serve a population of nearly a million.
Our main library is a joint public library along with the San Jose State,
so it's a joint university and public library.
We have 6 million visitors per year, 11.5 million items were loaned last year.
We have a lot of programming.
We've had over 10,000 programs and we've been hiring recently.
We've been doing a lot of hiring recently, because we opened, or rather reopened,
four branch libraries over the, during this year, in 2013.
We've hired probably about 150 people over different classifications equalling
to about 70 full-time employee hours.
Let's see what this next slide says.
Oh yes. We're hiring [laughing].
So, that's the good news.
The good news is that libraries, not that it looks like the financial crisis is, perhaps,
subsiding, libraries which are, well public libraries, which are government agencies,
are starting to look at the possibility of our funding returning
and us being able to build back up our staff.
And that's the good news.
The bad news for you, as new graduates from Library School,
is that you're competing with people who were laid off.
So, you're also competing with people who graduated from Library School last year
and the year before that while a lot of people were being laid off.
So, there's a lot of competition in the market.
During our last recruitment process, over 300 people,
like 350 people, applied for seven positions.
Half of those didn't qualify because they didn't meet the minimum requirements
that we had published, and many of the remaining half
of those people didn't answer the supplemental questions completely
and so that's why we're here today, to give you some tips on how to rise
to the top when you're job hunting.
[Pause]
So, I'm going to go over the application.
A lot, well, I would say just about all of your applications are going
to be online, and a resume may not be enough.
You may, you may have to fill out a very clunky, online application, you may have to sign
up for an account with the government organization so that they can plug you
into their [pause] personnel system.
And you may have to fill out everything that you already have on your resume
onto these online applications and it feels clunky, you can cut and paste,
as long as it makes sense to do so.
The other thing is, well I'm going to look at my notes, [pause] like job responsibilities,
responding to things like that on the online application.
It doesn't hurt to also attach your resume and some
of these online application processes give you the opportunity to do so.
But, you may also want to e-mail that resume as an attachment to HR for that system.
Make sure that your contact information is correct.
HR isn't going to call you back to see if it was correct.
You need to make sure that the information that you have there is, is spot on,
especially your e-mail address and your phone number.
Don't hesitate to contact HR to make sure that your application was accepted.
If you don't receive a confirmation via e-mail, call to make sure they got it.
I know, for me, I recently did an application locally, through my own system,
and the online application just was eating everything that I was entering into it and I had
to resend this application at least three times and then I finally just put it all
in an e-mail and e-mailed it to HR.
So, it even happens to me.
Confirm your references.
When you're coming up with your reference list, contact the people that you're going to put
on the list, don't let it be a surprise for them if they get a call about you.
That could blow up in your face.
So you really want to make sure that the people on your references list you've talked
to recently and they've agreed to be a reference for you.
That's really important.
And, well I said this before, remember to save, save all of the information that you're doing.
Save it [laughing].
[Inaudible comment]
It, it can be very frustrating to have put a lot of time and effort and crafting an answer
to a supplemental question that has multiple parts and then it gets eaten, so, you know,
I would recommend that you take all of the supplemental questions, put it in a Word doc,
do all of your composing, and save often.
[Pause] So now we're moving onto Katie.
She's taking on the next part.
>> Hello everyone.
My name is Katie DuPraw, I'm the Division Manager for San Jose Public Library.
And over this past year I've acted as the hiring manager
for those 7 plus [inaudible] positions that we hired.
In accepting applications for the library, your application goes
through an initial screening process.
Sometimes that's through the library department, but more often than not,
it's handled through our central HR department.
If a library or a site indicates a minimum level of requirement for the position,
like you must have an MLIS, then you must have that MLIS to apply for the position.
For San Jose, we do require the MLIS at the point of application.
Other library systems will say that it's okay if you have it within six months.
So be sure the requirements, when you fill out the application, because you could be screened
out right from the very beginning if you don't answer the question correctly.
Some employers indicate that obtaining that degree is okay, again,
just be sure for you submit the application.
Supplemental questions on the application are there for a reason.
The questions are not fluff and there are a means for,
for screening out a large candidate pool.
As Sandra mentioned earlier, we have more than 350 applications
for the 7 positions that we had available.
Of the 350, half of those were screened out based on the minimum requirement
for the degree and were experienced.
Others just didn't complete the application or parts of it were missing and they didn't,
and the applicant didn't make sure that the application had been received completely
and when an application is missing information,
you're screened out of the process almost immediately.
So it's important to followup with HR if you're unsure.
[Pause] The questions in the, the supplemental questions should be answered honestly
and thoroughly, but not necessarily like you're answering a thesis question.
