SPEC Kit 344: Talent Management · 23
Salary was having a negative impact on librarian recruitment, so we now have a candid conversation with candidates
before phone or campus interviews about the salary range. This has been less of an issue with staff recruitment because
salary ranges are listed in job postings.
We have not measured the impact of recruitment strategies and/or local circumstances with sufficient detail to answer
this question. We can make general statements—our salary range is not a barrier to recruitment and that the cost of
living is high—but not about the impact of specific actions.
5. Please indicate the level of success your library has had recruiting staff who have the following
skill sets on a scale of 1 to 5 where 1=Not at all successful and 5=Very successful. Select N/A if your
library has not recruited for a particular skill set. Please make one selection per row. N=51
Skill Sets 1 Not at all
successful
2 3
Successful
4 5 Very
successful
N/A N
Subject expertise (e.g., Chemistry) 0 2 18 15 16 0 51
Information technology expertise 1 8 18 18 6 0 51
Language expertise 0 6 15 13 6 11 51
Senior management/executive expertise (e.g.,
director/university librarians, associate and/or
assistant directors/university librarians)
2 7 12 12 12 5 50
Functional expertise (e.g., copyright expertise) 0 4 12 18 10 5 49
Other skill set 0 2 0 1 0 2 5
Total Responses 2 22 38 37 27 18 51
If you selected “Other skill set” above, please briefly describe the skill set(s). N=2
Area studies expertise, which includes familiarity with foreign publishers and institutions.
Middle managers: those positions that are department head positions are hard to recruit externally. Fewer people who
have some experience and are ready for leadership want to pick up and move. We recently had a very difficult time
recruiting for a Head of Research Services and reorganized slightly and promoted internally.
Comments N=5
Easy to find subject/functional expertise to fill Librarian I and II positions tougher for Librarian IV and AUL positions.
Language expertise varies as a factor, e.g., we have had difficulty attracting candidates with Hawaiian and Japanese
language expertise, but other languages do not seem to be a problem.
Success in IT, subjects (Science &Engineering), and functional areas is greater with early-career positions. We use our
post-MLS residency programs to recruit specifically for those skills. Recruiting mid-career librarians with those skill sets is
more difficult.
We are eventually successful at most of these categories but not always the first time around.
We still require a high degree of language expertise especially in area studies and this is very difficult to find.
Salary was having a negative impact on librarian recruitment, so we now have a candid conversation with candidates
before phone or campus interviews about the salary range. This has been less of an issue with staff recruitment because
salary ranges are listed in job postings.
We have not measured the impact of recruitment strategies and/or local circumstances with sufficient detail to answer
this question. We can make general statements—our salary range is not a barrier to recruitment and that the cost of
living is high—but not about the impact of specific actions.
5. Please indicate the level of success your library has had recruiting staff who have the following
skill sets on a scale of 1 to 5 where 1=Not at all successful and 5=Very successful. Select N/A if your
library has not recruited for a particular skill set. Please make one selection per row. N=51
Skill Sets 1 Not at all
successful
2 3
Successful
4 5 Very
successful
N/A N
Subject expertise (e.g., Chemistry) 0 2 18 15 16 0 51
Information technology expertise 1 8 18 18 6 0 51
Language expertise 0 6 15 13 6 11 51
Senior management/executive expertise (e.g.,
director/university librarians, associate and/or
assistant directors/university librarians)
2 7 12 12 12 5 50
Functional expertise (e.g., copyright expertise) 0 4 12 18 10 5 49
Other skill set 0 2 0 1 0 2 5
Total Responses 2 22 38 37 27 18 51
If you selected “Other skill set” above, please briefly describe the skill set(s). N=2
Area studies expertise, which includes familiarity with foreign publishers and institutions.
Middle managers: those positions that are department head positions are hard to recruit externally. Fewer people who
have some experience and are ready for leadership want to pick up and move. We recently had a very difficult time
recruiting for a Head of Research Services and reorganized slightly and promoted internally.
Comments N=5
Easy to find subject/functional expertise to fill Librarian I and II positions tougher for Librarian IV and AUL positions.
Language expertise varies as a factor, e.g., we have had difficulty attracting candidates with Hawaiian and Japanese
language expertise, but other languages do not seem to be a problem.
Success in IT, subjects (Science &Engineering), and functional areas is greater with early-career positions. We use our
post-MLS residency programs to recruit specifically for those skills. Recruiting mid-career librarians with those skill sets is
more difficult.
We are eventually successful at most of these categories but not always the first time around.
We still require a high degree of language expertise especially in area studies and this is very difficult to find.
