Comments on: An MLS and Food Stamps?

By: Sheryl Kron Rhodes

Sheryl Kron Rhodes — Sat, 19 May 2012 23:40:20 +0000

I received my MLS last spring, just over a year ago. During the last year I worked as an intern in an academic library for one semester & was employed as a reference/instruction librarian for a semester, but wasn’t kept on because of budgetary reasons…even though my salary for the entire semester was less than the cost of the computer set-up for the assistant to the director of a technical program in the library.

I also have an MA in communications & nearly 20 years of work experience as an editor. I can design & teach classes (I was a TA in public speaking while earning my MA). I’m conversant in another language. I can write clearly & well, thanks for a technical writing class. I’m familiar w/Word & PowerPoint & have no trouble navigating the Web. I’m organized, type very well, am responsible, etc. etc. etc. I cannot get an admin’s job of any kind because I don’t have enough experience in the various software packages that admins have to have these days, & even if I did, I have too much education for any employer to be interested in hiring me as an admin (as I’ve been told).

I’m considering taking classes in software packages, but honestly, why should I throw more money away on education that doesn’t stand much chance of getting used? After burning through a third of my savings to put myself through library school, the idea of wasting more money on schooling has pretty low appeal.

By: not a hipster librarian

not a hipster librarian — Wed, 16 May 2012 22:09:12 +0000

Where I went to school, all of the jobs I listed are liberal arts degrees. I would argue that being a librarian isn’t one specific job: there are a variety of different library jobs — reference, cataloging, outreach, management — in a variety of library settings — academic, school, public, private.

By: me

me — Wed, 16 May 2012 19:56:04 +0000

Where I went to college and graduate school, Human Resources is considered a professional degree (considering that is exactly what it is). Additionally Dance was considered a BFA. Communication studies and Mass Communications prepare you for TV, Print (Journalism is typically considered communications), Radio, Internet, etc. None of these, aside from HR (which is a professional degree) prepares you for one specific job. Such as being a librarian.

By: not a hipster librarian

not a hipster librarian — Wed, 16 May 2012 14:55:59 +0000

A few examples of liberal arts degrees that gear you to specific jobs: communication studies, dance, human resources, journalism and mass communications.

By: Hank Rearden

Hank Rearden — Wed, 16 May 2012 03:29:59 +0000

I fully agree, Dagny.

I am grooming my daughter for a future in science and engineering. She loves to read all types books; however, she raids the 500s and 600s (DDC) at the library. Regardless of her career choice, I want her to get this type of education. She can always opt for secretarial work if that’s what she wants to do later. The converse is not true.

By: Dagny Taggart

Dagny Taggart — Tue, 15 May 2012 22:04:02 +0000

It seems that engineering PhDs run the world, and the humanities PhDs “comment” upon the formers’ management style.

By: Penny

Penny — Tue, 15 May 2012 00:59:28 +0000

You are correct that it is not always easy for a PhD to get a job. You would not believe how many applications I receive for either entry level librarian positions or library assistant positions, and the person has multiple masters degrees as well as a PhD. These are people that for whatever reason have never held a full time 40 hour a week job. They have gone right from undergrad to an MA/MS program (again, sometimes more than once) to a PhD program. They have no track record of work history; all their references come from their professors or their academic advisors-no one who can tell me if this person came to work day in, day out and actually did the work they were being paid to do under a variety of conditions (such a budget cuts, reorganizations, layoffs, toxic colleagues, etc.) In a tight labor market, those that don’t have an actual work history don’t fare as well as those that do.

By: elena schneider

elena schneider — Mon, 14 May 2012 22:28:02 +0000

Some of us worked our way through college and actually obtained a work record. Even PhD candidates work; I schlepped books with a poor guy earning his PhD in history. He was also a new dad. He worked part time with us, had family time scheduled and then reserved 4 hours each night for writing his thesis.

By: me

me — Mon, 14 May 2012 22:20:31 +0000

Sorry, but this is incorrect. While library science is hardly “science” there is something that makes it differ greatly from a liberal arts degree. That difference is that it is a professional degree. It is meant to prepare you for a specific job (being a librarian). It is also a terminal degree. Liberal Arts on the other hand aren’t geared towards a specific job. If a library is looking to hire a librarian the chances they choose someone with an MA in English as opposed to an MLIS is slim.

By: Michelle Sellars

Michelle Sellars — Mon, 14 May 2012 20:26:33 +0000

Just agreeing that it may not be as easy for that PhD to get an adminstrative assistant job as one might think. I have my MLIS and worked two jobs where I performed the basic tasks of a secretary. When I was looking for work I looked at secretarial-type jobs, and most required several years of experience in the field, and/or much more experience than I had using specific computer programs or with keeping the books. I’ve also found it true that it can be tough for the overly educated because employers assume you will leave as soon as you find a better job (which you probably will). I had this issue trying to get part-time library jobs. I had to reassure one of my jobs that yes, I really, really did need a job in a library, even a paraprofessional $10 one.