A curious librarian

<<I guess they use a different alphabet in the UK.>>

There IS that "zed" thing.  

Ha. And up here, "h" is something else entirely....

To add to what Chary was saying, I *know* (because they told me after I was hired) that my US degree helped me get my first job at the Uni, both because I came from a well-regarded programme and because it had elements that they were looking for in the job at the time.  The job I have now I have because of what I would term an American level of enthusiasm and drive. It doesn't always work in your favour, but what does? Plus, I was here on a spousal visa and thus they were free to hire me without any visa issues on their part.
I know that I had to work extremely hard while in my first post to get a grasp of how higher education in the UK is different from HE the US. I *was* at a disadvantage, but my other skills were able to make up for that. (Quite frankly, I got a bit lucky each time! If they had also had to sponsor me, I am sure I wouldn't have been as competitive. Not because I was American, but because work visas are an added complication that many would rather avoid, no matter where the candidate is from. And I work in HE, where we have loads of international hires a year.)

I think what people posting in this thread were trying to get across was that, first, jobs in general are scarce and second, it is unfortunately quite difficult to move over here. So, having the added barrier of being an outside of the country hire may just make it nearly impossible.

I said what I said because no matter what other more experienced forum members say or how many times they say it or in how many different ways they say it, you seem to want to keep implying that Americans are not hired simply by dint of their American-ness and their American degrees. And that is just untrue.

Agreed!  I know British graduates including those with Masters degrees from Cambridge University, Imperial College, Kings College, University College London etc. who are either un- or under-employed and struggling to find suitable work.  

I also know American citizens with US degrees and US experience who were able to get great job offers in the UK.  Not just Americans, but also other nationalities.  

One of the factors I think is whether recruiters think an applicant's experience and qualifications are great, and can also useful to their organization.  

I worked for nearly 8 years as a public sector librarian in Norwich and then relocated (in 2011) to Liverpool for my husband's work, and am now working as an evening supervisor in a university library.

It IS possible to find library work but it is incredibly difficult in the current climate, particularly in the public sector-when I left my role they did not fill it, in fact, I don't think I remember my particular role having been advertised for over 5 years. I knew when I quit my permanent role it would be unlikely I would find another job in the public sector where I am living-they've just closed a number of libraries and they are earmarked to close a few more. Having said that, my old authority just hired two permanent librarians recently, just not in the outreach capacity I was in.  And for both you had to be a qualified (degreed) librarian.

In fairness to my colleagues, most DID have library qualifications but like a lot of degrees over here rather than the USA, it was an undergraduate course that they did, rather than graduate.  My particular council (and many others) have moved away from requiring a qualified (ie-degreed) or chartered (a professional qualification from CILIP) and to people with degrees or not at all (yes, I find this depressing!)

Having said that, there are jobs-just not so many and lots of applicants.  I have not found my being American or having an American degree being a problem-I've been here since 2002 and have worked in libraries in various roles (from assistant to librarian, etc.) the whole time. 

Best place (for original poster, in case she ends up being able to work here for some reason):

www.jobs.ac.uk and www.cilip.org.uk

I'd just like to add to the list of Americans with American degrees who got library jobs in the UK.  My husband's first job here was as an Information Assistant in a university library.  Not a librarian job, I know, but if he had wanted to pursue that career it would have been a good start.  He has US degrees in history and politics.

HOWEVER, that was while he was on the International Graduates Scheme visa, so no need for sponsorship.  I agree with the other contributors that it would be extremely unlikely to get sponsored for a librarian post as a non-EU citizen without an existing right to work in the UK.

Having said that, I completely understand your frustration, LaraMascara, especially with trying to convince employers that you really do want the job you're vastly overqualified for!  Sometimes it can seem like it really is an anti-American thing, especially when you're feeling demoralised from the job hunt.  During my husband's job hunts over the years we have found that ignorance of visa rules on the part of HR departments was a constant pain, and we were always happy when the initial application form didn't ask any nationality/visa questions.  Also, he once walked into an interview when the first words out of the interviewer's mouth were "Oh, you're American..." Followed by an awkward silence.  Not sure what was going on in their mind, but he wasn't offered the job.

