Hi,

I'm currently a public reference librarian looking for a job as a reference/instruction librarian at an academic library. I'm also looking to relocate to a location out of state where we can be closer to my husbands family (we live in Oklahoma, looking to move to Central New York). I was recently asked to interview for a position very close to the area we want to move to. The job is exactly the kind of position I'm looking for. However, I was a little taken aback when they asked me for an in person interview and then told me I would have to pay my own way. In the past, I was always used to doing a phone interview first. They want me to do a presentation which obviously would require my presence but I'm just curious, is this the norm for academic positions now?

Because, oddly enough I was called for another interview today for a position in-state and they also wanted me to come for an in person interview and do a presentation this Friday. I had to turn them down simply because it created a schedule conflict (I have no vacation time left...I used it all for the upcoming interview in New York which is in a few weeks) and other random reasons like I simply didn't feel like I had time to come up with a presentation in such short notice.

Which brings me to my next question. I wondered whether those of you looking for positions as reference/instructors at academic libraries already have a presentation handy for situations like this. I got to thinking later that maybe that's what I need to do. Just choose any topic that concerns reference, information literacy, etc. and do a mock presentation instruction (something which I already did for my information literacy class so I can just tweak it some). I ask simply because I would have been able to feel more prepared for the possible interview this Friday if I had something like that to work with because it was a little hard to know what to come up with when I just had two days and they didn't provide any guidelines, they just told me to do it over anything concerning reference instruction or the digitization of special collections/archives (because the job included both). I still work full time at my current job and I'm a mom...and need a little more time to prepare these things so have something on hand would be good but I just don't know what exactly. Has anyone done this or have any suggestions?

In my recent experience(s) while every academic interview process/committee requested that I do some sort of presentation. These ran the gamut from 30 minute detailed presentations in front of large groups (librarians and administrators) , to smaller presentations in front of just librarian (both were pre-suggested topics) to a rather off-the-cuff/informal request for me to present for five minutes on "anything library related." In all cases I got the sense that instead of seeing a polish presentation with all the bells and whistles (not that those hurt) what the committee was more interested in was how I handled myself during the presentation - that is a solid grasp of the topic - and after. The after. or Q&A, is really a great place to show that you can 1) think on your feet and 2) have a positive, upbeat personality. Ostensibly those are two qualities any academic librarians needs/should have.

So, long answer short, feel free to prepare a "stock" presentation. You may never get to use it, or you might. If you don't at least you've gone through the process and hopefully learned something about a new area of librarianship (which you can interject into the standard interview).

As far as having to pay your way to the interview; again I've had it both ways. If you're looking in Central NY however and it's a state school be prepared to pay. Massive budget cuts both in the state and state academic system make it so.

Good luck!

Thank you all for your responses. I tried to negotiate more time with the search committee leader on the phone but they definitely wanted it by Friday. I guess their crunched on time and needed someone by the time school starts (which is usually around late August here). I did just receive the guidelines for the position in Central NY and it was much more defined and I still have two weeks to prepare. They've given me access to their databases so I can use them in the presentation. This is a little more of what I expected from an interview at an academic library. I think the other one just caught me off guard. Rather than coming across as not wanting to limit my imagination, they came across more like an organization that didn't really seem to know what they wanted in the position I was applying for. Looking back I should have just said that I would do a mock instruction of some sort and left it at that. But still, I felt two days was just an unfair time frame to have to do complete the task with "120% effort".

Thanks again. :-)