A kind reader sent this in a couple of weeks ago, but I'm just getting around to it. My more relaxed approach to the AL hasn't slowed down the email any, so I'm even more behind than usual. Still, I wanted to post it before the application deadline so everyone would be able to apply for it.
This was forwarded to me from some ALA listserv, and I just had to post because it had all the requisite elements for a library job that sucks. The ad's also available here.
Requires an MLS? Check.
Temporary? Check.
Part-time? Check.
Not even a real job? Check.
Waste no time in diving into the pool of librarians over at California State University, East Bay. I shudder to think what they'd look like in swimsuits.
"The University Libraries of California State University, East Bay is establishing a pool of librarians (Assistant Librarian rank) for temporary, part-time employment for the 2008/2009 academic year (July 1, 2008 – June 30, 2009)."
So much for that librarian shortage. Wouldn't it be exciting to almost possibly have a temporary part-time library job? The possibly non-existent job might not seem that great, but you'd get to possibly not work for CSU-EB, and that would at least look good on the resume.
They want people to teach courses and provide "quality reference service." You can tell they're really serious about "quality" by the way they go about hiring people, because we all know the way to guarantee "quality" services is to rely upon a shifting group of temporary part-time people who most likely have bad pay and no benefits and no commitment to the organization. That says "quality" like nothing else. It says a lot about the quality of the library as well.
But just because it's a sucky job doesn't mean they don't want good people.
"Qualifications:
Graduate degree from an ALA-accredited institution; familiarity with the principles of information literacy; recent teaching experience and/or education in teaching methods; recent experience and/or education in the provision of academic reference services; excellent oral, written, and interpersonal communication skills; ability to work collegially in a diverse, fast-paced environment; a strong service commitment; a willingness and ability to serve students from diverse educational and cultural backgrounds. Preference will be given to candidates with recent professional experience in reference or instruction in an academic setting. Preference will also be given to candidates able to work regular shifts on nights and week-ends, and who are able to work at our Concord campus if needed."
They don't expect much, do they? Excellent communication skills. Experience. Flexibility. Etc. It makes the librarian shortage lie all the more bold. If there are people with all these qualifications and experience, and they're any good, they should be able to get full-time jobs if they want them. Obviously they have no librarian shortage in East Bay. They're so thronged with librarians out there that they put the extras in pools just in case one of their real librarians doesn't feel like working some day.
You still have a couple of weeks to dive in to the East Bay librarian pool, so don't delay. If you don't apply to be a part of their pool, you know you'll regret missing that great opportunity for the rest of your life.
About Me
- AL
- The Annoyed Librarian is possibly the most successful, respected, and desirable librarian of her generation. She has no other interest than to bring her wit and wisdom to the huddled librarian masses yearning to breathe free. The Annoyed Librarian is a free spirit and you are lucky to have her.
92 comments:
Library Jobs that Suck. Indeed.
It's all about temporary work, part-time work, because we all know recent grads with mounds of debt and infused with the doctrine of library shortages all over North America, only need a part-time temporary job with no benefits.
Struggle to make ends meet. That's what librarianship 2.0 is all about, baby. At least the patrons are happy.
The only thing I have learned from the AL is that all library jobs suck except academic ones where you have a wet bar in your office.
I moved to the Bay Area after graduating from library school and was told by the dean of my school that I would have no problem finding a job there--especially since there was only one library school around.
Of course, I never got one and ended up working a shit job at a law firm before having to move away to find employment. As bad as this job is, they will have shortage of takers.
The library profession treats its people--and especially those new to the field--like crap.
The really great thing about being a recent grad is that you never get sick. That's obvious from the fact that there are no health benefits with these jobs. That alone should make you want to get a degree, you whiners.
Academic library jobs have their fair share of suckiness. The BS element in an academic library is more subtle, served with a smile and a Swiss Army knife.
I wonder what it pays? I can take a lot of abuse for dumptrucks of money.
This would be a good job for a recent Mom who would like summers off. I wonder if they are flexible during the week as far as schedule?
I guess it all boils down to money huh? To discern the true suck factor that is.
The academic jobs with office wet bars are indeed the best, but I save my LJTS designation for part-time temporary jobs and pools that require an MLS and experience.
Newer library school grads have to take temporary job pool jobs with low pay and no benefits because boomer librarians will not retire.
This would be a good job for a recent Mom who would like summers off. I wonder if they are flexible during the week as far as schedule?
What makes you think that? The posting notes working "weekdays, weeknights, and/or weekends"--pretty much whenever the "real" staff want to take time off. So, you would likely be working summers. Never mind the fact that this "profession" will have shit pay as long as we feel the need to target "moms"; you want to be a mom, cool--I want to work.
Looking at the job description I noticed you need three references. WTF? Do they need to know how well I can wait by a phone? How quickly I can dash in to cover somebody's sickie?
"Newer library school grads have to take temporary job pool jobs with low pay and no benefits because boomer librarians will not retire."
This is an extremely simplistic argument that ignores all sorts of issues, especially economic ones.
Newer library school grads may have to take temporary pool jobs because they graduated in a field without sufficient demand for their services. Usually I take up their cause in the AL, but the unjustified sense of entitlement of some new library school grads is amazing sometimes. Degree does not equal job. Anyone who told you different lied to you. Period.
The public library jobs in my county are like this. You must have an ALA master's degree to get hired for a part-time, possibly temporary, shit job before you are even considered for a real job. You work this job for a minimum of 6 months. Then if you are considered for a "real" job, you are interviewed by a panel of 6 people!
A library degree is a professional one, and a professional one is "designed to prepare the holder for a particular career or profession, fields where scholarly research and academic activity are not the work, but rather a profession."
How is it "entitlement" to expect not just a job, but a career?
Expectation is one thing, though clearly the expectations are based on a lack of evidence. The entitlement is the assumption that because one has completed a relatively easy graduate degree one is somehow owed a job or even a career.
Another much ado about nothing set up a straw-man and knock it down posting from AL. How is this different from public school systems developing pools of certified and degreed substitute teachers at $50/day if/as needed, or community colleges building up cardfiles of adjunct instructors willing to work for $400 per credit hour, or any other kind of business setting up a temp worker/substitute pool?
There are people for whom this might be ideal -- retired librarians looking for occasional income (yes, there are some of those), current public or school librarians looking for experience in an academic library or occasional supplementary income, spouses of university hires looking for temp work while pursuing a career position, a librarian looking for an opportunity to try on a teaching hat, and so on.
