As us MLIS holders keep banging on the doors that the full time jobs are locked behind, I can't help be amazed and some of the job posts I see, and can't help but wonder how on earth they could ever be filled. What kinds of jobs do I see when looking over library job sites? Here are some fun examples:
Due Diligence Analyst (IL).
I read the job description for this position and I still have no idea what they do. But putting that aside, I'd love to know how many people went to library school in hopes of one day working as a Due Diligence Analyst. If you're one of them, please tell me what you do in much simpler terms than I saw.
Product Coordinator- Reading Glasses (RI)
OK, I'm going to assume that this just made it onto a library job site completely by mistake, I don't think it's even supposed to be related in any way.
Bilingual Vietnamese Access Services Assistant (OR)
Seriously, who gets this job? "Do you have an MLIS? Do you have experience in access services? Do you live in OR, or are willing to move there? Do you also speak fluent Vietnamese? Well then, it's your lucky fucking day. Because if you have the qualifications to apply for this job, you're the only one! Just show up to an interview, pants optional, and the job is yours!" I would love to meet the person who got made fun of all through school because they studied for an MLIS and learned Vietnamese in the hopes of finding this exact job someday, and then it actually ended up paying off. I would laugh and laugh and laugh.
These are of course oddball examples, but it's actually extremely common to see jobs that want you to have a second Master's degree, often in the hard sciences. Yeah, I have a Master's in engineering, but now I'm going to spend the time and money on another Master's so I can go from being an engineer to being a librarian, because... I don't deserve to be happy.
These are the jobs I see when looking for employment. Jobs I don't see: "Reference," without a bunch of stuff like "programming" and "children's lit" tacked onto it. I'm pretty sure that used to be a thing, back before my ill fated graduation year of 2008. I don't think they'll ever exist again.
