Learn Best Practices for Academic Interviews with New Core Report

The library profession has seen radical change in people’s thinking about all aspects of work and life, due in part to the sudden and prolonged shift to remote work during the COVID-19 pandemic and increasing calls for social justice and antiracism in our services and practices. While many manuals for hiring and interviewing exist, including those in professional library associations and organizations, they may already be out of step with the rapid changes of recent years. This free document seeks to capture emerging best practices as well as recommendations to encourage organizations to audit their interview processes to determine how unexamined assumptions and traditional practices may be disadvantageous to some applicants.

Sections cover each stage of the interview process, recommendations for each interview format (in person, online, hybrid), and an extensive list list of additional resources. The principles and suggested action items provide flexibility to try out new interview schedules and models, always maintaining focus on candidate-friendly and anti-bias practices.

The Core Academic Interviews Project Team spent six months creating this report, surveying emerging trends, reading current literature, and seeking feedback from the profession at large. Team members Xan Arch, Lori Birrell, Kristin E. Martin, and Renna Redd shared, “Our group came together out of a shared desire to question ‘the way we’ve always done things.’ We hope that these best practices give practitioners support as they seek to bring about meaningful change to make their interviewing processes more inclusive for both candidates and the hiring institution.”

About Core

Core: Leadership, Infrastructure, Futures is the national association that advances the profession of librarians and information providers in central roles of leadership and management, collections and technical services, and technology. Our mission is to cultivate and amplify the collective expertise of library workers in core functions through community building, advocacy and learning. Core is a division of the American Library Association. Follow us on our Blog, Twitter or Instagram.