If someone is looking for a fulltime benefits eligible position, then this job would suck for them (but that doesn't mean it sucks for everybody). So in that case, there are currently scores of openings for librarians within a 50 mile radius of San Francisco city center. It's not like this is the only position in town.
And the reality is, if you are qualified and willing to relocate (hint, hint, new grads, on both counts), you can find a benefits eligible entry level job. They are out there.
Ho, Hum.
"Ho, Hum."
And yet you keep reading and commenting, anonymous baby. What does that say about you?
12:24 anonymous: "was told by the dean of my school that I would have no problem finding a job there"
KEY MISSING WORD is "library" before the word "job". You surely could have found "a job" and clearly couldn't find "a library job". Big difference.
(standing up for deans everywhere)
"How is this different from public school systems developing pools of certified and degreed substitute teachers at $50/day if/as needed, or community colleges building up cardfiles of adjunct instructors willing to work for $400 per credit hour, or any other kind of business setting up a temp worker/substitute pool?"
No difference really. Just another case of people exploiting an overpopulated labour market to hire people with low pay and no benefits. Just your typically morally repugnant bureaucratic activity.
"Just your typically morally repugnant bureaucratic activity."
That is fun to say out loud. Try it! =)
Anon @ 1:50 - Yes,, Part Time Nights and Weekends CAN in fact mean flexible. Just not ALL nights and weekends... works great if you want off workdays tho. Mebbe you just want Tue and Thu night off. BAM! Flexible! I have been in plenty of jobs where you get to choose exactly SQUAT of when you work. Well,, ok,, not plenty,, a few tho. =P
It could be worse. They could require the degree-to-death regimen in order to volunteer.
Whereas yes, there is some responsibility on the part of those of us who fell for it to slap ourselves on the head and say, "Why did I fall for this?", there is also some responsibility from the ALA for promoting the "shortage" at exactly the time libraries in actuality are de-professionalizing. And of course, if you're temping with your useless undergrad degree, even paltry librarian jobs look good.
The problem is that we're pushing more and more education in general when there are fewer and fewer jobs that require it, so we all end up with the old OQ and piles of debts.
Should've gone for law school. Oh, wait--glut of lawyers, too.
Anonymous 1:33 PM said...
Newer library school grads have to take temporary job pool jobs with low pay and no benefits because boomer librarians will not retire.
It doesn't help though that every time there is a new retirement, the position is either left open by the library or they close the position completely and reclassify that part of the organization.
The sad part is that with a MLS you can barely make as much as a BA/BS minimum wage job. So you 're spending another year on school...for the same sort of job?
Yes, this is ideal for the retired librarians who have worked 30 years, got to the end, and picked up their first retirement check...and realized they'd been duped. Why do you think they AREN'T retiring??
My suggetion is to get out of the public sector. All of it - Librarians, Teachers, charity work - and if you still want to do it, come back when they are serious about how they compensate their staff for their time.
Go work in the corporate/private sector already!!
"Go work in the corporate/private sector already!!"
I don't know why people think that is the answer. Corp jobs aren't that easy to get, nor do they pay that well. (You have to work 50-60 per week, just to keep up, and you're always under the threat of being closed- because we're not income producing.)
"go work for the private sector"...
Well, I hate to say that, but many public employees would not last too long in the private industry. Library job or not... The competition is fierce, you have to work well and produce well too..
As for having to work pools, that seems to be the way it work in every library system. You either work part time/temporary for a stretch of time or you will probably never get a position in a public library. It seems even worst if you are a paraprofessional.
Now you have to watch out for robots taking all those low paying jobs.
http://www.kcra.com/news/16242185/detail.html?rss=sac&psp=news
What a bunch of ass-clowns compose the powers that be in libraries these days. I have left this line of work (I do not say profession) to teach high school. The pay is better, the work is meaningful, and I get summers off. Oh, and there are jobs to be had. I encourage others to leave this nonsense behind as well (save the Annoyed Librarian; without whom I couldn't enjoy reading this blog for a chuckle once in awhile!).
re No difference really. Just another case of people exploiting an overpopulated labour market to hire people with low pay and no benefits. Just your typically morally repugnant bureaucratic activity.
Straw man. Undoubtedly, teachers both substitute and otherwise, would like to be paid more. But substitute teachers are not there and hanging out because they are desparate for full time jobs. These are people who want the part-time flexibility, for a variety of reasons.
Library adminstrators and school administrators are not morally repugnant because they are trying to balance a variety of needs with limited taxpayer funded dollars. This is insulting to those who try to do the most with the least given them to work with.
Librarians who have the technology skills in demand, and teachers who have highly qualified credentials in STEM subjects are in demand.
No prospective teacher highly qualified in math or science or foreign language, for example, will have any difficulty at all finding employment.
Neither will any librarian with the technological skills today's positions require go wanting for a job.
Yeah, if you got an MLS and think you'll get a cushy job reading bedtime stories to third graders, you should have rethunk your degree.
Otherwise, spare me the pity party. AL, you are simply off base and out of touch.
Library administrators and school administrators are not morally repugnant because they are trying to balance a variety of needs with limited taxpayer funded dollars.
One way to address limited funding is for library administrators to persuade their bosses (deans, boards, etc.) that the necessary funds be allocated to the library and its staff, rather than dutifully kissing those folks' asses by redoubling their efforts to slash salaries. (I note money continues to be found for this or that endowed professorship or civic boondoggle, even as libraries' budgets shrink.)
Another, easier way to address limited funding would be for library administrators to decrease their own bloated salaries (particularly the six figure ones of academic directors) and allocate the money to fund proper (rather than make-believe) salaries for their staff. I grant that cutting a director's, say, $120,000.00 salary to $70,000.00 would only free up $50,000.00, which won't go awfully far, but it's at least one FTE's salary. And, perhaps more importantly, it would be a sincere gesture to other librarians that the director doesn't view them with contempt. Directors disingenuously wringing their hands to underpaid staff about the lack of money and then driving home to posh, gated communities doesn't earn them any points.
