Reference Question of the Week - 10/19/08
October 25th, 2008 Brian Herzog
Before I get into this week’s reference question, I want to point out that this is my 100th Reference Question of the Week - that’s almost two years of weekly reference questions. My, my, doesn’t the time just fly when you are giving patrons directions to the bathrooms?
In honor of such a momentous event, I thought I’d share one of the reference questions I just dread. I get variants of this question occasionally, but last week all the components came together in a perfect storm of reference question difficulty:
Patron: I’ve never used a computer before, so can you help me find a job on craigslist?
Sigh. For non-reference librarians, here’s why this simple request is especially hard:
- Almost any kind of job-related request can be difficult
- Most of the job resources available in the library are online, so having no computer experience is automatically a setback
- Craigslist? It is certainly a valid job search tool, but there are other places I’d be more comfortable starting off a computer novice (she never did tell me how she got referred to craigslist)
Lots of people would jump on a question like this and consider it a golden teaching moment. Which I tried to do, but I was alone on a busy Thursday morning and I didn’t have the amount of uninterrupted time it would take to teach the patron to use a mouse and then educate her enough about the internet and craigslist to find a job safely.
But happily, she was a fast learner, and really took to the mouse and using the browser. Since she asked for craigslists, I showed her how to get there and use it, and while doing so also told her about other job search websites she could try. We also have a handout for career resources, and pretty soon she sent me away so she could look on her own.
She left before I could talk to her again, but she stayed at least forty-five minutes on the computer. Which is not bad for a first timer. Even if nothing from her first search pans out, I hope at least she knows the library is a resource for job searching.
More About Online Job Searching
Something I’ve been noticing for awhile is that it seems that online job applications are becoming more and more complex. Lots of large companies are requiring applicants to fill out an online application instead of providing a resume.
The problem with this is, from my and the patron’s point of view, many patrons have trouble with the website or application form itself. Some get so frustrated that they quit halfway through, cursing the company for not just taking their resume. I wonder if companies are doing this intentionally, because filling out these applications requires a certain level of computer skills, and so it weed out anyone who isn’t computer savvy enough to finish it.
I’ve helped a few people complete what even I thought was a difficult form, and I wonder if I’m really helping them or not. If the job really does require that level of computer skill, and I spend a half an hour basically filling out the form for them, are they just wasting their time on a job they don’t have a hope of getting?
Because of this need (and especially in the current economic climate), my library lately has been partnering with the local career center to hold series of job search workshops. These range from updating resumes to online searching to interviewing to networking to reentering the work force. They’ve been well attended, and all the library has had to do is provide the space - people from the Lowell Career Center plan and run the programs.
I feel like we can never do enough for patrons looking for jobs, but that this is one of the key roles a library plays in the community.
