Master in library and information employment chances

raher1

Has anyone found work by doing this course?

Weepsie

I know people who have finished in the last year and are working, they in fact had found jobs before finishing the course. They're only on 1 year contracts i believe, but they also had some good experience behind them though.

raher1

Is that with the government intern scheme?

Weepsie

No, but it's just at the moment contract positions are what's mostly available. I have noticed a couple of permanent positions but it's mostly contract work.

raher1

I'm not sure,do you need a passion for it.i have major doubts.

Pistachios & cream

I graduated from this course 2 years ago. At the time I started the course you were almost guaranteed employment from it but that was before the economy exploded.
Since then work has been sporadic at best. There are usually a few graduate trainee jobs available but only about 10 to 15 at most and there were nearly a 100 in my class. These arent well paid. The best one is about €22000 but most are around €17000. I know a lot of people I graduated with have not got a librarian job out of it. And many haven't even got a library related job.

In my first year graduating I didn't even get interviews for librarian jobs. After a graduate trainee job I do get interviews but competition is tough for jobs. Lots of libraries had to let go staff and all the public libraries have a recruitment freeze!

I'm still trying for work in it as I love the job. But if you are thinking of doing the course with an eye to guaranteed employment I wouldn't do it.

You might be better off spending the year you would have spent studying doing a good internship in a large company. I know the company my boyfriend works for offer then and often take people on as staff at the end if they worked well.

I hope this helps if you have any other questions il try and answer them for you.

Chinafoot

ahayes84 wrote: »

I know a lot of people I graduated with have not got a librarian job out of it.

The qualification is a necessity for a librarian position but experience will always be the deciding factor. Unless those you qualified with have years of library experience behind them there is almost zero chance of them getting a librarian post.

Unfortunately OP, if it is public libraries you are considering, there is very little chance of employment. The qualification will not even guarantee you a library assistant position and with the recruitment embargo firmly in place things will not be moving for the forseeable future. When things do improve you will be in competition with those who are not only qualified but who have been in library assistant and senior library assistant positions for years. The chances of a graduate with very little experience getting a librarian post in those circumstances is non-existant.

I wish it was different because, as the above poster has said, the libraries are losing staff through retirement, maternity leave and career breaks with nobody there to replace them. We could really do with some new people in the service.

You say you're having major doubts...have you any experience of library work or is it just something that appealed to you? If it's the latter I would seriously suggest you give this considerable thought before you take it on. The job is often not what people think it is. The money is very low and promotions are very hard to come by, and not just in recent years either.

parker kent

It depends on the positions that become available. If there are niche libraries (say a school library for example) and you manage to get work experience for 9 months in a school, you will have some hope of getting a position as a librarian. I know of people that are school librarians without years of experience. A younger person may suit that sort of library too for various reasons. But again that type of position is definitely the exception, not the norm.

It is not completely without hope, but the odds are stacked against somebody without a few years experience. It is a pity as fresh blood is important to any sector.

Chinafoot

parker kent wrote: »

It depends on the positions that become available. If there are niche libraries (say a school library for example) and you manage to get work experience for 9 months in a school, you will have some hope of getting a position as a librarian.

At the moment, even for positions like this, you will be in competition with people who are currently qualified and employed in library assistant and senior library assistant positions in the public service. There is literally nowhere for us to go so librarian positions in schools are jumped at. We lost 2 library assistants last year to school libraries. They had a minimum of 4 years experience. Friends in other local authorites have told me that they have also lost library assistants to school libraries last year.

You have a far greater chance of getting somewhere if you are already working in the library service. There are so many people who are qualified and getting qualified that already have years behind them; a graduate with little experience really has very little chance.

parker kent

Chinafoot wrote: »

At the moment, even for positions like this, you will be in competition with people who are currently qualified and employed in library assistant and senior library assistant positions in the public service.

In fairness, I did already say it would be one of the only positions where there would be some hope. And I really emphasize the word some, as it is extremely limited.

But limited is not entirely without hope. For example I have a friend with less than 6 months library assistant experience and a 9 month WPP in a school who then went on to work in a school library. The WPP gave the specific experience required for the job. To me, that is the minimum amount required and it was a special case. Something like a school in the JCSP scheme may actually prefer a new perspective for various reason. But like I said, the odds are stacked against somebody without a few years experience.

Chinafoot

Well given that the OP is having doubts about whether or not to embark on this course and is asking, I would assume, for realistic job prospects I think it is far more pertinent to give them an idea of what is actually going on in the sector.

Given that I work in the sector at the moment, and have done for the last 5 years, you'll have to forgive me if I think I'm a little more qualified than you are to offer such advice.

parker kent

Chinafoot wrote: »

Well given that the OP is having doubts about whether or not to embark on this course and is asking, I would assume, for realistic job prospects I think it is far more pertinent to give them an idea of what is actually going on in the sector.

Given that I work in the sector at the moment, and have done for the last 5 years, you'll have to forgive me if I think I'm a little more qualified than you are to offer such advice.

There's no need for such an attitude. My post said pretty much the same as the others in the thread. I said it will be difficult. I did give an example of one small niche, area where recent graduates may have greater hope, but that is hardly saying jobs are plentiful or giving an unrealistic view of the sector. You could say it is the exception that proves the rule. Hence my sentence saying:

It is not completely without hope, but the odds are stacked against somebody without a few years experience.

It is not completely without hope if you manage to get the right experience and the right job. The past few years has seen recent graduates with under a years experience (i.e. 9 months in a WPP) get positions with the job title of "Librarian". I don't care what you like to think. But (and I did clearly state this twice already) such cases are extremely, extremely limited. So please try and reply to what I actually say instead of deciding you don't like it because I wrote it. I don't have to validate my posts here or "prove" that I'm speaking from experience.

parker kent

Just to add to that, OP you really need to consider why you want to do an MLIS. You have to be 100% sure that working as an information professional or librarian is the path for you. If libraries are your focus, be prepared to face unemployment, volunteering, work placements, internships etc.

Be prepared for a situation where there are 100 or more people applying for every position that becomes available. You are not just competing with class mates for a job, you are competing with graduates from the past number of years, with library assistants, with librarians etc. ahayes84 covered the typical experience of a recent graduate and you need to be prepared for that situation. It is not impossible to find a role, but for every person that gets a position as a librarian, there will be countless others that are unlucky. Luck really does play a part as sometimes you are just the right person in the right place (the school library example is one such example). The level of work experience you have is crucial and even then, you may still not find a role. There are experienced librarians currently unemployed, so that in itself is a sign of the times.

Unfortunately MLIS graduates (as are most graduates) are faced with these bleak prospects. Many recent graduates have left Ireland, others have gone to further study. I would also emphasize that the Masters is about more than just libraries. It is a masters in library AND information studies. Now most people on the course see it as a "library masters", but there are other aspects to the course. It does open up other career paths as an information professional.

I don't take back my earlier point, it is not completely and utterly without hope, but jobs are few and far between. Positions as a librarian are extremely scarce and it is only a small amount of recent graduates that have positions as librarians. But it should be said that there are some and if they did not already have significant work experience, they seem to typically have gone the Fas WPP route and found a paying position as a librarian afterwards. That is my own and my friends experience anyway.

If you haven't already, I would take a look at this thread for more opinions/views from recent grads, prospective students etc: https://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055789722

The last thing I'll say is that it helps to really have a passion for libraries and for providing a service. It takes effort and perseverance to be successful afterwards. You need to be prepared to face knockdowns, challenges, set-backs, hardship, lack of money etc.

raher1

I am not applying for the course or pursuing a career either,it's not for me. I enjoy libraries as a place to go but not work.:)