I realize not all library administrators earn bloated salaries, but many too many do. And, speaking of productive skills, many of these same administrators wouldn't know how to read an XML tag or install a server if Steve Jobs bit them in the ass, which earns them even more contempt from those of us who have more skills than them yet earn less money. Yes, experience counts for something, but merit counts for more. You may disagree, but ask yourself whether you'd rather be operated on by a young surgeon whose demonstrated mastery of all the most state-of-the-art techniques and equipment, or an "old timer" who cannot be bothered to learn how a laser works. (It's an imperfect analogy, but I believe it suffices.)
re: many of these same administrators wouldn't know how to read an XML tag or install a server if Steve Jobs bit them in the ass, which earns them even more contempt from those of us who have more skills than them yet earn less money.<<
No surprise why you're not an administrator. I'd rather be operated on by a surgeon who had skills. Who works in a hospital with competent administrators, sane management policies and well-funded malpractice insurance.
If you think it's all that easy to fund an endowed chair, well, you've obviously never tried to get one funded.
I won't argue that there aren't some overpaid administrators, but in a free market, supply and demand generally does its job.
The cold hard reality is that few librarians have what it takes to be good library adminstrators. What makes a good library adminstrator is not necessarily what it takes to make a good librarian. Guess which is the rarer. Guess who gets paid more.
I suggest you work on your illogical and self-destructive contempt issues. Sooner or later, it will eat you up. Or, you could always self-medicate with gin and vermouth, as some have chosen to do.
The cold, hard reality is that public municipal and public academic libraries (i.e., the majority of libraries), do not operate in a free market. I wonder how well public municipal libraries (and their administrators) would fare without government subsidies, or how well academic (public or private) libraries (and their administrators) would fare without self-perpetuating library accreditation bodies and their requirements. I'm not convinced removing the subsidies or the accreditations is desirable; I'm just inclined to insist upon valid first premises before folks invoke misconceptions about free markets.
I suggest the previous poster check the definition of two terms: "free market"...and "ad hominem."
Woah, lotta anger in the air.
I qualified a couple of years ago in Australia which has a different degree structure to the US. I had an existing 4 year degree (Bachelor of Psychology) and then did the Graduate Diploma of Science (Information Services) which is ALIA accredited, so I am a Librarian. I already had about 3 years part time volunteer experience in a school library but all I was able to get in terms of work was a series of fixed short term relief work in paraprofessional or unskilled positions and a permanent part time (1.5hrs a day, 5 days a week) paraprofessional position. I applied for all sorts of jobs, that claimed to be entry level, in a variety of institutions (school, public, university and corporate libraries) and had lots of interviews, but at the end of the day I was never offered any kind of Librarian position. I do take into account that much of my experience is in schools, and you can't get a librarian position in a school without being qualified as a teacher which is fair enough, I support that position.
There just seems to be a lot of talk in the Australian library community about getting young, skilled people into the profession, which rings false after my experiences. I think what all employers really want is to employ someone who is simultaneously a recent graduate and someone with years of experience in anything they could desire, and it just isn't possible if no one gives you the chance to prove yourself. I don't want to sound like i'm blowing my own trumpet, but everyone I have worked with have been very happy with my performance. I was so appreciated in my first short term employer that teachers who I helped while I was there (for just over 1 school term) came to me to offer to be a reference for me in the future, especially with regard to my ability to help teachers learn to use new technologies. Each of the library staff expressed their high opinion of me independently and offered themselves as references, and the computer technician (an underpaid network manager) decided to take a job elsewhere when it became clear that I was not going to continue there. I am committed to doing a good job (sometimes to the detriment of my personal life) and am passionate about what I do.
I worry that there is a tendency to undervalue the library profession as a whole, and the librarian in particular, possibly because of a lack of understanding of the skills of a librarian in the general community. I don't know what the stats are in the US, but library stats in Australia are doing ok. The recreation participation survey lists reading as the third (i'm pretty sure) most popular activity in the country (certainly is among kids anyway), so despite a lot of general whining in the media about the decline of reading, we are actually doing just fine. Libraries are vital to effective participation in democracy and the society in general, and I think this role is often overlooked within the society as a whole.
I'll stop now as I may be beginning to ramble.
One more thing...
Temporary and part time work may suit some people (it does suit me), but it does suck when you can't get anything else when you do want a full time or longer term position.
The tendency to pretend that we don't need professionals 'because all the jobs librarians do can be done by paraprofessionals' is disturbing. I know many good paraprofessionals (and some less good 'professionals') but that doesn't mean that doing the degree isn't necessary. I for one have seen some good case studies which demonstrate the important difference between clever and passionate professionals and paraprofessionals and the difference between good paraprofessionals and poor professionals. I'd rather have a clever and passionate paraprofessional than a narrow minded professional, but i'd rather have a clever and passionate professional when all is said and done. I do think that a good paraprofessional can learn to do as good a job as a good professional, but they need the guidance which they could be given by doing the library degree.
I'll stop now.
In the rarefied martooni air the AL has forgotten what it takes to work into a job.
Guess what, it isn't like it was fifty years ago when you were breaking into the field AL. Things have changed. Paying your dues is different these days.
Back in your day, I am sure that entry level jobs sucked. There just wasn't the 2.0 world to bitch about it.
Before I saw this post I thought I was an unlucky one. I interviewed for all sorts of jobs claiming they were entry level. I lost one to a recent retired library directory, talk about pissing in my corn flakes. It took me a year to get the underpaid position I have held now for 5 years with all its difficulties.
I make no bones about it I am ready to move on. The nice thing about having a job is you can look around more...be picky. I want an academic position.Yet I been caught in the out of control qualifications for academic librarianship.
I agree a second master makes sense, so I am back in school working hard to get it. When I started this job you needed to just have the second masters, then it moved to second masters and 2 years experience, and now I am seeing 3 years academic experience. By the time I get the second masters they are going to want 5 years experience. This is also happing in public libraries too. It was 2 years for the next level up from me now its three.
Its not that there are not job out there, they just are being picky to justify the salaries. There is a Dean of Public Service position at, I think, University of Portland thats been on the market for over a year now. The qualifications needed are staggering. Most of it I have as a public librarian, except I dont have the second degree and my work experience is in public libraries.
If people would think outside the box they might find really good workers who can do the job if given a chance.
Ranting is fun. Oh and it makes me feel connected to other professionals.
For me, this is a second profession and I find it amazing that those entering did not do more research about the field before deciding to become a librarian. So someone told you that there were going to be librarian jobs available by the boatload - did you bother to go look at the career sites and job postings to see what kinds of openings there would be and what the qualifications would be to needed to qualify for those jobs? Did you talk to any librarians and get their take on the professional situation? For gosh sakes, you wanted to be a librarian. You could have started with the research YOU needed to do.