There's no need for citations and footnotes and additional references, we just want clear,
concise answers that fully answer the question that's being asked.
There's a lot of information on the internet that indicates
that your application should stand out, and it should,
because it's done completely and correctly.
Quirkiness and humor is okay, but don't take it so far that your application becomes a joke.
Supplemental questions, also, give an applicant an opportunity to discover
if it's a place that they would like to work.
The questions will give you an indication of what's important to the library.
Did they mention trends, technology, or story times?
Take that as a clue that these are important issues.
Tailor your answers accordingly.
For example, at San Jose, we ask applicants if they have knowledge
of our San Jose Way Service Model, specifically, do you have knowledge?
And then we supply a URL for people to do for their research.
It may seem like a simple yes or no question, but it isn't.
This is your opportunity to find out about us and the way that we provide service.
And this is a form of that question, why do you want to work for us?
If it's asked, the employer wants to know what about us appeals to you?
How would you fit into our way of doing business and can you fit in with us?
For our part, we have a very specific service model.
We want people to know this ahead of time.
Think about it.
And tell us if they think they would fit into our way of providing services.
If you're looking for a traditional service model for libraries,
San Jose is not the library system [audio cuts off].
That you would want to work for, but you won't know that unless you do further research.
It also is helpful, as you go on, if you go on into the interview process,
to understand what the library system is and what they have to offer.
Be sure that you're answering the questions.
That seems pretty basic, but sometimes the answer just doesn't fit
with the question that was asked.
And I can't stress this enough.
Proofread, proofread, proofread.
Librarians notice misspellings and mistakes and grammar, so be sure to have a friend,
a colleague, or an instructor read your response.
Seek feedback.
Excellent answers, free of errors, will move you forward.
However, even the best of answers that contain misspellings, grammar errors, run-on sentences,
etc. will be noticed and you will be moved to the bottom of the pile.
Remember too that sometimes the answers
to supplemental questions are not available to the interview panel.
Don't worry about repeating yourself when you get to the interview, it may be the first time
that people on the panel have heard your story.
So, if a question is asked that you think you may have covered already
in the supplemental questions on the application,
feel free to repeat yourself and tell the full story.
It's important to get the information out.
For San Jose, the information in the interview is the only thing that we can consider,
not the information that was contained
in the supplemental questions on the application, itself.
>> Alright.
This is Angie Miraflor and I also work for San Jose Public.
I'm also an alum of SLIS and I manage the Centralized Programming and Children's Room here
at our main library at King [phonetic].
And I have some experience doing some interview, I was on an interview panel
to hire librarians here and I've also done some interviews too, like to get this job.
So I'm going to talk about the, once you do those supplementals, fill out the application,
you actually get in for the interview.
So, part of the biggest thing is to really prepare
for the interview before you even step in to the interview room.
Research the organization, look at their mission statement,
look at their events calendars if you've noticed them.
Like what Katie was saying, you can see in those supplemental questions what, for example,
what San Jose's asking is what we feel is important.
So, we usually have a question about, like, programming and outreach and so look
on our website and see what kinds of programs and events that we have, and,
and get a kind of a feel of what we feel is our prior, library priorities.
If you know someone that works for San Jose Public, talk to them, you know,
visit some branches if you're close by.
You know, do all that investigation to kind of get the feel of the organization,
because in the end, you're also really [pause], you're trying to feel out whether you want
to work for that organization, as well.
So this is like good research for you too.
And, I know that we had one person who was hired here, as a librarian,
and she said that one thing she did was make, get a, kind of create her own list of questions
that she thought people were, the interviewers were going to ask her,
and she videotaped herself, or recorded herself, I don't think we use videotapes anymore.
But, recorded herself, so she could see, like, what she looked like
and how she responded to answers and watched them.
So, that's her technique and it really worked for her
because we have her on as a librarian now.
You know, try and find, like, those kinds of studying techniques like you would for a class.
And apply those to your interview.
And also, it, it's okay to call HR and ask them who's going to be on your interview panel.
I, I'm not sure if they'll exactly tell you the people, but, at that time,
because they may just not know at that time, but it, it's not, it's not a bad question to ask.
They're going to let you know who those people are the day of the interview anyway
in case there is a conflict of interest,
that if you find out like a Youth Services Programming librarian is going
to be interviewing you, you know, you think about those things and, so, make sure and kind
of talk about Youth Services Programing while they're there,
because that's going to be their interest.
[Pause] So after you do all of that homework to prepare for the interview,
[pause] make sure that you arrive ahead of time and make sure
that you're dressed well for the interview.
