Interview Questions for Librarians

1. Describe your strengths and weaknesses.

2. Considering your education and work experience, why do you feel you are qualified for this job?

3. What do you see as the value of belonging to professional organizations?

4. Why did you apply for this job?

5. What is your philosophy of collection development?

6. Do you like working with people?

7. Do you have any experience with audio-visual materials?

8. Do you have any experience in setting up displays?

9. How do you feel that your education has prepared you for this job?

10. Where do you expect to be professionally in five years?

11. How would you handle a person who objects to a sex education book on the shelf?

12. How would you handle a question over the phone that you canít answer immediately?

13. Is there any time that you would refuse to answer a patronís request?

14. If we ask your present supervisor what your present strengths are, what would he/she say?

15. Why should we hire you?

16. Name two books you have read within the past two months and describe one of them as though you were recommending it to a patron to read. Why would they want to read it?

17. What qualities do you think we should look for in a prospective reference librarian?

18. Considering your working career, tell about the most stressful event you ever faced, and how you coped with it.

19. Picture this: It is 5:00 PM and you are relieving the day shift. You are the only reference librarian on the desk and the following are waiting for help. In what order would you answer them and why?

a. A young child with a homework assignment

b. A trivia question; the contest is on now. c. A woman who has just read Jannette Daileyís latest book and wants a recommendation for a similar book. d. An elderly couple wanting advice on how to do their genealogy.

e. The city managerís office is on the telephone.

20. What did you do to prepare for this interview?

21. What is your style of leadership?

22. Describe your ideal job.

23. What was your most challenging supervisory experience?

24. What do you like most about archival work?

25. Describe differences among patrons in a public library, an academic library, and a special library.

26. If you were assisting a person at the reference desk and the telephone rang, what would you do?

27. After you have eliminated the backlog, how do you see this job as challenging to you? What will motivate you to come to work?

28. Why did you elect to attend the University of South Carolina?

29. Why did you choose librarianship as a career?

30. Can you tell us about a particularly tense or chaotic situation at the reference desk and how you handled the incident?

31. What would you do if you heard a staff member provide a patron with an incorrect answer?

32. Tell us about a team or group project you have worked on and how you have contributed to it.

33. Tell us about your experience with information technology.

34. Why are you interested in this particular career?

35. What strengths do you bring to a reference position and what areas would you like to improve?

36. What are the things you particularly like about your present job?

37. What was your most important work-related accomplishment in the past year?

38. What contributions could you make to our library?

39. How would you describe your management philosophy?

40. What type of management style do you prefer?

41. What sorts of people do you enjoy working with most?

42. What kinds of situations do you find stressful?

43. What would you do if you were at the desk and both the phones were ringing and there were three or four patrons already waiting and a demanding professor interrupted?

44. Outline your science background, including: science coursework, library school coursework in science reference, and science library experience.

45. What is your public service experience, including bibliographic instruction, reference desk, and collection development?

46. What is your knowledge and/or experience of library technology?

47. How does this position fit into the career path you have set for yourself?

48. Give us an example of a time in which you felt you were able to build motivation in your coworkers or fellow students in school.

49. Describe the most significant achievement or written project/presentation/report which you have had to complete.

50. What are your strengths and weaknesses as a librarian?

51. Give us an example you did in a former job that contributed to a teamwork environment.

52. What would you do if you were unsure of how to answer a reference question?

53. What are your current research interests?

54. The role of the reference librarian and the reference department has changed a lot in the past five years and will probably continue to change. How do you see reference service changing in the next five years?

Jeff Altman, The Big Game Hunter
www.TheBigGameHunter.us

JeffAltman@TheBigGameHunter.us

© 2008 all rights reserved.

Jeff Altman, The Big Game Hunter, is Managing Director with Concepts in Staffing, a New York search firm, He has successfully assisted many corporations identify management leaders and staff in technology, accounting, finance, sales, marketing and other disciplines since 1971. He is a practicing psychotherapist and is a retired certified leader of the ManKind Project, a not for profit organization that assists men with life issues.

To receive a daily digest of positions emailed to you, search job openings, use his free job lead search engine, Job Search Universe. to subscribe Jeff’s free job search ezines, Head Hunt Your Next Job and/or Natural Selection (his free recruiting ezine), or to find out about his VIP Personal Search Agent service, go to http://www.jeffaltman.com.

If you would like Jeff and his firm to assist you with hiring staff or locating consultants, or if you would like help with a strategic job change, send an email to him at thebiggamehunter@cisny.com (If you’re looking for a new position, include your resume).