So true

There was an interesting post on A Librarian's Guide to Etiquette today. It addressed the length of time incurred while hiring an academic librarian. While academia in general moves excruciatingly slowly, libraries seem to enjoy making the process even longer. As a frequent observer of the search process I am amazed that any of our applicants are still unemployed by the time we get around to making an offer.

The students in my course are bemused when I explain the multiple steps that we need to go through to first get approval, then advertise, then sort through the myriad and mystifying applicants before we even get to the interview stage. The time taken between the interview and candidate notification is another process that evades understanding. Apparently a blood oath is required from the candidate before their name can even be released as the new hire.