Jaye Lapachet is a law librarian who has worked for Coblentz, Patch, Duffy & Bass LLP since 2001, spending the last five as the Manager of Library Services with a staff of 0-10 employees. She has been active in the San Francisco Bay Region Chapter of the Special Libraries Association, and received their 2009 Professional Achievement Award. Ms. Lapachet has also worked in Information systems design at Content Innovations. You can see her quiltwork on Artquiltmaker.com. She has been a hiring manager and a member of hiring committees.
What are the top three things you look for in a candidate?
Smart
Understands the job and is not taking the job in hopes of getting something better
Not annoying
Do you have any instant dealbreakers, either in the application packet or the interview process?
Tells me they want my job
What are you tired of seeing on resumes/in cover letters?
That people know Word and how to use the Internet.
Don’t include references, especially not stacks of glowing reference letters.
Is there anything that people don’t put on their resumes that you wish they did?
How they are involved in the Library community.
How many pages should a cover letter be?
√ Only one!
How many pages should a resume/CV be?
√ As many as it takes, but keep it short and sweet
Do you have a preferred format for application documents?
√ No preference, as long as I can open it
Should a resume/CV have an Objective statement?
√ I don’t care
If applications are emailed, how should the cover letter be submitted?
√ Other: Both should be attachments
What’s the best way to win you over in an interview?
Listen.
Answer the questions.
Make sure you understand what the job is before you walk in the door.
What are some of the most common mistakes people make in an interview?
Come on too strong.
Ask if the person in the Library Assistant position will be doing reference.
Not understanding the value of all the positions in the Library (everyone has a valuable role)
How has hiring changed at your organization since you’ve been in on the process?
Exhausted us.
Anything else you’d like to let job-seekers know?
Dress up. Don’t wear perfume or stinky soap.
Filed under: 0-10 staff members, Law Library, Paraprofessional, Public Services/Reference, Special