Unfortunately, we've had experiences when people weren't.
So, I think that tip that you always hear about dress for, like, the job one step ahead of you,
or something like that, I think that really, that really does work.
And it just shows that you're taking it seriously,
I think interviewers really appreciate that.
It is okay, I know a lot of people ask if it's okay to have, like, notes or a notebook,
to bring like a portfolio or whatever, and that's fine.
I think having like a couple copies of your resume, your references, some,
some smaller notes, like something that won't be distracting is good, but if, you know,
don't necessarily have like your iPad or your tablet or a laptop or binders of information,
mostly because it's going to be really distracting
to the people interviewing you and to you.
I mean, you, a lot of times you're not going to have hours to talk to these people.
You really have to capture the attention and engage the interviewers for a really set amount
of time and so to, to pretty much waste it rustling through papers or trying to open a file
on a laptop that's not loading as fast as you'd want it to is, is really going to kind of,
it won't be really good during an interview and it won't really have a, give a good message.
So also have several stories.
[Pause] In library [inaudible], we like people stories.
You know, things about times that you delivered really good customer service,
times where you had to deal with a difficult customer,
and make sure that you have those stories solid.
A lot of times, depending on the question that we ask, you could possibly pull
from those several stories as an example of customer service, an example of outreach,
an example of a project that you had to lead.
And, and we like those stories.
It's, it's, those anecdotes really help out.
You probably heard me say customer service a lot in the last couple of minutes,
and that's really important, but something that we really emphasize
at San Jose Public and all libraries.
It's all about customer service.
We're a, we're a people career.
So make sure, and if you've never worked in libraries before, that's okay.
I'm sure there's some point where you've had to deal with some kind of customer service.
It was a job in a college or if you do volunteer work, or if you help out at your church
or something where you've had to work with people in some kind of aspect
of customer service and make sure to bring those stories in and to be able to connect them
to library services would be even better.
So we already went through having notes, keeping eye contact, and like Katie mentioned already,
we won't necessarily, the, people
on the interview panel won't necessarily have read your supplemental questions,
so it's okay to repeat.
Just really pretend like they never even, like, read anything or seen you or anything
and just come in saying everything.
It's okay to repeat stuff like that.
So, [pause] the next thing we're going to do is some true and false.
[Laughing] I don't know how, whatever that slide,
so we're going to go through some true, false.
You can raise your hand if you, if you think the statement is true,
we may have already given you the answer to this one,
but that's okay, we'll go through it anyway.
I think there's like a little hand icon at the top there that you can.
There we go!
Yeah! [Laughter]
So the first [pause] item we have here is that humans don't actually look at my application.
How many of you guys think that's total [laughing], according to the picture.
[ Inaudible Comments ]
Okay, well, we'll just keep, keep going.
So that's, I, we're speaking on behalf of San Jose [inaudible] [laughing].
No it didn't come up.
[Laughter] Of course, again, we're speaking on behalf of San Jose Public Library
and with us that's completely false.
We look at all of the applications.
I do, humans.
And, so, I know a lot of people have heard that applications, they'll,
they have like computer programs that will run through and pick out keywords
and if you don't have those keywords,
your application gets tossed to the side and that's not true.
So, I will say that if you don't meet the minimum requirements,
your supplemental questions may not be looked at, because the,
those minimum requirements are going to be your first, your first hurdle.
But those supplemental questions do get read and I have, I have anecdotal proof by seeing Sandra
and Katie [laughing] here with stacks of applications in their office.
I'm like okay, I won't bother you till later!
So that one is a false.
Alright, next one.
[Pause] I worked at this organization for years, I'm guaranteed an interview.
How many of you guys think that's true?
Show of hands.
[ Background Sounds ]
Oh, they're doing yes or no.
[Laughter] We're learning how to use this, I know, right?
Well let it go for a little bit because there's [inaudible] people in here.
35 people said yes so far.
[Pause] Well they can see it too.
>> That's true.
>> Interesting.
>> Yes, we can hear you guys as you're talking about.
>> Reveal the answer.
[ Inaudible comments ]
>> Okay, so, [laughter].
According to San Jose Public, this is completely false!
That was a really big struggle for us, internally.
We had a, like Sandra said, we hired 150 people with different classifications,
and it was happening across the board where people weren't, people that worked
within the organization weren't even scoring that interview
because they weren't taking the supplemental questions seriously, and,
and they weren't even making effort, and then they're competing with people externally,
as well, who really were taking these applications more seriously.