Second, if money is the only driving force in whether you are satisfied in a job or not, you will never make enough money. One of my wise friends once said to me you are worth the amount of money that you signed a contract for because YOU agreed to it - not a penny more or a penny less. YOU agreed to it. The reality of it is, we would all like to make more money, no matter the profession so get over it already.
I wonder what AL thinks of this new P/T job at ALA. Seems like a lot of skill for little $ --- good thing that the ALA is looking out for us.
________________________________________
Reference Librarian (50% part-time)
American Library Association (ALA) Library, Chicago, IL
Responsibilities: Conduct extended reference research for the ALA staff and members who call the Library. Work collaboratively with ALA staff with long-tem projects, particularly those related to the strategic plan, Ahead to 2010, to provide proactive research support. Incorporate the research into other Library information resources, such as ALA Library Fact Sheets, the website FAQ (both ala.org and ilovelibraries.org), the Professional Tips Wiki, and the KMS knowledge base.
Requirements: MLS from an ALA-accredited program; a minimum of 6 months experience in reference; with specific knowledge and understanding of library processes, including acquisitions and cataloging. Excellent communication and writing skills for response to all inquiries from various mediums. Knowledge of databases and web 2.0 tools. Highly developed problem solving skills.
Salary Range: from $23,600
Applicants may forward resumes via fax at 312.280-5270 or email to mpullen@ala.org.
The AL is a GOD and never had to work her/his way up. He/She started at the top because they are so swell.
Anyone who has to start at the bottom and work their way up is a chump and deserves to be scorned upon.
Often employers will use a pool of temporary part-time staff to keep the rest in line. Tired of your terrible hours? Someone else will take them. Complaining about a tiny raise-that-isn't-a-raise-because-it-was-less-than
-the-cost-of-living? Then step aside sucker because we've already formed a line of people who aren't yet sick of our abuse. And the temp pool staff - they'll be able to take it for a few years before going back to school to become something else in order to escape the abuse and pass it on to yet another temp person waiting naively in the wings.
This isn't about working your way up. This is about all of us working our way down.
So someone told you that there were going to be librarian jobs available by the boatload - did you bother to go look at the career sites and job postings to see what kinds of openings there would be and what the qualifications would be to needed to qualify for those jobs? Did you talk to any librarians and get their take on the professional situation? For gosh sakes, you wanted to be a librarian. You could have started with the research YOU needed to do.
About 11 years ago when I was considering librarianship instead of continuing on with a humanities PhD, I did all the above. Yes, there was a period of several years where I had to pay dues, but the jobs were there--especially if one was mobile. It paid off. I have a great job and enjoy what I do. The unassailable truth is that the latest crop of LIS grads were misinformed--not only anecdotally, but also in the "literature" discussing job availability. To add insult to injury, the ALA has made well-documented false claims about projected job growth. Please don't insult these new grads. As little as two years ago, entry-level jobs seemed to only require 1 year experience. It has changed so much in very little time.
I sympathize with them very much because I could have been in their shoes with a humanities PhD, which by the way, was another area that had erroneously documented job growth predictions back in the early 1990's. No one knew adjuncts would supplant retired tenured faculty.
I'm one of those boomers who got into library work without the MLS since nobody else wanted the job in youth services. The job truly did suck back in the day with gang-bangers who had taken over the children's department and threatened the staff verbally and physically. I did not want to be supervisor--thought the kids deserved a real librarian but the three candidates who did take the job ended up leaving after a rough few weeks.
I did have ten years experience as a bookseller and an LTA certification, so I wasn’t a complete boob but I still think the pay is poor return for an MLS and the working conditions are better than corporate work but not as good as librarians, whom I respect to the sky, deserve.
@LB
That actually comes to $47,200 annual at 1.0 FTE equivalent for only 6 months work experience. Not too bad, frankly.
Of course you work for the ALA. God knows what brainwashing comes with the job.
Anonymous 5:27 PM said
"Go work in the corporate/private sector already!!"
I don't know why people think that is the answer. Corp jobs aren't that easy to get, nor do they pay that well. (You have to work 50-60 per week, just to keep up, and you're always under the threat of being closed- because we're not income producing.)
It is this threat of being closed, this necessary "SHow your worth" that keeps Corporate librarians actually WORTH their paychecks. Naturally, the pool of candidates is so deep now between the library field -and the other information fields-that the salaries have been driven down the rat hole along with all the other library positions. And guess what, if you cut the top salaries form 120,000 to 70,000 in the public/academic world, they would just use it as justification to cut the department budget another 50k - no, they will not hire new people or give ANYONE a pay raise.
I got a +$0.10/hr raise after my year of constant hard work. I got tired of the abuse and found a very nice academic corporate style setting - WOW was that nice!! The layoff is still paying off too - my terms of termination pays for my grad school!!
Get out your BS, couple it with your MS, and go find a real job!
Anonymous 6:53 PM said...
"go work for the private sector"...
Well, I hate to say that, but many public employees would not last too long in the private industry. Library job or not... The competition is fierce, you have to work well and produce well too..
As for having to work pools, that seems to be the way it work in every library system. You either work part time/temporary for a stretch of time or you will probably never get a position in a public library. It seems even worst if you are a paraprofessional.
And that is precisely why I am doing so well in the corporate side of life - well, not quite, I sort of dusted off the BS after I found a connection in an MLS cass to my home field. Big Bananas to be made in the home field!!
Being in grad school at this moment, I know what you say is true...some of these people...I would say that they are as dead as a brick, but then I think it is more because they really don't care about what they are learning [otehr then the Koolaid, the LOVE the koolaid and they can recite it to ANYONE within a ten mile radius impromtu!
I am loving my easy MLS...but I don't expect much job out of it!!!
All said and done...sounds like thier take on "Information Literacy" instruction is to make it the work of an adjunct faculty pool. Wow we finally equal faculty status!
Just remember if you go into the corporate world that you are not a true librarian.
The only true practitioners of this art reside at the universities across our fair land.
Anyone else is just a glorified clerk.
First off great blog, I just found it and its very entertaining.
In December, I graduated with a MS in library science from an ALA accredited school. I earned this degree while working full time in a job which I still currently hold.
I have applied to many library positions in my area (not willing to move) and have found no takers for interviews or anything. But I feel that like most fields, connections get you jobs. I was turned down for one and found out the winning canidate had a BS in another field, no expierence but friends with the director. The other helpful attribue is an amazing amount of experience in libraries of which I have none.
