Frustration in Finding a Librarian Job

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I am 25 year old library school graduate on the autism spectrum. I graduated from library school over a year ago and have struggled to even find a part time or full time librarian job position ever since. I currently have a job in a public library, but it is a part time assistant position and I am not crazy about the place.

I have had no problem getting interviews for positions be it part time or full time, but unlike other of my fellow graduates, I never get past the initial interview stage and got the job. I have tried everything from watching interview tips videos, tried working with my state's Rehabilitation Services program (with little help from them), and a local autism organization but I seem to be missing something in my interview style, experience, or whatever in terms of getting a job.

Are there any other people on the spectrum who work in the library field? If you succeeded in obtaining a librarian position, what advice can you give me into how I can improve. If you failed in getting a librarian position, were there any other fields you tried finding jobs in where you felt your skills could transfer over?

I work as a librarian, but it is very, very hard to get a job and keep it. It is not your fault: Libraries are suffering and the money are mostly gone. I like my current job, but I have regretted that I graduated in a field with so few jobs left.

You are doing the right things: You have a starter job, and you are trying as hard as you can to prepare yourself for the interviews. Getting a job interview is always a win - it is only a matter of time before you are hired somewhere.

When I graduated, I applied for jobs in public libraries and didn't get any jobs at all. Only a small assistant job like yours. I started applying for jobs in larger companies, and I got hired in a large pharmaceutical company. I did some archiving and some publishing (i.e. preparing documentation, created table of contents and other indexing).

All of this happened in Denmark, and there is probably a big difference between the economy in your country and mine. But I hope it helps you somehow.

To give you some advice on the job interview, I would say that you need to be yourself. Don't try to mimic a personality that isn't yours - and remember, as long as you are getting the interviews, there is little to worry about.

What kind of library jobs do you want?

Hi ok, your experiences in Denmark sound very similar to mine.

I am pretty much trying to get any sort of library job, but my dream would be working as a reference and instruction librarian in a college library. I did work as a student assistant at my undergrad library, and even interned at a culinary college library for my graduate program. I did interview with the same university I interned at but did not get the position, and they were kind of vague as to why they didn't hire me despite developing what I thought was a good relationship with them.

I think my problem with interviews is that I am naturally pretty shy and am stiff on first impressions. I have tried to work on vocal variety, and trying to let my sense of humor come out though so hopefully something does come down the pike.

Pineapplejuicex,

I have looked at applying for information technician jobs for colleges, and have applied for different research positions. I did apply for a research analyst position for a city government but have yet to hear anything from them the past couple months.

Currently in more or less the same predicament: I've just graduated with an MSc in librarianship and also have plenty of volunteering experience in libraries (which helped to get on the course in the first place), but have struggled to find paid work for so long that I seriously doubt it'll happen anytime soon. People with AS are always going to be at more of a disadvantage at the interview stage than NTs and unfortunately interviewers often prefer "people skills" to the actual work skills you'll be able to offer. The only fail-safe thing I can recommend is to try and keep yourself "active" in your field while awaiting paid employment whether it's volunteering or just reading up loads on your field of work, so you can wow interviewers when the time comes and give yourself a chance to be equally considered alongside everyone else.

Hi gee_dee,

I feel the same way as you do. I'm even starting to wonder if I should try to find a different career path than librarianship. I did volunteer at a historical society which had some similar work to being in a library and I have always loved history. I have joined some library organizations based on feedback I got from one interview. It just always seems like something is missing for me in the interview stage whether it is social skills or experience. I can always gain more experience in working in my assistant job at in volunteering, but social skills will always be a struggle.

You can always try and do the information specialist career path - it's probably harder to get the job, but if you apply in a research-heavy company (like a pharmaceutical company or some other industrial thing) you can work with indexing or professional information retrieval and searching - check out this link to a job, that could be good for a librarian: http://www.novonordisk.com/content/Denm ... ernal.html (the job is in Denmark, but you get the idea - working with documentation of some sort)

Ok,

That idea sounds pretty good. I have applied for jobs in law firms or research companies in the past. Perhaps if I keep plugging along, something will come.

First, is your Master's from a school accredited by the American Library Association? If not, forget about ever being a librarian. With the ALA, it is a situation of the inmates running the asylum (I speak from bitter experience, since my master's came from a non-accredited school.)

Also, do you have a master's degree in a different subject? This is absolutely essential, especially if you're looking for work at the college or university level. Unless you have the ALA-accredited master's, plus the second subject master's degree, you're a non-person, in the eyes of the ALA and whatever institution of higher Ed. You'd be better off delivering pizza, if that's the case.

Meistersinger,

1.) I hear you about the ALA. Fortunately, I did attend an ALA-accredited institution so that part is good.

2.) I do not have a master's in another subject. I have thought about going to my undergrad school and get either a certificate in public history, or go for a Master's in History but haven't mostly out of fear of having to pay another student loan.

I have been getting interviews at college and public libraries, I think my biggest problem is just getting past the interview stage, for which I have been working with a job coach who has knowledge of working with people on the spectrum. I have talked to other non-spectrum librarians as well who have also found the same difficulty in getting positions right away, so hopefully I can bridge enough of a social gap in getting past the interview.