So, that doesn't necessarily guarantee you an interview, to kind of combat that we ended
up doing workshops, kind of like what we're doing today for our staff,
and it ended up really helping out.
But, [pause] just please, if you're, if you're already working in a library of some sort
and you want to promote within or transfer, whatever process that your organization has
to go through, just like how we were mentioning before to come into your interview
as if nobody read your supplemental, go into that application and that interview
as if nobody knows you in that organization.
Because also, you never know [pause] who's on the panel or who's reading your supplemental.
It could be somebody from the outside and they really don't know who you are.
So, just treat, and it may feel uncomfortable to talk about something that everybody
in the room knows about, but just do it anyway, just to cover your bases.
Alright. And then our last one.
Oh, I already [laughing], I answered that one.
It's okay to ask HR who is on the interview panel.
Let's see if people were listening.
They were!
[Laughing] Okay.
[Pause] Yes, it is true.
It is okay to do that.
The, again, you won't get dinged for it, they won't make a note
that you called or anything, it's, it's good.
>> No, and actually, if there's someone on the interview panel that you have a conflict
of interest with, it's within your right to say that you would prefer not to have
that person sit on the panel and we have had to remove panelists because of objections
from people that are interviewing.
So it's, it's always important to look at the complete packet that you're sent to let you know
who the panel is and when your interview is.
>> And it's okay to, you know, do a little searching online
to see who's going to be interviewing you.
I know that Katie and my LinkedIn [inaudible] right before we were going
to review librarian interviews because people were researching us and they were looking
at stuff online and checking us out.
Yeah.
>> So, I think we're, we're going to open it up to questions.
Short and sweet, it's how I like it.
[ Background Sounds ]
>> Somebody said, asking a panelist to be removed seems a really high risk,
seems you show yourself as a problem.
>> Well, not necessarily, it just could be that you know them personally,
it could be a relative [pause], it may not necessarily be someone
that you've had a problem with, but just someone that could create a problem down the line
because they knew you or knew of you, rather than you're the problem.
>> Yeah. So we don't, from our understanding,
you don't have to say why it's a conflict of interest.
Do you? Or do you have to.
>> No, you don't have to state I have a problem with this person because,
just that you [pause] see that there could be a problem.
It can be a subjective process, although for the questions that we ask on the supplemental part
of the application, we have key concepts that we want people to hit and so we look for those.
Our first question, and this is no secret because our supplemental questions are out there
for everyone, our first question is do you have knowledge
of the San Jose Way Service Model, and we provide the URL.
Now, we have actually had people just answer that, no.
And that's going to get you screened out immediately.
Because we provide you the URL, we kind of expect that you're going to do a little bit
of research to see what's happening within our library system, and so that should acquaint
with the San Jose Way Service Model and you go
on to explain what it is that you read and understood.
So we'll look to the key concepts of customers, first redesigning spaces,
and if you hit the concepts of that, then you move on, in that question.
And then we ask a question about technology use in the library.
And we look for key concepts around E-readers, social media, blogging, you know,
the things that are kind of current and happening now.
And if you hit 4, 3 or 4 of those, then you've met the requirement, the,
kind of the standard that we have.
>> And when we have a lot of supplemental questions to go over, like,
we had like 150 that we looked at recently, what we'll do is we'll have a few people
who are looking at them all and they'll divvy up the questions, so,
I did the San Jose Way question for all 150, and Katie did another question for all 150.
So, there's actually consistency at who's looking
at the question for each of the applicants.
>> Thanks ladies.
That was helpful.
So there are hands [inaudible background comment].
There's plenty of hands up with questions and there's plenty of questions
in the chat box [echoing sounds].
>> Hands up for questions.
So if it's a checkmark, sorry I'm showing my, my novice nature here.
If I see a checkmark next to somebody's name, they have a question?
>> Sandra, Sandra, if there's a hand up and a 1, they have a question.
[Background echoing sounds]
[ Inaudible ]
>> We don't see a Jennifer K. [Inaudible multiple comments].
>> That makes perfect sense.
>> Okay, so [pause], I'm sorry, how do I give Jennifer the mic?
Do I just click on the mic?
>> Just click off of the talk button, and then she can pick it up.
[ Silence ]
>> I don't think Jennifer has a microphone.
She says she has no question.
[ Silence ]
>> The next Jennifer can pick up the mic, or Jenny, or Evan, or Beth.
Go for it and ask questions.
[ Silence ]
>> Hi, this is Beth.
[Pause] Can everyone hear me?
>> Yes.
>> Okay, so, I'm a year out from my Master's Degree, I'll get it in May,
and so as you were saying, a lot of these library one positions, for example, at San Jose,
you need to actually have the degree.
