Help Me Ace My Library Page Interview
April 17, 2017 7:33 PM Subscribe
Hi All,
After deciding to leave teaching (the only career I have ever had; straight out of college up until last June), I applied for a position as a public library page. I made it through the general online application, civil service exam, cover letter/resume submission, and I just got the call today saying HR wants to interview me in one week (I don't know yet if this is the only interview, or if there will be another one later). I really, really want this job and would love to ace the interview. Can you kind folks help?
The last times I interviewed for customer service positions were in high school (health food store) and college (children's book store). The rest of my interviews have all been for teaching jobs, with demo lessons, etc. I would love any tips you have about how to have a really successful interview. the job consists of shelving books, repairing book bindings, some routine clerical work, and interacting with patrons. I want to convey that I am really good at following directions, efficient, and that I will be warm and helpful with patrons. I imagine they may throw some scenarios with difficult patrons at me, and I am not quite sure how to answer those. Sorry for babbling on, but really any help you can give would be so very appreciated.
The last times I interviewed for customer service positions were in high school (health food store) and college (children's book store). The rest of my interviews have all been for teaching jobs, with demo lessons, etc. I would love any tips you have about how to have a really successful interview. the job consists of shelving books, repairing book bindings, some routine clerical work, and interacting with patrons. I want to convey that I am really good at following directions, efficient, and that I will be warm and helpful with patrons. I imagine they may throw some scenarios with difficult patrons at me, and I am not quite sure how to answer those. Sorry for babbling on, but really any help you can give would be so very appreciated.
Brush up on whatever shelving/classification system they use in case there's a shelving test. Think of past scenarios you can use for those 'tell me about a time when x' type questions. Familiarize yourself with the library's mission statement and maybe even strategic/long range plan, and the things they do to implement those goals and how you fit in and can help them get there. For the love of all that is holy, do NOT say you only want the job because you love to read! (But they still might ask what you like to read as an icebreaker)
You already sound like you'd be a great fit, you'll do just fine. Good luck!
posted by PaulaSchultz at 7:58 PM on April 17, 2017 [4 favorites]
You already sound like you'd be a great fit, you'll do just fine. Good luck!
posted by PaulaSchultz at 7:58 PM on April 17, 2017 [4 favorites]
Best answer: How familiar are you with library work? If you want to feel extremely prepared, familiarize yourself the management structure of this library and read through its policies.
They will want to hear that you are diligent and detail-oriented, so prepare stories about the administrative parts of your teaching duties. They'll also want to know that you can work the schedule as assigned and are plan on staying in the job for a while.
And I am sure you have stories from teaching that highlight your ability to deal with difficult situations. I would suggest you prepare anecdotes that highlight your ability to make judgment calls about policies, tactfully deescalate angry people (whether child or adult), interact constructively with coworkers, and (perhaps most importantly!) ask for help when needed.
posted by toastedcheese at 8:06 PM on April 17, 2017 [4 favorites]
They will want to hear that you are diligent and detail-oriented, so prepare stories about the administrative parts of your teaching duties. They'll also want to know that you can work the schedule as assigned and are plan on staying in the job for a while.
And I am sure you have stories from teaching that highlight your ability to deal with difficult situations. I would suggest you prepare anecdotes that highlight your ability to make judgment calls about policies, tactfully deescalate angry people (whether child or adult), interact constructively with coworkers, and (perhaps most importantly!) ask for help when needed.
posted by toastedcheese at 8:06 PM on April 17, 2017 [4 favorites]
Best answer: Go in there to have a nice conversation! Relax...Engage with the bosses while you show them that you have the experience, the temperament, and the interest to work in this position for the long haul.
You need to be able to work in teams and to problem solve when things go wrong.
Yes, you might be interviewed by more than one person.
also...
As interviewers we can only score you on what you demonstrate for us.. Show us that we should hire you with examples that show a high level of customer service, a willingness to help people, and an acknowledgement that there are boundaries to your job.
If you don't understand the question or if there are many parts to it, don't hesitate to ask for parts to be repeated.
Check their website or visit in person to take a tour through the different collections.
How are their children's collections arranged? Are there lots of special collections throughout the building?
Is their location very busy? Is it very messy?
Are there branches--and might you be assigned to other locations? Any branches that are special to you?
You don't need to remember a lot of details, with the exception of being able to sort and order using Dewey or Library of Congress. Be able to think through an issue and articulate how you would handle it/prioritize and why.
And end your response to the issue with "and I would check in with my supervisor to see if I handled that well/according to procedures."
And relax and smile!
posted by calgirl at 8:30 PM on April 17, 2017 [2 favorites]
You need to be able to work in teams and to problem solve when things go wrong.
Yes, you might be interviewed by more than one person.
also...
