Is this normal? *rant*

schuette2

One of my supervisors is retiring at the end of the week, so being a small city library, management spent the last month trying to get someone into the position. Enter my coworker. He graduated in December with his MLIS, but spends most of his time trying to see just how far up the director's backside he can get - this means he's away from the reference desk, and leaves more work for those of us up front. It's common to hear the phone ringing, look up to see if he'll answer, and realize he's not there. You guessed it, he's the guy they hired to take over the new slot being made by the supervisor's retirement.

I guess my question is this: why do those who do nothing but suck up to the boss get hired into positions they have no business being in? It's infuriating, and to my knowledge, no effort was put forth to look outside the library and possibly find someone more qualified for the job. 

duckie1905

Because a lot of libraries are political places, the directors are political beings, and the winner is the one that plays the game.  And your coworker knows how to play the game.

Also, it is almost always beneficial to hire from within in a library setting.  I recently moved into my first management position (also a public librarian) and even though I was not the most qualified for the job, knowledge of the culture, programs, automation, and policies counted for a lot and is, ultimately, why I was hired over external candidates.  And, if he was the only qualified internal applicant I can see why he was hired.

schuette2

There were other qualified candidates within, he just managed to get his nose up the director's butt. And he's male - our director is known for hiring on men, whether they are qualified or not. Speculation is he's trying to even out the female/male ratio in the field, starting with our library. 

duckie1905

schuette2 said:

There were other qualified candidates within, he just managed to get his nose up the director's butt. And he's male - our director is known for hiring on men, whether they are qualified or not. Speculation is he's trying to even out the female/male ratio in the field, starting with our library. 

I wouldn't worry about that happening anytime soon-though recent studies are showing that while the librarian jobs are female dominated, a lot of administration jobs are male dominated.

At this point, you'll just have to let it go.  Your director made his choice, for better or worse.  If he's as horrible as you think it won't take your director long to find that out.  Or, maybe he's better suited to his new position and will surprise everyone.

But, I understand why you are irritated.  I've never experienced it but my husband has been passed over for jobs under similar circumstances.

schuette2

I doubt he'll notice soon - man hardly steps out of his office. My plus is that my MLIS will be more in the archiving area than librarianship, so I don't plan to stay here for the duration of my career. Thanks for letting me vent. 

Xandy417

At least you're not in Wisconsin...I have my MLIS but am currently working as a medical biller because I can't get a job in a library. Most of the libraries here post the job after they have already filled it internally. I read about librarian shortages elsewhere in the country but my DH has a good job as a computer engineer and I don't want to move somewhere else without him.

I am so afraid as each year goes by that my degree will become more and more irrelevant since I haven't even been able to get a call back.

duckie1905

Yeah, you need to get into a library right away, even if it is only volunteer.  The longer you are out of school and not working for a library, the less desirable you will become.

It is also true, the best jobs to be had in libraries are usually in smaller, more rural towns.  They drove it into our brains in graduate school (I graduated in 07) that in order to find a job, you'd have to be willing to move.  Most of my classmates are scattered throughout the country.  I'm one of the few that found a full time job in our area.

schuette2

I'm part time in a library now, but my MLIS will be in archiving. I've got an internship for archives this summer. The new librarian that took the problem child's place (as he has become known to some of us) is very sweet, and she graduated from the same college where I received my undergrad and am working on my MLIS. Silver lining.