Never the less I am still working hard to find employment. At first I wanted an academic job but now will take anything.
This job announcement is specially sweet, given that CSU East Bay (Hayward was too pedestrian) hires new entry librarians every other year. So you know they treat their new librarians and temporary pool really well if they leave after one year - year after year!! Those 59-1/2 yr-old who don't want to learn anymore really need to go, so us Xers can finally earn a decent living, but instead we continue to be tortured whenever we think we finally landed a tenure track position!
Just remember that most advertised jobs that look really good, especially the ones in academia, are already spoken for. They are just being advertised because they have to be. They have someone already lined up and ready to go into that slot.
Don't get encouraged by interviews either, they have to interview so many folks.
Don't give up hope though, there is always a chance, and Wal*Mart is looking for seasonal help.
Some else just hit me like brick.
It has to do with these temporary Pools, the new work experience requirements, and how they all go together.
First you need Experience - nowadays it is between 3 and 5 years. Five years ago, it was between 6 months and 1 year.
This is experience where you basically have to accept a low peanut/no peanut job, but it also has to be "somethign official." Lowly Clerk Work, afterall, is not actual "Librarian" work. No, you need 3-5 years experience of actual "librarian" experienc,e but you will have to get it on your own any way you can beg/borrow/take/steal.
But it gets worse. Once you have these experience, you may finally be hired into a pool of temporary workers who get ill pay, terrible benefits, and basically are the scabs to scab out those ill-contents already in the library profession.
If you stick it out int he pool long enough and get enough people to like you because you like kiss butt politiking, you may get promoted! To one of those Cushy Jobs currently filled with Ill-contents. In a couple years, you will go to your boss and say "You know what? I need a raise!" And your boss will say "you know what? I have ten others who will do your job for even less then you are making right now - so Put up or Shut up!"
So you can either shut up or you can put up your resume and hope you can find a slightly better job.
Either way, you have just sacrificed between 3 and 5 years of your professional life getting experience in the library profession for little to no chips. You then spent 6 months applying to the pools, and then another 1.5 years in the pool waiting for Miss Griper to not just shut up but to Put up, AND THEN to get her position over the other favored friends of the director in the area. On top of this, you have wasted another 1-2 years on an MLS program [and the student loan debt that comes with it] as well as 4-6 years on a Bachelors Degree you can't use and all of this so that after a total of years of you can apply for a job that has a starting salary between 30k-45k.
TALK ABOUT ABUSE!!! I think we're surrounded by Masochists!
mas·och·ism
–noun 1. Psychiatry. the condition in which sexual gratification depends on suffering, physical pain, and humiliation.
2. gratification gained from pain, deprivation, degradation, etc., inflicted or imposed on oneself, either as a result of one's own actions or the actions of others, esp. the tendency to seek this form of gratification.
3. the act of turning one's destructive tendencies inward or upon oneself.
4. the tendency to find pleasure in self-denial, submissiveness, etc.
The Thing ALA Isn't Telling Us!!!
You have spent anywhere between 10 and 15 years of your post High School Education days so you can have the privelege of winding up being the next disgruntled librarian...
To think, if you had just gone to work at McDonalds or The Death Star [Walmart] after your High school Graduation, you would probably be a Store manager by now with 15 years already put towards your retirement.
There are those of you who are lucky and you have your great library job - You cling to that with dear life because Competiotn out here for new openings is FIERCE!
Did anyone really sign up for grad school thinking "After I get a masters, I'll have to work part-time with no benefits for the first couple years, and that's totally reasonable?"
I can certainly relate to exaggerating an argument for dramatic effect. Especially when the other side annoys you. But for real?
Either way, you have just sacrificed between 3 and 5 years of your professional life getting experience in the library profession for little to no chips. You then spent 6 months applying to the pools, and then another 1.5 years in the pool waiting for Miss Griper to not just shut up but to Put up, AND THEN to get her position over the other favored friends of the director in the area. On top of this, you have wasted another 1-2 years on an MLS program [and the student loan debt that comes with it] as well as 4-6 years on a Bachelors Degree you can't use and all of this so that after a total of years of you can apply for a job that has a starting salary between 30k-45k.
At one place I've interviewed, it was suggested that I teach a course related to my other masters degree as part of my employment without adjunct pay! I was in a position to question that practice because I did have several years of experience and other interviews lined up.
The sad truth is that many of those "entry level" jobs you see out there are being snagged by librarians with several years of experience. If you see a position that pays between 50-60k and only requires 2 years experience, rest assured those who are interviewed have 5-10 years of professional experience. It sucks. If you want an academic job right out of library school, you have to take the crumbs (low pay, undesirable location, etc.) and have an exit plan to move to the next level after a few years.
I found a better exit plan - I can use my BS and make 40k Part time RIGHT NOW while I am also in grad school.
I can now comete with librarians because I CAN happily do a librarian Job for free if I wanted to - which is Precisely what I am doing in my community with a local organization.
Being a librarian is Great after you have that retirement check tied down! 20-30 years in another field!! ;) ;)
The days of the "great job out of Grad school" are over, me thinks.
My boss when I was working in Technical Services was hired into the Library Directly out of grad school into their cataloging department -during grad school he was a librarian III/Clerk - he is now part of the technical services team - but that is no longer now, me thinks twice!!
See, nowadays, they don't even count student employment at my university as "Real Work." It simply "Doesn't Count."
GREAT LIBRARIAN SHORTAGE???
HAH!!!
If you have real technical skills and you want to work in a library, you'll find a job. Real technical skills means more than the two weeks you spent on HTML in one of your MLS classes. If you have real technical skills, it is becoming less and less important that you have the MLS. If you don't have technical skills, your MLS won't get you in the door. Libraries will be alive and kicking 10 years from now. Whether they will be staffed by people with an MLS is debatable.
The MLS degree is a hoop to jump through, no more, no less. And is constantly being devalued by numb nut administrators and their ilk. Everyone talks about all the qualifications they want you to have, but nobody has mentioned that even then it's a crap shoot. I've seen several "MLS" required jobs--as in "An MLS degree is required for this position" go to non-MLS candidates. Pisses me off. I have enough trouble convincing people my degree isn't worthless. Guess I'm losing the battle.
So is the MLS needed? No. I work in a department where the non-MLS's do the EXACT same job but receive way less in pay. Literally, we do the same job. Heck, most of the MLS’s do less work then us lowly “para-professionals.” So to get the dough, you get the degree. But only if you have it in good with admin. End rant. End career. I should have listened to my mother and become a shepherd.
