LJ's 2019 Placements & Salaries survey showed that the top job skill cited was again reference and information services (10 percent), but in second place for the first time was user experience/usability analysis (9 percent). This is the first year that LJ asked graduates about soft skills training in conflict resolution, cultural competency, customer service, design thinking, ethics, and leadership.

WORK SETTINGS VS. SKILLSETS

Working graduates were asked to categorize their current position setting. These results are a close match to the 2017 study, when this question was first posed. More than two-thirds called themselves librarians working in a library (67 percent), versus 4 percent who said they are librarians not working in a library. Graduates who termed themselves “non-librarians” were equally likely to say they were working in a library (15 percent) or outside of one (14 percent).

Librarians not working in a library apply their LIS skills by managing data or digital assets, developing and managing a collection, managing technology or web resources (including user experience), working in records management, or doing research. Non-librarians working in a library tend to work as paraprofessionals while seeking a professional position, although some work in technology or management capacities. Non-librarians not working in a library cited activities such as metadata and vocabulary design, digital curation, building information systems, knowledge management, and user behavior and training.

Against this broad array of responsibilities carried out by LIS graduates, respondents were asked to name their primary job duty. The 2018 responses mirrored the 2017 answers for four classic items, but also introduced one hot newcomer. The notable change for 2018 is the appearance of user experience/usability analysis (9 percent), in second place on the list. The most typical answer to this question was again reference and information services (10 percent). Three other responses in the top five positions were school librarian/school library media specialist (9 percent), children’s services (8 percent), and administration (6 percent). Archives and preservation (5 percent) also appeared high on the 2017 list.

Respondents provided their full job titles, creating a varied list testifying to the broad applicability of LIS degrees. Some of the most unique titles were: GIS and Data Visualization Librarian, UX and Assessment Librarian, User Engagement Librarian, Director of Data Analytics, Open Data Literacy Consultant, Electronic Health Records Manager, Moving Image and Sound Digital Archivist, Epic Programmer Analyst, Data Librarian Ontologist, STEM Librarian, Market Research Visual Storyteller, and Crisis Management and Information Fusion Lead.

Only 16 percent of 2018 graduates think their job is in an emerging area of LIS practice. Areas mentioned include: assessment, assisting patrons with digital arts software and virtual reality devices, training users in business analysis skills, managing companies’ or school districts’ digital assets, data curation, embedded librarian in online course systems to create electronic learning objects, human-centered system design, GIS and data visualization instruction for users, strategic projects for internal management, and ontology for modeling semantic data. For a more detailed look, see Next Gen Librarians | LIS and Careers.

LIS LESSONS

Online graduate programs are increasingly popular. Fully online instruction programs were utilized by 59 percent of 2018 graduates, a substantial uptick from 2017 levels (49 percent). About 32 percent used programs that combined online and on-site courses; the popularity of solely on-site instruction continues to dwindle (to less than 10 percent). The latter two options were both down from the prior year.

Graduates were asked to identify which experiences were the most helpful for landing their first professional position. The most frequently chosen was work-related experience via an internship/practicum/field experience (52 percent). Technology skills (e.g., database searching, HTML coding or other Internet oriented skills) were also mentioned by nearly half of graduates (49 percent). Subject specialization knowledge (such as cataloging or reference skills) was cited by 43 percent of respondents. A similar proportion of graduates also valued opportunities to network with professionals working in their area of interest (41 percent).

For the first time this year, graduates were asked about six different types of soft skills training in their LIS master’s programs: conflict resolution, cultural competency, customer service, design thinking, ethics, and leadership.

Most respondents said their LIS programs provided opportunities to learn about five of these: ethics (92 percent), cultural competency (80 percent), leadership (80 percent), customer service (68 percent), and design thinking (65 percent). Only 49 percent said their program taught conflict resolution. Among the graduates who had access to learning about each soft skill, almost all found them useful: ethics (87 percent), cultural competency (73 percent), leadership (72 percent), customer service (69 percent). Respondents were less enthusiastic about design thinking (56 percent) and conflict resolution (43 percent).