I've seen other postings where you need to be three months out, or,
three months from you degree, or six months, for example.
I like the area that I live in and so, if, and, as you know,
sometimes a library one position doesn't come up, you know, a lot, but I do see positions
for like library assistant one or things like that.
Are those positions something that I should be a, take time to apply to?
Or, or [pause] or should I just be focusing on,
on that library one type position in the public library?
>> That's kind of a difficult [pause] thing to assess out.
Because you say you really like the location that you're living in
and librarian one positions don't come up that often and should you, you know,
apply for an LA position in the meantime?
There is some, there is some, you know, good things about doing that.
You could get your foot in the door in a system that you would like to work at.
[Pause] But when you, but when you do something like that, when you put yourself
into a clerical position and you are getting close to getting your degree or you're, you,
you may already have it, [pause] you may be putting an obstacle in your way, as well.
I mean, it, it's really a kind of a, a judgement call that you're going to have to make.
I mean, if you're a year out and there's [inaudible] position that you could get now,
in a system where, you know, the librarian one's don't come up very often, and you say up front,
you know, I'm interested in moving up in the organization, that might work in your favor.
But you may not want to track yourself as a clerical staff member when you're going to be,
you know, looking for professional positions a few months later.
[ Silence ]
>> Next question?
[ Silence ]
>> Kim or Evan or Alicia, take the mic please.
>> Hi, this is Alicia.
I actually have a question about after the interview process.
What's really the protocol on [pause] sending either thank you e-mails or a thank you card
to the members of the interview committee?
>> We're actually of two minds here.
I think [laughing], for a couple of us, it doesn't matter if we get a thank you,
a follow-up thank you, or a follow-up note, and one of us kind of likes that idea.
I think, probably on, to be on the safe side, an e-mail to the, to the panel members is probably,
in this day and age, adequate to let them know that you appreciated the time that they took.
>> Yeah.
>> Yeah. E-mail.
[ Silence ]
>> Evan, do you want to take the mic?
[ Silence ]
>> Sure, I'll go.
I just have a question that's related to the San Jose Public Library,
I was wondering if there's any particular skills in, I mean, I don't know if you're still hiring
or not, but are there any particular skills you're looking
for in potential librarians that you're thinking of hiring?
>> We are wrapping up our process right now in hiring librarians, but we do anticipate
over the next few months some shifting, and, and possible openings.
What we're looking for in San Jose is really all about people skills.
We don't have a traditional library system here where you sit behind a desk
and wait for people to come to you.
We're really all about being out there on the floor, engaging customers where they're at,
and just being very, very customer focused,
so if you have those skills, that's what we're looking for.
>> Okay, Kim, do you want to take the mic?
[ Background Sounds ]
[ Silence ]
>> Sorry about that, I, I had a difficulty.
I would like to know if [pause], in an interview, being knowledgeable
in certain software's is, is pretty much a, an important factor
in doing, having a successful interview?
[ Silence ]
>> Being skilled in certain software?
You know, it depends on the position.
We have a position that we're going to be filling in the next few months,
that's an electronic resources librarian, and in that case, we're going to be looking
for somebody who's very tech savvy, who knows databases,
who is comfortable using lots of different software.
We recently hired a web librarian, and we were looking
for really specific software skills for that person.
We were looking for somebody who could code, and we found someone.
But the, the pool of applicants that we had was much smaller than the,
the generalist librarian positions that we mainly hire.
[Pause] Paul, do you want to take the microphone?
>> Yes, I had a question about, a couple people, I think, had this question,
if you are in a specific state, but you're, you have a job that you see that you really like,
but you're out of state, you know, let's say I'm in California and I see something
in Washington D.C., I mean, how would you go about attacking those,
those jobs that aren't near you and, and what are the realistic chances of getting them?
>> Well I could speak to this because I did it about 12 years ago.
I lived in St. Louis and I, my husband had gotten a job out here in California
and I was doing a cross country job search, and [pause],
actually the CLA job list was very useful to me, and I was looking specifically in the bay area
for positions and I actually did several phone interviews at that time
and we're willing to do phone interviews, as well.
We've done several phone interviews recently.
So, don't feel that you are not, because you are not physically close to where you're applying
that you're just out of the pool.
You, you still have a shot.
And if it's something that, you know, you're moving for a reason, or, or, you know,
you really have a, a strong motivation to get there, they'll seriously consider you.
[Pause] Kristen C., do you want to take the mic?
>> Yeah, my question was actually very similar to Paul's, pretty much,
I'm interested in applying out of the state of California once I graduate
and I just wanted some insight into how the process is any different?