Kristen wrote: I can certainly relate to exaggerating an argument for dramatic effect. Especially when the other side annoys you. But for real?
Sadly, I can believe it. Some of our peers are just in it for the...glory, I guess?
On one mailing list, some people were discussing a poll on librarian salaries. One respondent said she had answered every question with satisfied or very satisfied because she lived in her parents' basement and had a ten-year-old car from her undergrad days, so she wasn't really hurting for money.
For some people, at least, it looks like being able to call themselves a librarian is the only thing that matters.
So is the MLS needed? No. I work in a department where the non-MLS's do the EXACT same job but receive way less in pay. Literally, we do the same job. Heck, most of the MLS’s do less work then us lowly “para-professionals.” So to get the dough, you get the degree. But only if you have it in good with admin.
Aha, but no.You thought you were in good with the administration. but then you discover you are in a "Good as Gold" Situation. Or in otherwords, you are still nothing more than an outsider and a toad.
Or it gets worse/better. Your administration that you thought was going to hire you to a MLS position suddenly goes through a budget crisis. Or the director quits. The administration changes. Suddenly they need to find a new way to save money -and they target those MLS postions.
'The do the same work, or even less, at lower qulsity...our clerks can do it for less!!!"So they give the clerks a menial raise, demote or offer the MLS positions a pittance of a compensation package to shut up and leave, and now your library has three positions: Administration, Clerks, and the Janitor.
Dammit you should have become a Janitor!!!
Wow-52 posts! And what a lot of ranting! I received my MLS ten years ago. I have met more nutcases than I ever wish to know again. Yes, *back then* Librarians were respected-everyone thought I was *cool* and *smart*.
Not now. I am leaving libraries forever. They have gone straight down the crapper. BTW, it would be nice to *number* the blogs. It's the latest *rage*. Peace.
i'm kat! would you please use a dictionary?! I can't believe you have an MLS. Did you even get a GED? Your spelling is atrocious. (Look it up).
Anon 12:00 said
"Just remember if you go into the corporate world that you are not a true librarian.
The only true practitioners of this art reside at the universities across our fair land.
Anyone else is just a glorified clerk."
Really? Come to my corporate library and try doing my job if you think it's so effing easy, you idiot!!
I'm really encouraged to hear so many folks are turning their backs on libraries in disgust. I'm not being sarcastic, nor do I think ill of libraries (properly run!) as a social, business, or educational institution. I simply feel that the invisible hand of the labor market may well finally begin to do its work if talent keeps leaving.
As the bright folks leave (and it will be the bright folks; they're the ones with otherwise marketable skills, and the initiative and self-respect to walk away from a broken and abusive system), things will approach rock bottom. (Surely there will always be a plentiful pool of underachieving boobs to replace the competent folks, but I suspect the boobs won't be able to save the system.)
Either libraries and librarians will 1) survive by adopting better paradigms and correcting the system's current abuses, 2) they will become something substantially different from what they are now, or 3) they shall disappear altogether (with IT departments, museums, archives, and such filling the void).
Ideally, a hemorrhaging of talent will cause administrators to rectify their abuses (or be fired by their supervisors: deans, and boards and such).* If libraries transmogrify into something else or disappear altogether, then I argue it will be what ought to have happened all along. (Recall the Luddites' resistance to industrialization and sabotage of machinery in a misguided attempt to preserve obsolete methods of production.)
In any case, I conjecture that things will get worse before they get better, and I'm glad I have joined what seems to be a long line of leavers.
*Don't believe for a minute that tenured academics cannot be driven from their positions by determined deans, provosts, chancellors and presidents: I've seen it happen first hand. Besides, even if a library administrator is intractably ensconced, the bastard will soon be quite alone, and ultimately must succumb to nature's reset button: death.
Amen Anon 5:04 pm.
Anonymous said...
i'm kat! would you please use a dictionary?! I can't believe you have an MLS. Did you even get a GED? Your spelling is atrocious. (Look it up).
3:08 PM
There are no Dictionaries that can help me, it is the delay between my brain, my fingers, and my keyboard. And I really do not care enough to go back a reread it twice - I already reread it once to reduce the first 80% of the errors. The last 20% will just have to be.
As for your crack about my soon to be MLS, my HSD, or my unmentioned BS, you are one more person who confuses perfect grammar, spelling, and otherwise prefection in form with skill or tallent in substance, style, or otherwise the gift of function.
You would do well to study Albert Einsten. The man did absolutely atroscious in school and yet it turned out he had more mathematical talent then every single form follower he had as his teachers throughout his schooling.
My essays are finished polished products - this is Blogging - akin to the brainstorming/structuring phase - which is usually a pile of sketches, scribbles, and in general, format will folow later - if absolutley necessary. Otherwsie, there is no reason to bother with such things.
I could choose to talk in LOL and ROFL and OMG, or even 1337SP34K, but then the rror rate exponentially increases. The question is, can you still read it and get the same visual image?
re: There are no Dictionaries that can help me
Actually, there are. Cut and paste your reply into Word and follow the red squiggly lines before submitting. You'll avoid any number of stupid errors such as:
prefection i tallent Einsten. atroscious folow absolutley Otherwsie rror
If you don't know by now that these kinds of things damage your credibility, it's time you found out. Normally, they teach you those things in graduate school.
If you look at the future of libraries and the committees that are charting that, there are few members who are not members of academia.
Anyone else who is working in a library is just that, a worker.
So, tell us oh great AL, what scut jobs did you do for low pay to earn your library stripes?
Hmmmmm....
I hope you don't feel resentful, but I've never had a "scut" library job outside of a graduate assistantship I had for a year. My first professional job was actually pretty good, as have been those since. However, I'm willing to concede that the job market for librarians was perhaps a lot better back in the day.
"If you don't know by now that these kinds of things damage your credibility, it's time you found out. Normally, they teach you those things in graduate school"
Maybe she is just not that great with words? Maybe she is not that great with computers? Maybe she is foreign? Maybe she does not care? Maybe you shouldn't either?
Freaking grammar nazis....
If you look at the future of libraries and the committees that are charting that, there are few members who are not members of academia.
Anyone else who is working in a library is just that, a worker.
Charting the future, my ass. The "committees charting the future of libraries" affiliated with the ALA and similar groups are a bad joke. The Annoyed Librarian has herself explained this problem throughout her blog.