I don't think it's an anti-American thing per se but rather a belief that American degrees are not up to the level of British ones -- at least below the PhD level. Not so very long ago the standard library degree in the UK was at first degree level or, indeed, many people would do the Library Association qualifications. But now it's all about post-graduate degrees in information studies. So it's almost like the attitude is that they have to hold their master's degrees higher than ours.

I agree that libraries everywhere are hiring more and more at 'technician' level. And you can't even say that a library degree will get you a job at administrative level. In fact, it seems they often go for people from other fields to be library heads!

Which Harvard library did you shelve at, Lara?  I've been in most of 'em.

Having said that, there are jobs-just not so many and lots of applicants.  I have not found my being American or having an American degree being a problem-I've been here since 2002 and have worked in libraries in various roles (from assistant to librarian, etc.) the whole time. 

I think once you are in, you're in and there were definitely more jobs back then.

I am on the mailing list for my local council and the university.  The only jobs that seem to come up are maximum security prison library jobs paying 20,000/yr. WEEEEEEE!

BostonDiner, I worked for the Eda Kuhn Loeb Music Library.

It was awesome. Boston is awesome!

Charty - "I said what I said because no matter what other more experienced forum members say or how many times they say it or in how many different ways they say it, you seem to want to keep implying that Americans are not hired simply by dint of their American-ness and their American degrees."

Thank you for thinking about me so much, and so deeply! Deep enough to feel you can actually read my mind! I'm flattered! I am totally flattered that you are always so interested in me, and that you have a strong desire to get inside my mind, even if you do always seem to get it so very wrong...

So, my flirty friend... Are you single? 

Thank you for thinking about me so much, and so deeply! Deep enough to feel you can actually read my mind! I'm flattered! I am totally flattered that you are always so interested in me, and that you have a strong desire to get inside my mind, even if you do always seem to get it so very wrong...

So, my flirty friend... Are you single? 

WTF? Retract the claws, Lara.  Geez.

Just want to add my 2 cents here - My husband has a library degree from the UK, actual library experience in the UK and still can't manage to get a library job here.

The reality is that there have been massive cuts in library services the past few years, which has in turned freed up a ton of experienced workers, so the competition is fierce any way you look at it.

I think it is a mixture of experience and luck to get a job in the library sector today if you are just starting out.

Best of luck to those still looking!

Thank you for thinking about me so much, and so deeply! Deep enough to feel you can actually read my mind! I'm flattered! I am totally flattered that you are always so interested in me, and that you have a strong desire to get inside my mind, even if you do always seem to get it so very wrong...

So, my flirty friend... Are you single? 

I'm a library student with a year and half left of my Masters program and my hope is to move to the UK once I've graduated. I'm not really sure yet where in the UK I would like to go, possibly Scotland. In the end though really anywhere that I can get a job. I'm using the remaining time in school to start saving money and researching where I would like to relocate to. I am a city person and would love to hear about people's favorite cities in the UK. Any other librarians out there with advice?

Back to the OP - I really hope you're able to find a way to spend some time in the UK, but it looks as though finding employment as a librarian is probably not going to be your path. What about continuing some education here? Would that be a possibility?

Lara, you do realise that people can go back and read posts you've made in the past right? That's not trying to get inside your mind, that's just reading what you've already said. You sometimes seem confused about whether you've actually said something people are ascribing to you, so all you have to do is go to your profile and click 'Show the last posts of this person' and you can see what everyone else is seeing. 

Lara, you do realise that people can go back and read posts you've made in the past right? That's not trying to get inside your mind, that's just reading what you've already said. You sometimes seem confused about whether you've actually said something people are ascribing to you, so all you have to do is go to your profile and click 'Show the last posts of this person' and you can see what everyone else is seeing. 

Not to mention that when 99% of the posts end up in the vein of "the UK hates America(ns) in this way" or "the UK is so different than the US [tone: in a bad way]", you don't have to read old posts to remember. The trend is firmly established.

I'm locking this thread for now. I can't edit and I don't want to scare the original poster away by off topic remarks.