>> I think it's really, really important if you're looking at a library system
that you're not familiar with, to really do your research so that you show your interest
to the people that are looking at either your application or considering you for an interview.
I think it's harder when you're coming from out of state to convince people
that you would really move for the job, but if you know a lot about their library system
and can show that in either your questions or the phone interview
or a face-to-face, you stand a better shot.
>> Okay, Nathan, you're up.
>> Hi, I was just curious about applying for like a librarian two position as your first job,
especially if it just says you need like one year of experience in a library system
or two years, is that unlikely to happen if you have not worked in a library?
Or, for example, I would volunteer to my library for a year,
but I still need to probably just apply for librarian one positions when they come open?
>> You know, actually because most libraries, well public libraries, are a city
or county agencies, we're bound by some pretty strict rules.
And if you are coming into a library as a new brand new librarian without the professional,
paid work, chances are you're going to start as a librarian one.
If internally, to be a librarian two, you have to have two years of experience
as a librarian one, that's going to hold true for somebody coming from the outside, as well.
People do start here as librarian two's, but they come to us
with a lot of experience elsewhere.
Either as a school librarian or in a public library or perhaps an academic library,
but generally speaking, because of our hiring rules, people with little
to no experience start as librarian ones.
>> Okay, Susan, you're up.
>> Hi. Thank you.
Nathan kind of touched of that and that's volunteering.
You know, I have interviewed recently for a job in a public library within California, and,
you know, found that [pause] I was able to move
into the interview phase because of volunteering.
So I just wanted to get a flavor from San Jose
on how you view [audio cuts off] a [inaudible] volunteering
for someone who's really stepping in, stepping up and wanting to contribute
to a system with the hope of a future job.
>> Okay, yeah, volunteering is, is very good and [pause] when we're looking at applicants,
if you're looking at people who are pretty much in the same place, if somebody has experience,
paid or unpaid, that's certainly going to speak well for them as opposed to someone
who doesn't have experience in a library.
But then again, experience working with people, and,
and lots of strong customer service experience is really important to us and San Jose,
because of our really strong customer service ethic that, that we have.
>> Just recently we have hired a couple of people that had been working
at clerical levels in, in library systems and then because of budget cuts,
their positions had been reduced, but they were still in Library School and they had a very,
very strong interest in continuing in the field, so they volunteered to provide youth services,
and created programs and they were actually sent to CLA to present a program.
And then we hired that person here because of those skills that he developed elsewhere
in the library system as a volunteer, and then another person
that [pause] had paid internship during her school terms, but then after was not able
to be brought onto the library system, again, because of budget reductions,
but she had continued to volunteer at two different library systems.
So we really consider, strongly, the volunteer experience,
if it's relevant to what you're applying for within our system.
>> And make, really take advantage of the internship listings at SLIS, because, one,
you'll get credit for doing it towards your degree, but also in the SLIS internships,
they have to abide by a certain structure, like, so, it's like what you were saying
about strategic volunteering, like, they have to make sure
that you're going to be doing librarian work.
So, you can come and volunteer at a library, but if they make you like wash books all day,
that's not necessarily going to build your librarian skills.
Having these internships through the SLIS program will give you a better kind of breadth
of what that, you know, of what being a librarian is.
>> Okay. It looks like we've exhausted all the people who raised their hands [inaudible].
Questions in the chat box that we have?
>> Yep. We've got, it looks like some people wrote in questions
and then some people asked you questions, so, we'll have to kind
of see if we've already answered it.
[Background echoing sounds] One of them is asking what are some of the things
that help an applicant stand out?
>> Being really thorough in the answers that they provide.
One or two sentences to complete a supplemental question isn't really enough to give us an idea
of someone's knowledge of what we've asked them to, to respond to a question such as,
what's your experience with technology in the libraries,
to say I have experience providing [pause] blogging on my current library's website.
That really isn't a good indication, to us, about what their skills or experience are,
so I would say just being very thorough, but not so thorough, again,
that you're making citations or, or footnotes, or that, you know, it, it becomes irrelevant.
So nice, concise answers that give us the information that we're looking for.
[ Background Sounds ]
>> So here's another one.
[Background echoing sounds] On the supplemental question.
Actually Sandra, would you turn your mic off while I answer or ask the question.
Thanks. So on the supplemental questions, is it appropriate to draw from SLIS coursework
and assignments if you're lacking in the job experience area?
>> Yes. It's appropriate as long as you can turn it back to real-life application
and not just make it sound that you are a repeating a classroom assignment.