Or, perhaps there are other committees you're referring to? Those at IEEE and the W3C maybe? Those at companies like Google and Apple? I agree those committees doubtless do affect the future of libraries, since they actually focus on access to information. However, I don't know that many librarians (some, to be sure, but not many), academic or otherwise, are involved with those committees. Most librarians are babbling about the evils of Western culture, the importance of video-games, and similarly pressing issues.
If you don't know by now that these kinds of things damage your credibility, it's time you found out. Normally, they teach you those things in graduate school.
Neither you no I have any credibility - for you are anonymous, and I am a talking pseudonym.
And even if You were to find out who I am, I would still have no credibility because I am a young white male still in grad school and as such my viewpoint in this world has already been discredited by higher academia to the point that it is no longer relevant to modern society. For afterall, my type are to blame for all the undoings and misdoings of the universe.
But anyhow. You can take your brand of credibility and work of people like me. That's right, people like me don't actually type or write anything once we become successful - we hire secretaries to take the dictations for us. Or Office Clerks, if that is what they are called these days.
Heck, with all these MLS certified people with the grammar nazi brand of credibility...I might just hire a Fresh one right out of grad school...25k-30k, full time, full benefits, No Pools...
But you know, if I had a pool of MLS certified people...
I could pay out a total of 30k a year and get 5 people in the pool and they might be able to get a second side job in McDonalds or something...while working one day a week in my Office. If any one of the 5 people flake out, I can offer that time to one of the others...
You know, this pool thing sounds pretty cool from an employer's point of view...
i'm kat! you have serious issues.
Or you could just use spellcheck.
"It's all about temporary work, part-time work, because we all know recent grads with mounds of debt and infused with the doctrine of library shortages all over North America, only need a part-time temporary job with no benefits.
Struggle to make ends meet. That's what librarianship 2.0 is all about, baby. At least the patrons are happy."
I know Calif. has been having fiscal problems - AGAIN [and again, and again], but this is crazy. This is the sort of thing that killed off a number of Library Schools in the 80's and 90's. Angry grads who couldn't find a good job, and the word eventually got back to the powers that be, who went ahead and after "furthers study" clipped L.S. programs altogether. Hey, maybe the teachers in said program will eventually end up applying for something like this. Maybe even some ALA staffers, when dues fall below a certain level. Call it "musical librarianship", with a job slot removed [instead of chairs] with each budget shortfall. Sooner or later that can catch up. Are they still talking about a "Shortage" of librarians? That's about like the "Mission Accomplished" sign on the carrier deck five years ago.
Some people are living in a proverbial Fool's Paradise.
"________________________________________
Reference Librarian (50% part-time)
American Library Association (ALA) Library, Chicago, IL
Responsibilities: Conduct extended reference research for the ALA staff and members who call the Library. Work collaboratively with ALA staff with long-tem projects, particularly those related to the strategic plan, Ahead to 2010, to provide proactive research support. Incorporate the research into other Library information resources, such as ALA Library Fact Sheets, the website FAQ (both ala.org and ilovelibraries.org), the Professional Tips Wiki, and the KMS knowledge base.
Requirements: MLS from an ALA-accredited program; a minimum of 6 months experience in reference; with specific knowledge and understanding of library processes, including acquisitions and cataloging. Excellent communication and writing skills for response to all inquiries from various mediums. Knowledge of databases and web 2.0 tools. Highly developed problem solving skills.
Salary Range: from $23,600"
I'm wondering if they couldn't do better hiring someone on prison work release for running a series of scams and bunko operations. ALA lost my respect years ago, and I'm glad I'm doing other things, having read all this. The field is an ethical sewer, face it.
"The unassailable truth is that the latest crop of LIS grads were misinformed--not only anecdotally, but also in the "literature" discussing job availability. To add insult to injury, the ALA has made well-documented false claims about projected job growth. Please don't insult these new grads. As little as two years ago, entry-level jobs seemed to only require 1 year experience. It has changed so much in very little time."
This has been going on for decades. It's not JUST something recent. I hope the folks responsible realise that what goes around comes around. This is just criminal.
If you're interested in a public library job that appears to really suck, you'll want to apply for a position at the Hartford Public Library (Hartford, CT).
See this article on the library by one of Connecticut's premiere newspapers, the Hartford Courant:
Hartford Public Library: A Study In Bad Behavior
http://www.courant.com/community/
news/hfd/hc-library0518.
artmay18,0,4822392.story
Seems like the staff must be in close to full revolt, with the clueless ALA Automaton of a Director totally out to lunch.
She was votedNational Librarian of the Year in 2001!!!
It just goes to show you how little these "accolades" mean.
If this becomes the dominant public library environment, many public librarians will bail long before they are deprofessionalized. If you are librarian with an altruistic bent, go the community college route.
This has been going on for decades. It's not JUST something recent. I hope the folks responsible realise that what goes around comes around. This is just criminal.
You know, there seems to also be an employment crisis in the legal profession, but the problem seems to be limited to Tier 2, 3, and 4 law school grads. However, it is no picnic for Tier 1 grads who aren't in the top half of their class. Back in the 90's, I knew several people at tier 3 law schools and most of them had jobs lined up before graduation (no, they weren't on law review--not even close!). With the proliferation of newer ABA accredited law schools, came the glut of attorneys flooding the market. Sound familiar?
This should have an interesting impact on library budgets. Have you ever thought about what you'd do if Pink-Slipped? Remember, nobody owes anyone anything in this field. Maybe some of the folks at ALA will actually have to work....In the early 90's some libraries that weathered the Great Depression were forced to close. And what was the name of the town associated with John Steinbeck that had its public library fold.
-----------------------------------
Shortage fears push oil futures near $140
By Carola Hoyos and Javier Blas in London
FINANCIAL TIMES
Published: May 20 2008 19:06 | Last updated: May 21 2008 00:52
Fears of a shortage within five years propelled long-term oil futures prices to almost $140 a barrel on Tuesday, further stoking inflationary pressures in the global economy.
Investors rushed to buy oil futures contracts as far forward as December 2016, pushing their prices as high as $139.50 a barrel, up more than $9.50 on the day. The spot price hit a record $129.60 a barrel.
Veteran traders said they had never seen such a jump and said investors were increasingly betting that oil production would soon peak because of geopolitical and geological constraints.