As interviewers we can only score you on what you demonstrate for us.. Show us that we should hire you with examples that show a high level of customer service, a willingness to help people, and an acknowledgement that there are boundaries to your job.
If you don't understand the question or if there are many parts to it, don't hesitate to ask for parts to be repeated.
Check their website or visit in person to take a tour through the different collections.
How are their children's collections arranged? Are there lots of special collections throughout the building?
Is their location very busy? Is it very messy?
Are there branches--and might you be assigned to other locations? Any branches that are special to you?
You don't need to remember a lot of details, with the exception of being able to sort and order using Dewey or Library of Congress. Be able to think through an issue and articulate how you would handle it/prioritize and why.
And end your response to the issue with "and I would check in with my supervisor to see if I handled that well/according to procedures."
And relax and smile!
posted by calgirl at 8:30 PM on April 17, 2017 [2 favorites]
Best answer: Hey, ex librarian here. Honestly with a degree and a teaching background you are pretty much ideal if not overqualified to be a page.
Weed through their website a bit figure out their catalog and some basics. Brush up on LOC or Dewey. Checking out books uses a database, so I would be sure to tie in experience you have with that.
Hopefully you are an active patron of this library or another one. I would go to this library and walk through it and take a look at their programming (kiddie reading hour, whatever events they have depending on what kind of a library this is). This would show them that you are interested in what they are doing. Don't worry about bookbinding/repair they expect to train you on that it's not hard.
It is about service and community involvement. Loving to read is great but you get to check out books either way. Good luck, we want to know how it goes!
posted by ibakecake at 12:37 AM on April 18, 2017 [2 favorites]
Weed through their website a bit figure out their catalog and some basics. Brush up on LOC or Dewey. Checking out books uses a database, so I would be sure to tie in experience you have with that.
Hopefully you are an active patron of this library or another one. I would go to this library and walk through it and take a look at their programming (kiddie reading hour, whatever events they have depending on what kind of a library this is). This would show them that you are interested in what they are doing. Don't worry about bookbinding/repair they expect to train you on that it's not hard.
It is about service and community involvement. Loving to read is great but you get to check out books either way. Good luck, we want to know how it goes!
posted by ibakecake at 12:37 AM on April 18, 2017 [2 favorites]
Best answer: The only thing I would add to the excellent suggestions above is make sure you know the library's privacy policies in terms of patron information. Some libraries are very serious about not disclosing what a patron has been reading/looking at (and in some libraries this extends to children and in some it does not) and it's probably worth giving it a once over not so you can memorize it but so that you can show that you, too, care about this stuff and will endeavor to support and promote those policies in whichever way you wind up interacting with patrons.
Understanding policies generally can help with some of the "difficult patron" questions. Knowing which sorts of patrons you can deal with on your own, who may need to be de-escalated and knowing who may need to be dealt with by someone else (a manager, security, even the police) is useful. Policies about unattended children, policies about food in the library, that sort of thing.
Other than that, having a good attention to detail and an open friendly manner and a good work ethic are the important parts here. Good luck.
posted by jessamyn at 7:03 AM on April 18, 2017
Understanding policies generally can help with some of the "difficult patron" questions. Knowing which sorts of patrons you can deal with on your own, who may need to be de-escalated and knowing who may need to be dealt with by someone else (a manager, security, even the police) is useful. Policies about unattended children, policies about food in the library, that sort of thing.
Other than that, having a good attention to detail and an open friendly manner and a good work ethic are the important parts here. Good luck.
posted by jessamyn at 7:03 AM on April 18, 2017
Best answer: Also a good idea to go to their website and familiarize yourself with their mission/vision statement and how that might apply to you and your day-to-day work. My library system is super into that stuff as well as "leading from any position". However other library systems are more about a strict hierarchy, so YMMV.
Also think about how you might deal with diversity in a customer service position--people with disabilities or mental illnesses, different cultural backgrounds, ages, languages, etc. We often talk about treating people how they would like to be treated, not how you would like to be treated.
posted by exceptinsects at 10:49 AM on April 18, 2017
Also think about how you might deal with diversity in a customer service position--people with disabilities or mental illnesses, different cultural backgrounds, ages, languages, etc. We often talk about treating people how they would like to be treated, not how you would like to be treated.
posted by exceptinsects at 10:49 AM on April 18, 2017
Response by poster: Thanks everyone. These are really helpful answers so far. I picked my top 5 branch choices, but they could place me at 1 of several branches, so it may be sort of a rabbit hole to pick a program that one branch does that I really like. I like that the main branch has a space for teens, and that the library as a whole has a "one city one book" program. There are also a lot of community programs and author talks, etc., though I have never attended any. ;/ I really really believe in public libraries giving everyone access to information, computer training, tax help, children's story times, etc.
