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Not allowed to volunteer in this household. I also can't move up in my library job, sadly... so if I suggested anything, since I don't have the MLIS, they will tell me they will not listen to my considerations unless I have that MLIS. Since I can't go to graduate school in this household, I have to wait until I move for that. I must take something for money AND since I want to move, I don't really want to start something else here except retail because at least with retail I can quit anytime with no strings attached.
Get over it. Take the best job you can get and quit in 2 months if you need to. There's no loyalty, there's only saying there is. These company's wont hesitate to cut you out if you are "excess to their needs" so you need to have the same exact attitude. Also, I know people with an MLIS that have it pretty bad. And starting salaries are in the mid 30s and top out like in the 60s, if they even have a job to begin with..just fyi.
Libraries generally look for a MLS. Frankly I've seen some people take nearly twenty years to become a full time full title librarian even with that. Libraries are great don't get me wrong but you are really trying to chase positions that might not really be expanding, even in urban environments.
The problem is, too many young people do not look at the demand and pay for different degrees. They want something that sounds like fun to study, or is an easy program leaving a lot of time to party. They have the mistaken impression, that if they have a college degree they can pick and chose a job they think would be fun, and would be able to start at over $100,0000 per year.
When someone offers them a job and a salary of $36,000 per year they turn it down and say they were lowballed with a salary that will not allow them to live the way they want to and pay their student loans. Fact the $36,000 they were offered is above the $32,000 average starting wages for people with that degree, and they were offered an above average starting salary and were not low balled.
If you want to pick and choose today with a salary around $100,000 per year, you should be a petroleum engineer, or one of the better IT fields with specialized training.
This is silly. Everyone knows that they're going to have to put the nose to the grindstone for 6 figures. The vast majority of people of any generation are not interested in putting that much time into their careers, so they understand that having more money than 90% of Americans is something that they're foregoing unless they marry someone else who is that motivated. What they expect is a similar lifestyle to the one that they grew up in while raised by parents who were less educated, or came out of school with the same types of degrees. New grads have never been rolling in dough, for the most part, but I don't think expecting say, the inflation adjusted equivalent of what "over 10 dollars an hour" was was a pipe dream as recently as a decade ago. I feel like your depicted salary expectations are inflated along with your quotes for median salaries offered to new liberal arts grads. How many college aged people have you actually spoken with about this?
Last edited by Selena777; 12-21-2014 at 09:05 AM..
Most college graduates depending on what they majored in don't expect to make six figures. However, most are angry when the only job they can find pays 9 dollars an hour.
I think the best bet for people with a BA in liberal arts now is to look for non-degree specific jobs like human resources, sales, marketing, and recruiting positions.
I think there are even few master degree jobs in the liberal arts that can get you a job. I mean, even teaching jobs like at a junior college and in schools are becoming harder and harder to find.
And I think this is WAY too broad of a statement, since "liberal arts" encompasses a wide variety of career fields/subjects - many of which can still lead to relevant jobs. I have a BA in English and MLIS (Master of Library & Information Science), which have kept me gainfully employed as a professional librarian for almost a decade now... and while there was a slight lull about 4-5 years ago, today the job market for librarians is as strong as ever. So no, I'm not going to look for an HR position if I find myself unemployed tomorrow.
Also, I know people with an MLIS that have it pretty bad. And starting salaries are in the mid 30s and top out like in the 60s, if they even have a job to begin with..just fyi.
Where are these people you know? Here in the Bay Area, public librarians generally START at around $55K, and go up to $75-80K for non-supervisory positions... supervisors and county/city librarians are usually within the $90-140K range, which isn't shabby for any region. Our job market is also pretty strong these days, as I just mentioned in my post above.
In case you doubt these salaries, here is the job description for a Librarian I (entry-level) in San Francisco - where the range is now $69-80K/year:
Of course, that is perfectly reasonable (if not a bit low) given the COL + educational requirements of the job. We're actually fighting for more in my county now, as we're trailing $10K+ behind on salaries, but with almost the same COL. Obviously the library systems in cheaper regions pay less, but national averages are still more like $40-55K if I recall correctly.
Quote:
Originally Posted by mdovell
Libraries generally look for a MLS. Frankly I've seen some people take nearly twenty years to become a full time full title librarian even with that. Libraries are great don't get me wrong but you are really trying to chase positions that might not really be expanding, even in urban environments.
