{"id":80854,"date":"2014-09-10T07:55:58","date_gmt":"2014-09-10T12:55:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/?p=80854"},"modified":"2014-09-10T12:55:35","modified_gmt":"2014-09-10T17:55:35","slug":"no-ouija-board-required-the-librarian-civil-service-exam","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/?p=80854","title":{"rendered":"No Ouija Board Required! The Librarian Civil Service Exam"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Josh Rimmer, Senior Editor, INALJ Missouri<\/a>, Maine<\/a>, Michigan<\/a>, Minnesota<\/a>, Mississippi<\/a>, Kentucky<\/a>, Louisiana<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

No Ouija Board Required! The Librarian Civil Service Exam<\/span><\/h3>\n

\"JoshRimmer_INALJWV\"<\/a>While I have certainly tried it; however, I have yet to have my mechanical pencil hover over my\u00a0ScanTron to deliver answers from another realm. Although maybe my lead breaking over the C bubble\u00a0is a spiritual sign destined to thwart my attempt to fill in the bubble? I do have a terrible tendency to\u00a0apply heavy pressure when writing, so maybe it was human error? Or maybe I should have just brushed\u00a0up on knowing specific functions in Excel, and what category\/sub-group may I find a particular function.\u00a0Looks like the answer is C in this case.<\/p>\n

Overall, in my experience, Librarian Civil Service exams are not particularly difficult; however, small\u00a0mistakes are costly if you are ill-prepared, or lack basic general knowledge. Anywhere from two to\u00a0five questions may cost you an opportunity to be selected and interviewed. It is not impossible to be\u00a0perfect on these exams, as long as you know what to look for. A dead giveaway for what you will see\u00a0on your Civil Service exam is highlighted by the job descriptions and tasks that are outlined on the job\u00a0responsibilities page. While this is essentially no different than addressing specific job functions in your\u00a0cover letter. Case in point, my example of Excel. I am an intuitive user of Excel, and I could not tell you\u00a0about Excel hotkeys. Guess what they asked? Excel hotkeys.<\/p>\n

While I am not Miss Cleo, the stars do not have to be aligned in your favor to score well on a civil service\u00a0exam. So no need to keep your credit cards at hand, and I will offer some free hints on what to expect.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Check out ALA\u2019s Issues Section here<\/a>. You will see a few questions related to Copyright and\u00a0Intellectual Freedom. Also browse the policies of the library\/system that you\u2019re applying for to\u00a0see how the local institution upholds these guidelines.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Read the policies of the particular library\/library system you are applying for. This will help\u00a0when you narrow down choices in answering questions relating to conflict management, or\u00a0workplace behavior.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Regardless of your opinion, Social Media is a part of the job. Know the character limit in Twitter;\u00a0know what blog applications are out on the Web. Mobile apps too!<\/p>\n

\u2022 Hypothetical Question, Do you know of a free web resource that will help a patron identify\u00a0unknown Bible passages? You will be asked about references resources. Prepare by examining\u00a0resources available at the library you\u2019re applying for, your local library and scan the internet\u00a0as well. Your best chance for success is to gain as much exposure as possible, when you lack\u00a0practical reference experience. Know the function of various databases. Ex: What is Gale\u00a0Literature Resource Center?<\/p>\n

\u2022 Brush up on your DDC. A note to distance library students, your may need to review or learn this\u00a0on your own. Know your jargon terms as well!<\/p>\n

\u2022 Question, what review source covers both adult and children\u2019s materials, includes\u00a0recommended titles, reviews of audiovisual materials, as well as books. Published by the ALA\u00a0twice a month except in July and August? If you do not know the answer off hand, you better\u00a0review collection maintenance and selection materials. Know these cold, as well as Reader\u2019s\u00a0Advisory aids.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Understand the Reference Process. Check out ABLE<\/a> for a brief review.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Dreamweaver, Excel, or some MS component a requirement of the job? Know how to use\u00a0the specified program(s) front to back. The exam may ask the most minute, or general\/basic\u00a0question about the program.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Josh Rimmer, Senior Editor, INALJ Missouri, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Kentucky, Louisiana No Ouija Board Required! The Librarian Civil Service Exam While I have certainly tried it; however, I have yet to have my mechanical pencil hover over my\u00a0ScanTron to deliver answers from another realm. Although maybe my lead breaking over the C bubble\u00a0is…<\/p>\n

Read more \u2192<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":74696,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[145],"tags":[146,69,3592,3596,3594,3605,3638,3643,3661,3640,5879,6551,6550,111],"class_list":["post-80854","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-articles","tag-advice","tag-article","tag-blog","tag-inalj-kentucky","tag-inalj-louisiana","tag-inalj-maine","tag-inalj-michigan","tag-inalj-minnesota","tag-inalj-mississippi","tag-inalj-missouri","tag-josh-rimmer","tag-librarian-civil-service","tag-librarian-civil-service-exam","tag-tips"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/joshrimmer.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1WoMK-l26","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/80854","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=80854"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/80854\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/74696"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=80854"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=80854"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=80854"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}