I think I am struggling with the inevitable "Talk about a difficult situation from your last job...what was it and how did you handle it?" kind of question. I think and think and kind of draw a blank I guess? Or, also, if there are difficult/unsafe/rowdy patrons...I am sure they will ask me about that, and my issue is...I actually don't know. Like, what *am* I supposed to do? Defer to my supervisor?
posted by bookworm4125 at 4:30 PM on April 18, 2017
I think I am struggling with the inevitable "Talk about a difficult situation from your last job...what was it and how did you handle it?" kind of question. I think and think and kind of draw a blank I guess? Or, also, if there are difficult/unsafe/rowdy patrons...I am sure they will ask me about that, and my issue is...I actually don't know. Like, what *am* I supposed to do? Defer to my supervisor?
posted by bookworm4125 at 4:30 PM on April 18, 2017
Best answer: You shouldn't get asked questions that you'd need to be trained in order to answer. Honestly I'd consider it a red flag for the job and the supervisor if anything like that got asked.
I'm sure you can think of some problem you solved at your last job. That's all those "how did you handle it" questions are.
posted by fingersandtoes at 6:01 PM on April 18, 2017
I'm sure you can think of some problem you solved at your last job. That's all those "how did you handle it" questions are.
posted by fingersandtoes at 6:01 PM on April 18, 2017
Best answer: The thing you talk about being difficult doesn't have to be a job thing, it could just be a life-thing. What they want to know, usually, is that you have some problem solving capacities and are maybe a little bit flexible in how you manage difficult situations, can work with people, general stuff. They don't want to hear you telling a story about something FREAKING YOU OUT (for the most part) or a story where you talk a lot of shit about another co-worker or (worse) a patron. As a shelver, you're really not going to have a lot of final responsibility for patrons and etc besides being congenial and helpful and, in bad situations "If you see something say something" sort of things you might encounter. You won't be expected to know all the policies but probably be able to make a judgment call around "This is a situation where I should talk so a supervisor" versus "This is a situation that I can probably handle myself" things.
In some libraries, for example, there is a real differentiation between general questions (Where is the bathroom, where are your gardening books, can you point me to the graphic novels) which you could and should handle, and reference questions ("Is this a good book about XYZ topic?" "I am writing a report and I need three sources for ABC"). Maybe you get a patron who sees you in the stacks and thinks you are the person to start complaining about the cleanliness of the restrooms, what would you do? Maybe you see someone sleeping in the stacks? What would you do? Maybe you find a book that has been misshelved and you think you know who did it. What would you do? In most cases, especially with safety and security stuff, there is an established policy for resolving things with the least hassle or risk. You don't need to know what those are for a job interview but being able to respond with some "Well depending on the policy I might do this or that..." (filling in the blanks) would be useful.
posted by jessamyn at 6:01 PM on April 18, 2017
In some libraries, for example, there is a real differentiation between general questions (Where is the bathroom, where are your gardening books, can you point me to the graphic novels) which you could and should handle, and reference questions ("Is this a good book about XYZ topic?" "I am writing a report and I need three sources for ABC"). Maybe you get a patron who sees you in the stacks and thinks you are the person to start complaining about the cleanliness of the restrooms, what would you do? Maybe you see someone sleeping in the stacks? What would you do? Maybe you find a book that has been misshelved and you think you know who did it. What would you do? In most cases, especially with safety and security stuff, there is an established policy for resolving things with the least hassle or risk. You don't need to know what those are for a job interview but being able to respond with some "Well depending on the policy I might do this or that..." (filling in the blanks) would be useful.
posted by jessamyn at 6:01 PM on April 18, 2017
This may be obvious, but when I got my first paging/reshelving job in my local library (oh, so many, many years ago), they told me I was hired not because I had put the books in correct call number order during the shelving test, but because I had properly grouped them according to collection, first: Juvenile, YA, Large Print, Fiction, Non-fiction, Reference, &c.
Good luck!
posted by steef at 5:58 AM on April 19, 2017 [1 favorite]
Good luck!
posted by steef at 5:58 AM on April 19, 2017 [1 favorite]
Seconding steef-learning the collections is crucial!
posted by LaBellaStella at 6:13 PM on April 19, 2017
posted by LaBellaStella at 6:13 PM on April 19, 2017
Response by poster: Well--barring anything being weird with my fingerprints and references... I got it! The interview was what I guess you'd call a behavioral interview. I was *very* enthusiastic about the position and spoke from the heart. Thanks for all your advice; I'm so excited for my first non-teaching job since college!
posted by bookworm4125 at 9:01 PM on May 1, 2017 [2 favorites]
posted by bookworm4125 at 9:01 PM on May 1, 2017 [2 favorites]
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by kbuxton at 7:51 PM on April 17, 2017