NMRT (New Members Round Table)

Hi everyone,

I was recently selected to participate in the final round of interviews at an academic library.  I graduated  last year and this is my first time participating in such a process. The interview day will be virtual. Do you have any tips that I can use in preparation for the day?

Thanks

------------------------------
Doreen Dixon
Hempstead Public Library
New York
She/Her/Hers
------------------------------

Hi Doreen,

First, congratulations on being selected as a finalist for your application process -- that's wonderful news!  I have a couple of pieces of general advice, and I'm also happy to chat more if you'd like.  My email is kkerbava@uwo.ca if you want to reach out.

First, general interview prep: academic library interviews are essentially the same as any other job interview, except that they're *long* and typically include a presentation.  My best advice is to prep lots and lots of questions in advance -- I like to go through the schedule they provided, look up who's in each meeting and what it's theoretically about, and then prep a short list of questions targeted at that group and/or topic.  For example, there's usually a session about tenure and promotion, and I like to use that time to ask about the expectations for academic output (if that wasn't covered during the session), different people's research agendas, opportunities for collaboration, etc.  Also remember that, though there's usually some overlap, you'll be meeting with lots of different people over the course of the day: it's totally okay to ask different groups the same question to see how their answers align.  This is particularly helpful when you're looking for info about organizational culture, etc.

Virtual interviews are more challenging in some ways, but the plus side is that you get to sleep in your own bed when it's over!  The big thing you'll miss is the social time that's usually built into an interview day, and the chance to explore the area if the job is out of town.  I'd recommend building some of that into your questions in less formal parts of the interview day.  When I was interviewing virtually for my current role, I asked lots of questions about the city and surrounding area, since I would be moving there without ever having visited.  I'd also recommend being prepared for tech issues (having a headset on standby if you don't normally use one, etc.) and having lots of easy-to-grab snacks on hand -- you're not going to want to cook during your lunch time, even if they leave you enough time.  I'd also recommend taking advantage of opportunities to walk away and be off-camera; I'm sure we're all very familiar with Zoom fatigue at this point, but with the high pressure of an interview situation I found that it really snuck up on me.

I hope that's helpful!  Best of luck with your interview!

Kristin Kerbavaz (she/her)
Assessment Librarian, University of Western Ontario
kkerbava@uwo.ca

------------------------------
Kristin Kerbavaz
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: May 13, 2021 01:02 PM
From: Doreen Dixon
Subject: Academic Library Interview Process

Hi everyone,

I was recently selected to participate in the final round of interviews at an academic library.  I graduated  last year and this is my first time participating in such a process. The interview day will be virtual. Do you have any tips that I can use in preparation for the day?

Thanks

------------------------------
Doreen Dixon
Hempstead Public Library
New York
She/Her/Hers
------------------------------

Hi Kristin,
Thank you so much for your advice. They're very helpful.

------------------------------
Doreen Dixon
Hempstead Public Library
New York
She/Her/Hers
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: May 17, 2021 06:43 AM
From: Kristin Kerbavaz
Subject: Academic Library Interview Process

Hi Doreen,

First, congratulations on being selected as a finalist for your application process -- that's wonderful news!  I have a couple of pieces of general advice, and I'm also happy to chat more if you'd like.  My email is kkerbava@uwo.ca if you want to reach out.

First, general interview prep: academic library interviews are essentially the same as any other job interview, except that they're *long* and typically include a presentation.  My best advice is to prep lots and lots of questions in advance -- I like to go through the schedule they provided, look up who's in each meeting and what it's theoretically about, and then prep a short list of questions targeted at that group and/or topic.  For example, there's usually a session about tenure and promotion, and I like to use that time to ask about the expectations for academic output (if that wasn't covered during the session), different people's research agendas, opportunities for collaboration, etc.  Also remember that, though there's usually some overlap, you'll be meeting with lots of different people over the course of the day: it's totally okay to ask different groups the same question to see how their answers align.  This is particularly helpful when you're looking for info about organizational culture, etc.

