No Job

Sat, 03/08/2008 - 22:15 — mdoneil

I sent 4 emails to FSU about the job I had open that would be perfect for a librarian. I sent 3 emails to USF including one each to a professor with a blog who could post a note on there or facilitate it being posted on the college's website, I also mailed the director , and finally I signed up for their jobs listserv and posted it there.

I had HR post it on the Floridalibraryjobs.org website. I recieved résumés from office managers, stock brokers, mortgage brokers, coders/developers, help desk managers and two librarians one of whom I made submit her résumé.

No one from the library schools, no one from the Floridalibraryjobs.org website, no one from any of the listservs, and no one from LISNews bothered to apply. In fact that librarian who accepted the job Friday saw it on a job website where the firm pays to place positions.

Why so few librarians applied is a mystery to me. Why the job was not publicized by the library schools in Florida is a mystery to me. My alma mater FSU has delivery driver and receptionist positions listed on its website, why it would not list a position tailor made for a librarian interested in enterprise search and technology including collaborative technologies is beyond me, and frankly it disappoints me greatly.

Looking at the floridalibraryjobs.org site for jobs that have similar experience requirements the position for which I hired a local librarian pays (at a minimum) 1.788 times the average salary on the state library's jobs site. The benefits -insurance, retirement, continuing education, professional dues, annual professional meetings, and the like are also quite good. You don't get to play DDR but you also don't live check to check.

You know why the public does not value librarians, because librarians don't value themselves.