UK employment with Canadian Librarian skills
March 13, 2025 6:25 AM Subscribe
Does anyone have any tips and tricks for looking for work around Manchester - currently searching online but will be in person later this year.
I had planned to work in the UK as a Librarian 15 years ago and read my Masters in the UK with that goal. However the Library sector collapsed while I was in school and I remained in Canada (dual UK/Can citizen). I am now seriously considering moving my family to the UK this summer as one of my children will be attending school there. I can float about a year or two without employment, but I would prefer to be employed, recognizing it will probably not be in libraries. I am looking specifically at Manchester/North Yorkshire but I don’t know how job searching occurs in the UK. What is the labour market like? I am not much of an entrepreneur but I would also consider starting a business as I will have pension income of about $50,000/£26,000 a year (early retirement package in my 50’s).
I had planned to work in the UK as a Librarian 15 years ago and read my Masters in the UK with that goal. However the Library sector collapsed while I was in school and I remained in Canada (dual UK/Can citizen). I am now seriously considering moving my family to the UK this summer as one of my children will be attending school there. I can float about a year or two without employment, but I would prefer to be employed, recognizing it will probably not be in libraries. I am looking specifically at Manchester/North Yorkshire but I don’t know how job searching occurs in the UK. What is the labour market like? I am not much of an entrepreneur but I would also consider starting a business as I will have pension income of about $50,000/£26,000 a year (early retirement package in my 50’s).
Finding the right job to apply to is the hardest part - that won't really change when you move unless you want retail/hospitality which is where local boots on the ground would help - just go into anywhere that looks good to you and ask about vacancies.
Sounds like you want a professional job though, so I'd say you should avoid Reed like the plague and go to Guardian Jobs for professional roles outside of academia, and Jobs.ac.uk for academic roles. You might also be really a good fit for schools, of which most secondary schools would have dedicated library staff but you would need to identify and apply to the school itself in my experience.
If you're not sure exactly where you will be, most sites let you set a location and a radius.
The labour market can be very patchy I would say - but outside of December/January things are usually moving to some extent. School recruitment will mainly be over Easter or most likely the summer. Job centres are about applying for benefits!
posted by london explorer girl at 7:43 AM on March 13 [1 favorite]
Sounds like you want a professional job though, so I'd say you should avoid Reed like the plague and go to Guardian Jobs for professional roles outside of academia, and Jobs.ac.uk for academic roles. You might also be really a good fit for schools, of which most secondary schools would have dedicated library staff but you would need to identify and apply to the school itself in my experience.
If you're not sure exactly where you will be, most sites let you set a location and a radius.
The labour market can be very patchy I would say - but outside of December/January things are usually moving to some extent. School recruitment will mainly be over Easter or most likely the summer. Job centres are about applying for benefits!
posted by london explorer girl at 7:43 AM on March 13 [1 favorite]
Many public sector organisations won't pay to advertise on Guardian unless they're recruiting something difficult to fill.
This is a website for local government jobs in and around Greater Manchester: https://www.greater.jobs/.
This is the website for central government jobs: https://www.civilservicejobs.service.gov.uk/csr/index.cgi
posted by plonkee at 11:04 AM on March 13 [2 favorites]
This is a website for local government jobs in and around Greater Manchester: https://www.greater.jobs/.
This is the website for central government jobs: https://www.civilservicejobs.service.gov.uk/csr/index.cgi
posted by plonkee at 11:04 AM on March 13 [2 favorites]
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Right now? Not great. I know people currently job hunting in similar sectors (arts/charities/social care) and there aren't a lot of jobs out there, and the ones that are there are reluctant to pay a living wage. You might struggle to find very much outside of London -- I just quickly checked on Google and found four jobs listed as library work in/around Manchester. You may get more luck if you look for jobs within schools and universities.
£26k a year will be enough to sustain yourself, but not much to live on, especially if you're also supporting a family and paying rent or you want to own a car. Don't expect to be able to do much more than pay the bills and you'll find it hard to save. You will definitely have to get a part-time job at least.
In terms of where to look, I would use the Guardian website and maybe arts jobs for archive related work, along with Indeed and Linkedin.
posted by fight or flight at 7:38 AM on March 13 [1 favorite]