If you take something that could be relevant to what we're asking, like providing a program,
and say, you know, this is what I did in my class and this is how I would turn
into an actual program within the public library.
As long as you can make it kind of a real-life situation, then I think its fine
to draw from SLIS classroom work.
>> Thanks, that was good.
Here's another one from Amy.
What are some other questions that you focus on
or ask in addition to the customer service skills?
>> We ask about programming.
Any [pause] skills or experience you have in programming
or providing story times, youth services.
>> Outreach.
>> And outreach.
Outreach for San Jose is a really big component of what librarians do that,
that willingness to go out into the community and make those connections.
And then bring the library to the community, but also draw the community back to the library.
So, that's a real important one for, for us.
And technology.
[Pause] I'm sorry, another skill that we really look for, especially here in San Jose,
is the willingness to be flexible and to, to be innovative.
As I said before, we don't provide traditional library service,
we really are about looking forward and creating new experiences for our customers here.
[ Background Sounds ]
>> [Inaudible], we'll get to your question in just a second.
[Audio cuts off] I want to finish up the question here in the chat box.
This is an interesting one.
This is from Kate.
It says our public library jobs constantly evolving due to technology and funding,
such that the jobs don't resemble the same jobs from five years previously.
>> We would say yes [laughing].
>> All of us would say yes.
>> Yes.
>> We have expectations of our staff that are very different than they were five years ago.
We expect staff to write blog posts and we expect staff to be able to assist customers
with eBooks and the way that people do reference now is sooo different
than the way we did reference, even 10 years ago.
I mean, our reference collections used to be a huge wall full of books and now.
>> Like two bookshelves.
>> Maybe two bookshelves, and those books are very rarely used
when people are answering reference questions.
As all of you new Library School students know.
[ Background Sounds ]
>> Go ahead Yvonne.
Go ahead and ask your question.
>> Okay. I was just wondering [pause] do we still have cataloger position
in the public library and how do you do the cataloging?
You know, it used to be, majority of the time, the position was doing copy cataloging
or original cataloging, or something.
You keep emphasize on the customer service,
on the floor serving the patrons, but what about the cataloging?
What do you do right now?
>> We have a technical services department that, quite frankly, most of our work is outsources
or is done, comes to us preprocessed from our vendors.
The majority of our cataloging is done on [pause] languages other than English
or those items that come to us from [pause] independent vendors.
Copy cataloging is accomplished by library assistants and sometimes senior library clerks
and then we use our, our librarian staff to work on the languages other than English and even
for people that are not proficient in those languages.
Sometimes we borrow records from other sources and bring them in,
and that doesn't necessarily require a professional librarian to do that.
Our department is very small, just a few people.
Most of the librarians in technical services participate in selection,
and acquisitions for the library and not necessarily cataloging the materials.
>> Sorry, but we, but all of the librarians in our technical services department,
even though they do selecting, they also do customer service work, like, they,
in this building particularly, a lot of them work in the children's room
and do children reference for us.
>> And we think that that's a good thing, because we want the librarians
who aren't doing customer service on a regular basis, also the librarians who are
in the web team, they all go pull hours in the children's room just to get them
out on the floor and to, to give them a little grounding
and this is what we're doing, here's our customers.
And this is why they're here.
>> Thank you.
Hey, here's a really interesting question in chat.
Jane typed this in and I have received this question myself from students.
So it says, so what happens when I offer to volunteer
at the public library doing library-related tasks and the librarian tells me I'm not allowed
to do any library-related tasks because they are paid positions.
She says the only things I'm allowed to do as a volunteer are scrubbing the shelves,
offer afterschool homework help, or help with the ESL conversion program?
I don't know.
Any thoughts?
>> Yeah [laughter].
>> You know, in a union environment, there are some restrictions as to what people are allowed
to do when they volunteer for libraries and it's not necessarily the staff that make that call,
but the restrictions placed on this because of our union.
Part of its protecting jobs and then also that we're making sure the people
who are the professionals are doing the professional-level work.
However, some libraries, like San Jose, have engaged volunteers that are working
at that higher level that can help with producing programs that do help,
not only with ESL conversation clubs, but they are one-on-one tutors in afterschool programs
and various other things that we have going on.
I would say, you know, don't, don't give up, but just recognize that it's not,
if they're telling you you can't, it's not because they're trying to keep you down,
but because they're trying to maintain that status quo with the union environment.
>> Thank you.
That's actually really helpful, because I never thought about the, the union aspect of it,
but I've definitely had that question from students.
There's one other question here in the chat, let me find it again,
that I don't think we addressed yet.
