Also stay current with developments and trends in the academic library literature and in academic blogs. Talk the talk and more importantly know the talk. Develop a professional vision and body of tangible achievements/projects or innovations. If you have a non-academic librarian or even academic paraprofessional position: take on and develop projects, join committees and work-groups, advance solutions and innovations up the line, ask to attend conferences, etc. These help budding librarians and future librarians develop their passions, unique talents, and innovations.

I’ve also been on a hiring committee and a cover letter with a focused, well-made case for why you want and are qualified for a position goes a long way to getting an interview. I could easily detect rote, standardized, fill in the blanks cover letters and resumes that were not tailored for the position or that didn’t make a specific case. These are miles away from cover letters and resumes that show you’ve done your research, thought it through, and make a compelling case.

Another route is one I took. Para-professional. 3 months off every summer. Invest in your life the energy you might have invested in your work.

There are so many MLIS degrees on the market that at the Univ here 90+% of ref desk hours are done by para-professional staff. This may not be the future at the best places but it may be the future at MOST places.

I will have a job opening in the Barstow College Library starting in April, pending unfortunate budget-related action by administration, but this position is one I can’t run the library without, so I trust it will be replaced (the incumbent is retiring.)

It is Library Technician 2, a staff, not faculty, position. It is full-time. Applicants MUST be able to perform MARC cataloging of books, e-materials, and DVDs. The position also involves acquisitions (lots of contact with vendors), supervising a student worker, back-end systems admin work with the OPAC, and some circulation desk work.

Obviously this is a position that would normally go to someone with experience, but I would consider a recent graduate if you can show me that you can do the cataloging.

I will also hopefully have a part-time circulation desk staff position opening up soon.

Other than that, good luck… the economy is terrible and I’m very glad and lucky that I have tenure.

I have been on numerous search committees in recent years. Tailor your letter not just to the library, as Celia says, but to the position. Why do you want this particular position? If you’re moving from being a cataloger into technology- why? And for goodness sake, look at the list of required and preferred qualifications; anything listed that isn’t on your resume needs to be addressed in your cover letter.

I think if you’re tied down to a particular geographic area due to family or other obligations, realistically you just have to be prepared for the job search to take significantly longer.

I am trying to focus on Reference jobs now, but I do sometimes send out cover letter/resume to choice cataloging positions that appeal to me. I was lucky during my first two searches to be gainfully employed with a large insurance company that I’d worked for off and on for the better part of 10 years. No such luck this time around, as that company is under a promotion and hiring freeze and can’t take me back even though they want to.
I’m giving some serious thought to getting into Law Enforcement as an alternative career as I’m not getting any younger, and I could use the steadier (and higher) paycheck and better retirement package. I also think I need a job that’s not bound to a desk all the time (the way cataloging is).

I’m very fortunate to be able to move back in with my parents after losing my latest Academic library gig. I’d be really screwed without that familial social safety net. I also kick myself for not getting School library certification on my way to earning my MLS, because I’d definitely accept a librarian gig in a High School or Middle School if I had the proper credentials. I have the teacher certification, but not the school library one, and it’d be prohibitively expensive to go back and get it now, unless a school district were willing to hire me with the understanding that I would go back and get it as soon as possible while employing me conditionally as their librarian.

I’ve applied to public libraries to but those applications go nowhere for me. I’ve never even phone-interviewed for any public library position that I’ve applied to in the past, and only seldom even received any acknowledgment that they received my application. I wonder if I’ve kind of “typecast” myself as an Academic Librarian to the extent that Public Libraries just aren’t interested in what I have to offer. I don’t know. I have a second Masters, but that’s depressingly common now.

All you can do is keep trying, but in the meantime take any b.s. office job to pay the bills. Keep thinking like an information professional and see if you can contribute to a corporate workplace by offering a better way to organize information, etc.
You gotta sell yourself at every opportunity.

It’s tough out there for everybody, even people like me with 2.5 years experience under our belts.

Thank you, thank you for the extremely helpful advice.