privilege in the library job search process

85th chat, Tuesday July 11 2017: privilege in the library job search process
6pm Pacific / 7pm Mountain / 8pm Central / 9pm Eastern

Jargon/concepts/shorthand to know ahead of time:

MPOW = “my place of work”
FPOW = “former place of work”
CV = “curriculum vitae”; these are frequently required for academic library positions in place of a resume.
cover letter = document to accompany to resume/CV that speaks to specific parts of the job listing.
job talk = also known as a “candidate presentation,” this is a common part of the interview process in which the person interviewing has to give a presentation to a room full of people.

Suggested readings:

Berlant, Lauren. (2006). “Cruel Optimism.” Differences, 17(3): 20-36. http://differences.dukejournals.org/content/17/3/20.full.pdf
Galvan, Angela. (2015). “Soliciting Performance, Hiding Bias: Whiteness and Librarianship.” In the Library with the Lead Pipe. http://www.inthelibrarywiththeleadpipe.org/2015/soliciting-performance-hiding-bias-whiteness-and-librarianship/
Rios, Carmen. “You Call It Professionalism; I call It Oppression in a Three-Piece Suit.” everyday feminism. http://everydayfeminism.com/2015/02/professionalism-and-oppression/

Discussion questions:

Q1. How does the library job search process and hiring for “fit” reinforce hegemonic cultural expectations? #critlib
Q2. What should search committees/hiring authorities be doing differently when recruiting, interviewing, & hiring library workers? #critlib
Q3. Job searching involves lots of emotions. How can we address them in a healthy way, esp. given pessimism in the larger field? #critlib
Q4. What can experienced library workers do to help job seekers with less library experience? #critlib
Q5. If you started a new job in the last year, what advice can you offer job seekers looking for their first position? #critlib