Again, I'm curious to know where this happens! I finished the MLIS in 2006, and secured a full-time public Librarian I position within about six weeks... I did bounce around a little from 2008-2010, but always found something within my field, and now work as a Librarian II with another public system. I don't know ANYONE who took 20 years to reach Librarian status; at the worst, they might have to work extra-help and/or part-time for a year or two, before landing a permanent F/T position. This might not be true in every region, but most urban & suburban libraries are doing pretty well these days.
P.S. Obviously if you live in some podunk town with ONE small library, and refuse to relocate, you might be waiting a while for that job. But that's a rare situation, I would think.
Where are these people you know? Here in the Bay Area, public librarians generally START at around $55K, and go up to $75-80K for non-supervisory positions... supervisors and county/city librarians are usually within the $90-140K range, which isn't shabby for any region. Our job market is also pretty strong these days, as I just mentioned in my post above.
In case you doubt these salaries, here is the job description for a Librarian I (entry-level) in San Francisco - where the range is now $69-80K/year:
Of course, that is perfectly reasonable (if not a bit low) given the COL + educational requirements of the job. We're actually fighting for more in my county now, as we're trailing $10K+ behind on salaries, but with almost the same COL. Obviously the library systems in cheaper regions pay less, but national averages are still more like $40-55K if I recall correctly.
Again, I'm curious to know where this happens! I finished the MLIS in 2006, and secured a full-time public Librarian I position within about six weeks... I did bounce around a little from 2008-2010, but always found something within my field, and now work as a Librarian II with another public system. I don't know ANYONE who took 20 years to reach Librarian status; at the worst, they might have to work extra-help and/or part-time for a year or two, before landing a permanent F/T position. This might not be true in every region, but most urban & suburban libraries are doing pretty well these days.
P.S. Obviously if you live in some podunk town with ONE small library, and refuse to relocate, you might be waiting a while for that job. But that's a rare situation, I would think.
Yeah, where I want to live... they are looking for FT librarians. Where I live now... not so much. My goal is just to get a customer service position at a 2nd job while keeping my current library job until I can move. I just want to get some more money in the bank before I start looking to relocate again.
I'd like to find a job once I have the money to move where I want to move to in a library position that doesn't require the MLIS (maybe a circ clerk... right now I'm a page) and then go to school to get my MLIS...then hopefully move up. However, I also want to take on more languages... so I will be studying other things because I was reading you can do a lot of different things with a MLIS.
If I may ask (and no offense meant) why would anyone pursue a degree in Liberal Arts? Especially at Grad level?
Quote:
Originally Posted by Costaexpress
A masters degree in the liberal arts is particularly helpful.if you have a PHd in the liberal arts at least you would be qualified for some faculty or adjunct faculty positions though they are hard-to-find. But what's with a masters degree in the liberal arts? That sounds like you're just a tool used to keep professors jobs.
Again, I have to say that you're being quite general... what do you both consider to be "liberal arts" degrees? My graduate degree is technically a Master of Science, but most would put librarianship into the "liberal arts" category. Or am I wrong?
As for WHY someone would study a certain subject, the answers will be different depending on the individual. If you do consider the MLIS to fall under this category, my answer would be quite simple: I wanted to be a librarian (third generation in my family), and the MLIS is required for any public librarian position. For others it could simply be their passion, the subject in which they excel the most, the lead-in for something relevant but practical, or whatever. There is no such thing as a wasted education, in my opinion, and we can't all be engineers or doctors. Wouldn't this world be awfully boring if that were true?
Yeah, where I want to live... they are looking for FT librarians. Where I live now... not so much. My goal is just to get a customer service position at a 2nd job while keeping my current library job until I can move. I just want to get some more money in the bank before I start looking to relocate again.
I'd like to find a job once I have the money to move where I want to move to in a library position that doesn't require the MLIS (maybe a circ clerk... right now I'm a page) and then go to school to get my MLIS...then hopefully move up. However, I also want to take on more languages... so I will be studying other things because I was reading you can do a lot of different things with a MLIS.
That sounds like a good plan, and even within the non-MLIS positions you'll have some options... my county has a few levels of clerk positions (from entry-level to senior & head of circ), in addition to library assistant jobs which don't require the MLIS. These won't pay as well as librarian jobs, but most would still offer a decent para-professional wage. And yes, being multilingual is always a great thing! I speak Spanish fairly well, and that's given me an edge for many positions here in CA.
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