It says, this is from Gina, what things are you looking for when it comes to programming?
>> Angie.
>> That's my question.
[Pause] Like Katie said, we're always looking for [pause] something innovative.
You know, one thing that I've really been trying to focus
on is having more programming with, with intention built around it.
Like, you know, in this community, you put out a crafts program and a thousand kids are going
to show up, guaranteed, because children in San Jose, as most places, love crafts.
And that's great, but, you know, finding what those community needs are and those assessments,
like, you know, looking at trends in the community, if any of you guys are,
know about Pew Internet Research, they're based out of Washington D.C., read up on that kind
of stuff so when you do have like a programming question, you know,
they always have really good, insightful articles about [pause] what, like,
this country is trending towards as far as technology, and internet use, and,
and all different kinds of topics.
But, I think we're always looking for how to attract the people
who aren't regular library users, as well.
I know right now we have a group of new librarians
and their real big target is this kind of, this gap, I like to say, like post-college,
pre-family, like 20's and 30's, where they kind of think ah, maybe I'm not,
I don't have to go library anymore, I finished school.
But there's tons of stuff here for them and, and they're really trying to target that group
and then trying to develop programming that they would be attracted to, like,
doing stuff after hours or reaching out to them where hang out and not keeping it,
necessarily within library walls.
So we're really trying to look for like those new avenues
and tap into those new library users.
Yeah.
>> Thank you.
We have, oh, here's another question.
What's the best way to get that experience with eBooks
and other technology as it pertains to the library?
>> I would say do it.
Go to, go to your local library website and download the, try to download an eBook.
Just try. Download an eBook.
It's not as easy as you'd think.
Get proficient at using the different, there's, there's so many different members
and all of them are a little different in, in how you have to work with them.
You might have to sign up for an account.
Like, for example, OverDrive uses [pause] Adobe, Adobe Digital Edition if you're using a Nook.
But if you're using a Kindle, then you're going in a different direction.
So, I would say get a hold of some eReaders or your Tablets or download the apps
onto your Smartphone, as most people have Smartphone's as Pew tells us, and practice.
Because it's not as easy as you think, it's very frustrating when you first do it,
and then you understand where the customer is coming from
and why they're coming to you for help.
So, that's my recommendation.
>> Thank you.
We have one question here in chat that came up a little while ago and we, we didn't get to it.
The question is did you consider customer service experience outside
of the library field just as valuable, where'd it go, hold on, just as valuable in, wait,
library field just as valuable as customer service experience inside the library?
>> You know, yes.
Quite frankly, we've talked about this a lot, for San Jose,
we're looking for a particular kind of attitude and attitude
and behavior is some [audio cuts out] something we cannot train.
We can train people how to provide service in our San Jose Way Model, we can train people how
to do programming, but we can't train into people that customer service attitude,
the can do spirit of let me make this right for you, what can I do to help you?
And so, that, if you've been a barista at Starbucks,
you probably have those customer service skills that I would be really interested in,
having the degree only enhances your ability to work in the library.
But, you're coming in with the attitude is, is really primary.
>> Yea.
>> We have one last question, and, [pause] where did it go?
Ah! I lost her.
It was from Jennifer.
Can you type your question in real fast again Jen [audio cuts off].
Jennifer, can you type your question in again really fast?
Let me see if I can find it [background sounds].
Here it is.
Okay, you guys ready?
This will be my first library job, what would make me stand out from someone
who might have more experience than me?
>> Enthusiasm.
And eagerness.
The fact that you've done your homework and know what the library is all about.
That you come prepared in answering the questions.
Maybe you don't have the experience, but you could certainly fill it in,
I don't have that experience, but if I have the opportunity, this is what I would do.
And be prepared with those stories about how you would act if you got the job.
It isn't always about what you've done, but what you would do if we brought you on.
And now that I have this opportunity to say this, when you're in the interview,
that opening statement that you make at the very beginning about why you're there, and,
they always, we always start with why are you here
and why are you interested in this position?
And, starting out with what makes you so excited about libraries
and about library service is really important.
You have three minutes to make your case, and then we go on into the technical aspects
of the interview, and then we almost always give you an opportunity
at the end to add something further.
Use that opportunity to drive home again how much you're excited about the job,
about the opportunity, about the things that you could bring to the library.
If you flub some question in the middle or didn't give a really good response,
you can make up for that in that closing statement
about why you're the best person to be in our system.
>> That was a perfect way to end this webinar!
Thank you!
That was great!
I love that, that people have to come through with the enthusiasm and just rock it right there
in the beginning and wrap it up again at the end.
So, that wraps it up for us.