We have been working really hard to create our new EDC Network aimed at Early Career Librarians, including Library Students.
EARLL are offering a mock interview scheme, which will allow you to attend a practice interview for a role of your choice, with a panel of experienced interviewers.
How it will work:
Fill in our Contact Form and let us know what position you would like to interview for e.g. you might choose a ‘Collections Library Assistant’ post. The EARLL team will then match you with an appropriate interview panel which will ideally include two experienced professionals from the chosen division, e.g. Collections division, plus one EARLL committee member.
In the event that we cannot match an interviewer from your chosen division, we will select professionals with similar career backgrounds and knowledge.
The interviews will take place either during core working hours or during evenings + weekends, at a time most convenient for the volunteer interviewers. Please do specify your preference for availability in your form and we will try to accommodate.
Interviews will likely be an hour in length, and interviews taking place in the Autumn term will be virtual. We hope to be able to facilitate face-to-face interviews in person either later this yer, or in 2023.
You will be provided with a mock Job Description or Personal Specification document for the role you have chosen. You will not be expected to write an application, but you can utilise these mock documents, to prepare for your interview questions.
After the interview has taken place, the panel will convene and make a decision on your outcome for the role. We commit to providing you with substantial feedback, created jointly by the panel members, and a member of the EARLL group will email you with the feedback.
You are more than welcome to sign up for another practice interview in the following term if you choose.
The aim of this scheme is to provide invaluable interview experience towards the start of your library career and to allow you to become better prepared for the interview process. Having all started out with limited or no recruitment experience in the library sector, the EARLL committee feel passionate about providing these opportunities for other early career librarians. Having limited knowledge of library interview questions and little interview experience places unfortunate barriers in the sector. EARLL want to change this. We warmly wish you all the best with your interview.
Dani (EDC Coordinator & Comms Manager)