Neil McMahon, of Sanford Bernstein, said: “Peak oil views – regardless of whether right or wrong – are seeping into the market and supporting high prices.”
Anne-Louise Hittle, of Wood Mackenzie, added that investors were shifting their focus from the short-term to the medium-term, where supply fears played a bigger role. Since January, long-term futures oil contracts, such as those for delivery in 2016, have jumped almost 60 per cent, while near-term prices have gone up 35 per cent.
That trend was exacerbated by T. Boone Pickens, the influential investor who believes world oil production is about to peak as aging fields run dry. He warned that oil prices would hit $150 a barrel by the end of the year.
“Eighty-five million barrels of oil a day is all the world can produce, and the demand is 87m,” Mr Pickens told CNBC. “It’s just that simple.”
Mr Pickens’s view is still in the minority in the oil industry. But concerns over future oil supplies are fast moving into the mainstream and influencing investors.
Politicians have expressed concern that speculators are forcing prices higher and Joseph Lieberman, the influential senator, said he was considering legislation to limit big institutional investors in commodities markets.
Some energy executives have warned that geopolitical supply constraints will mean production will not be able to match demand as early as 2012 to 2015.
This comes as demand, especially from China, is set to continue to grow, while that of the US slows. Adam Sieminski, chief energy economist at Deutsche Bank, said: “The price is going to go up until governments that subsidise oil consumption in Asia and the Middle East can no longer afford it.”
So far China is doing the opposite, having recently retrenched subsidies. Analysts say Chinese demand could surge further as the country faces shortages of coal and hydropower.
Nervousness about Chinese energy demand was exacerbated on Tuesday when officials said 32 power plants had been forced to close because of coal shortages.
PetroChina and Sinopec, the two biggest domestic oil groups, also have diverted fuel supplies to the quake-hit Sichuan region.
Other than shuddering to think of what they all look like in swimsuits, I would recommend your analysis. However your low road humor about things that have nothing to do with the issues makes you the real job that sucks.
Here is another winner:
http://puma.kvcc.edu/humanresources/T+PTlibrarian.htm
Aaaaannnndddd, here's another one. Public library this time.
The Moline Public Library is seeking part-time, temporary, MLS Adult Services Librarians to work at public information desks on an as needed basis.
For further information, please contact: [Information removed]
There is no link on their website to a jobs page, and the City of Moline's jobs page doesn't list the position.
As someone mentioned before, there is a library school close by -- the oh-so academically prestigious San Jose State University, touted on its website as the "largest ALA- accredited library school in the world." They just keep churning those graduates out and schools like CSU get to suck them up into crap jobs like this. Does seem to support an ALA-Library School conspiracy theory.
UW-System
You don't want to work at the UW-System especially if you are from Illinois.
There is absolutely nothing to do. Those libraries function as an "electronic library." One library is particular provides their textbooks. That is basically their circulation. It is a real pain in the U-Know-What.
Lemont Public Library-Illinois
Look at this job: 30,000-35,000 for a techie-Entry level I think they mean entry level pay
http://www.lemontlibrary.org/whatsnew/jobopening.htm
Interesting post, although I'm not surprised you don't have a job yet, judging from the title of your blog and nature of your post.
Do you have any idea how many applicants an academic library in the Bay Area gets for a permanent position? Around 100 or more.
I'm not sure who told you that getting a job in the Bay Area would be easy but think about it: lots of highly educated folks (many with Library degrees) live in the Bay Area and guess what -- lots of folks from around the country with a lot more experience than you also want to live here! Did you ever consider going to less desirable market to get some experience first? That's what many of us did before landing a job in the Bay Area.
How about a new title: New Librarians that Think the World Owes Them Something
I'm another recent MLIS recipient and it it frustrating. I've wanted to be a librarian since I was a kid (weird I know) and working in a ibrary for 2 years only made me more certain, so I got the MLIS and have been searching for 4 months and have only got one interview and the staff member ended up deciding to stay. Bother. I reckon I'll give it another month and decide what else I want to do with my life. No use banging your head against an unmoveable wall.
Thank you so much for this blog. I am a disgruntled 20 year federal employee who is trying to find an occupation I might actually like. I have a BS and was considering getting a MLS but not now!!
The wonderful thing about employment opportunities in this country (or should I say "unemployment opportunitiies?") is that no longer need people abandon their dreams to take a higher paying job for monetary purposes. Because there will be no higher paying jobs so go ahead, go for it; be a poet.
And my mother wonders why I'd rather stay a perpetual student (second master's, anyone?) than try to find a "real" librarian job with benefits and full-time hours... "real jobs" don't seem to be out there.
But you know, we're not in a recession.
i read almost every comment n hey its bad. but it doesnt fazed me. i am going for my Mls degree which is going to cost me some time and money and its not sponsored but i am prepared to do it because i have done some work in libraries and i know i am in it for long. how i wish the degree is cheaper but well u got to pay for quality and maybe life will get better after the degree when u can be a proper librarian.
cheer up - life isnt so bad - all jobs are crappy if u dont like wat u are doing. rite now i am typing this in a library. its a good environment even if u dont get rich its still steady pay. and u can help many people with ur skills in information. how is that for a contribution?
I commented earlier about being really frustrated with post-MLS job hunting and its since gotten much better. I've been on 5 interviews since the beginning of September and gotten 1 (but they changed the pay at the last minute and I couldn't accept it). I had an interview on Monday and feel really good about it. Wish me luck ya'll.
"You would do well to study Albert Einsten. The man did absolutely atroscious in school and yet it turned out he had more mathematical talent then every single form follower he had as his teachers throughout his schooling."
Hmmm, I'm Kat - pretty presumptuous to compare yourself to Albert Einsten. Somehow I doubt you share the same qualities...
Things that help land MLS interviews.
1)Ability/proof of web site building w/templates, CSS, CMS, etc.
2)Ability to troubleshoot network problems, ability to manipulate ILS systems for better functionality, understanding of web services
3)Any type of teaching experience w/ diverse populations
4)Committee/volunteer work of any kind
5)Rational, level headed, ability to deal w/ assholes w/out blowing up
Since graduating with my MLS I have successfully convinced at least 5 people not to follow in my footsteps. Although I have a well-paying job as a librarian, I'm unhappy with the atmosphere in which I work and would love to have other prospects. Unfortunately, I'm not marketable because there is no market.
Oh and also, I have to miss every third game during football season due to the weekend-working thing. I wish I'd considered that when I was sitting in LS 500.
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