Virtual interviews are more challenging in some ways, but the plus side is that you get to sleep in your own bed when it's over!  The big thing you'll miss is the social time that's usually built into an interview day, and the chance to explore the area if the job is out of town.  I'd recommend building some of that into your questions in less formal parts of the interview day.  When I was interviewing virtually for my current role, I asked lots of questions about the city and surrounding area, since I would be moving there without ever having visited.  I'd also recommend being prepared for tech issues (having a headset on standby if you don't normally use one, etc.) and having lots of easy-to-grab snacks on hand -- you're not going to want to cook during your lunch time, even if they leave you enough time.  I'd also recommend taking advantage of opportunities to walk away and be off-camera; I'm sure we're all very familiar with Zoom fatigue at this point, but with the high pressure of an interview situation I found that it really snuck up on me.

I hope that's helpful!  Best of luck with your interview!

Kristin Kerbavaz (she/her)
Assessment Librarian, University of Western Ontario
kkerbava@uwo.ca

------------------------------
Kristin Kerbavaz

Original Message:
Sent: May 13, 2021 01:02 PM
From: Doreen Dixon
Subject: Academic Library Interview Process

Hi everyone,

I was recently selected to participate in the final round of interviews at an academic library.  I graduated  last year and this is my first time participating in such a process. The interview day will be virtual. Do you have any tips that I can use in preparation for the day?

Thanks

------------------------------
Doreen Dixon
Hempstead Public Library
New York
She/Her/Hers
------------------------------

Hi Doreen, congratulations. If you have not had the interview yet I have two suggestions. Picking up on Kristin's suggestion, find out if they want you to give a presentation.  Most likely they will want a demonstration of your instruction skills to see how well you can teach students to search databases and use other resources. I suggest showing how to use a tool like ZetoroBib or AnyStyle. If you don't know how to use them, it is easy to learn. Even lots of librarians don't know about these tools applications. ZetoroBib is an abridged version of the Zetoro citation manager that is perfect for undergrads works on papers. 

My second suggestion is to ask about the typical learning styles and typical students at the university. I work part-time at a small university where the students tend to be shy and not ask a lot of questions. You got to draw them out and to figure out their information needs. The students at the school where you are applying could be very different. 
Either way, it will be good for you to ask the interviewers to give their thougths on the students. Let them answer questions for part of the interview.

------------------------------
Scott Hertzberg
Librarian
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: May 13, 2021 01:02 PM
From: Doreen Dixon
Subject: Academic Library Interview Process

Hi everyone,

I was recently selected to participate in the final round of interviews at an academic library.  I graduated  last year and this is my first time participating in such a process. The interview day will be virtual. Do you have any tips that I can use in preparation for the day?

Thanks

------------------------------
Doreen Dixon
Hempstead Public Library
New York
She/Her/Hers
------------------------------

Hi Scott,

I'm making a list of all the advice everyone has given me. Thank you.

------------------------------
Doreen Dixon
Hempstead Public Library
New York
She/Her/Hers
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: May 19, 2021 12:15 PM
From: Scott Hertzberg
Subject: Academic Library Interview Process

Hi Doreen, congratulations. If you have not had the interview yet I have two suggestions. Picking up on Kristin's suggestion, find out if they want you to give a presentation.  Most likely they will want a demonstration of your instruction skills to see how well you can teach students to search databases and use other resources. I suggest showing how to use a tool like ZetoroBib or AnyStyle. If you don't know how to use them, it is easy to learn. Even lots of librarians don't know about these tools applications. ZetoroBib is an abridged version of the Zetoro citation manager that is perfect for undergrads works on papers.

My second suggestion is to ask about the typical learning styles and typical students at the university. I work part-time at a small university where the students tend to be shy and not ask a lot of questions. You got to draw them out and to figure out their information needs. The students at the school where you are applying could be very different.
Either way, it will be good for you to ask the interviewers to give their thougths on the students. Let them answer questions for part of the interview.

------------------------------
Scott Hertzberg
Librarian

Original Message:
Sent: May 13, 2021 01:02 PM
From: Doreen Dixon
Subject: Academic Library Interview Process

Hi everyone,

I was recently selected to participate in the final round of interviews at an academic library.  I graduated  last year and this is my first time participating in such a process. The interview day will be virtual. Do you have any tips that I can use in preparation for the day?

Thanks

------------------------------
Doreen Dixon
Hempstead Public Library
New York
She/Her/Hers
------------------------------