Following on from my last post I had a job interview for the position of School Librarian at a mixed Grammar School recently. Here's the process and the sorts of questions I was asked as part of my interview.
Firstly, I had a tour of the school led by three year eight pupils. This was a good opportunity to ask them any questions about the librarian, the school and anything else relevant. They were fairly chatty, and probably happy to be skipping lessons. This was about 20 minutes long.
I then had my interview. This was given by the Head of English and the Vice Principal of the school and lasted roughly 15-20 minutes. I really should have written down what they asked me but various questions that come to mind include:
- A group of year nine boys are being disruptive in the library, how would you handle the situation? What would you do if they started to undermine your authority?
- What made you apply for the role? Tell us about yourself.
- How would you promote the library, or an event/it's services? Beyond 'lots of posters'.
- How would you entice a group of young teenage boys who do not read for pleasure to use the library?
- [Typical safeguarding question] What would you do if a student came and told you something in confidence.
- Are you still a candidate for the job? (As in...do I still want it? Well duh, if I turned up, surely!)
Lastly I had to lead a book group session. This was observed by an English teacher and the Librarian. I was only told that six children would bring their own books to talk about and I would have to lead a discussion on three things:
'The value of reading'
'What makes a good book'
'Age ranges/suitability'
I had no idea how old these children would be, or how long I was supposed to go on for. I planned something that I hoped I could adapt last minute for age ranges and something in case the kids I got were all super quiet (which they were). The kids ended up being a mix of boys and girls from year eight and I tried to keep it going for about 15 minutes, however I lost track of the time in the end. I don't think I did terribly, but this was definitely my weakest section, despite running book clubs in the past for high schoolers.
Sadly I didn't get the job, however I was by far the youngest there and my feedback was mainly that I needed more years of experience. Le sigh. I hope someone out there finds this useful.
Over and out.
Monday 22 June 2015
Tuesday 2 June 2015
Library Assistant interview questions
Quick Tuesday post!
So this morning I had an interview. It's the first interview for a library related job I've had since starting my course, for a part time library assistant position at a small public library. I just thought I'd share the questions that I was asked, a) to help me remember for the future and b) to help anyone else out there prepare for a similar interview. I had three people interviewing me, and overall the interview lasted about 30-40 minutes.
*I can't remember the order that I was asked these questions, nor can I remember exactly how they were worded so bear with me on the dodgy grammar here*
How do you like to feel when you come to work in the morning? (This threw me a little, I hadn't prepared for this!)
Can you give some examples of good teamwork you've been a part of in a previous role? What are good teamwork skills?
What do you think are important qualities for a library assistant today? Has the role changed?
How would you suggest a book to someone? [Then after this] How would you suggest a book to someone if a person were looking for a book from a genre you weren't familiar with. What resources would you use?
What do you know about [the library where the role was based]? What services do we offer? Who do we work with?
How would you approach leading a rhyme time session for pre-schoolers?
How would you handle an unhappy library user?
Give an example of a book you read and really enjoyed.
Talk about this years summer reading challenge theme (I was asked to research this in the email that offered me the interview, so could prepare for this).
How do you like to feel at the end of a working day?
And at the end they asked if I had any questions and I had a couple prepared so I didn't do the "ermmmmmm, not really" that I usually do.
And that's all I can remember! There was probably others, but that's all I could dredge from my relieved brain on the train home. I will hear whether or not I was successful tomorrow. For now,
Over and out.
So this morning I had an interview. It's the first interview for a library related job I've had since starting my course, for a part time library assistant position at a small public library. I just thought I'd share the questions that I was asked, a) to help me remember for the future and b) to help anyone else out there prepare for a similar interview. I had three people interviewing me, and overall the interview lasted about 30-40 minutes.
*I can't remember the order that I was asked these questions, nor can I remember exactly how they were worded so bear with me on the dodgy grammar here*
How do you like to feel when you come to work in the morning? (This threw me a little, I hadn't prepared for this!)
Can you give some examples of good teamwork you've been a part of in a previous role? What are good teamwork skills?
What do you think are important qualities for a library assistant today? Has the role changed?
How would you suggest a book to someone? [Then after this] How would you suggest a book to someone if a person were looking for a book from a genre you weren't familiar with. What resources would you use?
What do you know about [the library where the role was based]? What services do we offer? Who do we work with?
How would you approach leading a rhyme time session for pre-schoolers?
How would you handle an unhappy library user?
Give an example of a book you read and really enjoyed.
Talk about this years summer reading challenge theme (I was asked to research this in the email that offered me the interview, so could prepare for this).
How do you like to feel at the end of a working day?
And at the end they asked if I had any questions and I had a couple prepared so I didn't do the "ermmmmmm, not really" that I usually do.
And that's all I can remember! There was probably others, but that's all I could dredge from my relieved brain on the train home. I will hear whether or not I was successful tomorrow. For now,
Over and out.
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