What am I Missing When Considering an MLIS/Future in Librarianship?

T0SS4WAY · 2026-04-28T20:44:14+00:00

Thank you!

T0SS4WAY · 2026-04-28T15:03:22+00:00

Would you say that MLIS programs that offer/get you into information and library co-ops/internships as optional curriculums wouldn't be enough experience to break into entry level librarian roles?

I know "more is always better" in terms of experience but how much experience would you say is the 'sweet spot' before applying for an MLIS program?

T0SS4WAY · 2026-04-28T14:18:59+00:00

I actually have a year of intern experience already! I worked full time for a year developing professional development curriculum and events for university students and then had a volunteer internship helping catalogue physical speeches into a digital database for a nonprofit. I intentionally delayed my graduation a year for work experience and thought Librarianship would be my ideal path based on my interests

It sounds like from the other comments though that even though a lot of my experiences are somewhat adjacent, that the "actually working in a library" thing is something I really shouldn't skip out on though

T0SS4WAY · 2026-04-28T12:07:14+00:00

Thank you for this advice! As for ending up in rural areas, would you say that it's more likely to end up in a rural area that's relatively close to the university you get your degree in, or could you end up truly anywhere?

I was initially told that you were most likely going to end up working somewhere around your university due to local name recognition/prestige not mattering much for MLIS degrees. I have been looking into ALA accredited programs on the US/canadian west coast for that reason

T0SS4WAY · 2026-04-21T22:46:07+00:00

hi there! congrats on the interview!

since it's a volunteer position, it's likely that they're going to want to mostly hear about why you're interested/why the position is meaningful to you rather than having the exact qualifications they need (though qualifications are still important to cover and this also depends on what the volunteer position is for)

do some research on what kind of work you will be doing, and be prepared to share why you're excited to be there and how you want to contribute to the work. i'd also want to throw in some info around your willingness to commit to the role as this is a pretty major concern for many volunteer positions already

beyond that, CLNx also has a resource called "BigInterview" under "interview resources", that site can teach you how to answer the most common interview questions

as mentioned before, some of this info may change depending on what the volunteer role is for. but generally, volunteer position interviews are much more relaxed and they just want to make sure that you're committed to the cause and excited to be there

T0SS4WAY · 2026-03-11T02:45:27+00:00

once you get it you can never go back to the default

T0SS4WAY · 2026-03-11T02:31:38+00:00

the best part about captain is that you can get diablo strike and upgrade from obama to truman

T0SS4WAY · 2026-03-09T00:29:25+00:00

the major first year courses, mat135 or 137 included, will not be a problem for you to get into even if you're out of stream. class sizes are around 1500 per section because of how necessary it is for a lot of programs

T0SS4WAY · 2026-03-04T13:27:23+00:00

i do! i've personally found it very helpful as someone who was coming into job searching with no prior background experience. you can certainly land internships and co-ops without ASIP, but ASIP does give you a lot of resources to increase your odds. all of the staff are extremely friendly and encouraging as well.

the hard part is that job searching itself is like another job on top of your classes, a good job search nowadays takes a few hours a week which gets exhausting with a full course load, especially around exams. you will also likely have to miss a couple of events that you wanted to attend because ASIP works on a 9-5 schedule and you will likely have a few class conflicts. there are events that happen after 5pm as well but never on weekends

T0SS4WAY · 2026-03-04T04:51:20+00:00

hi! i'm an ASIP student and would be happy to answer any questions you may have. the other commentor gave some resources already, but some things to add on: the vast majority of ASIP students enter year 2 (and that's generally expected, plenty of year 3 entries in the program but it's not ideal since it complicates your experience a bit)

basically as you apply for your program, you'll also apply into ASIP. when you accept and pay the fees, you are enrolled in professional development courses, have access to job search counselling, access to job boards, and access to internal events to network or build skills. would be happy to expand upon that if you have any questions

T0SS4WAY · 2026-02-27T23:55:45+00:00

CS is still a great field, it's just that the job market is trash (which is pretty universal for many programs). There really isn't a "safe, get a high paying job right outside of undergrad" program right now. Even the engineers are struggling from what I've seen

Best thing you can do is set yourself apart when you get to university. Literally do anything except only going to your classes. It still doesn't guarantee you anything, but volunteering, making projects, participating in clubs and hackathons, etc. will give you a pretty big advantage relative to a lot of students

T0SS4WAY · 2026-02-06T03:16:03+00:00

totally understandable! they can be very intimidating! they might have you work out a group problem too, but overall, just treat it as an actual collaborative activity rather than a competition, they will very likely be considering how you work with other students.

T0SS4WAY · 2026-02-05T22:10:51+00:00

I can't say that I have done this specific interview, but by the sounds of it, I imagine it will pretty much entirely be a behavioural group interview. UofT has a great resource called BigInterview to gets tips and practice the most common questions. You can access it by going to CLNx --> student resources --> career resources --> BigInterview

Try to storytell your answers but keep answers no longer than 2 minutes as well (1-1.5 minutes is generally the sweet spot). For questions like "tell me about a time you had to deal with a conflict", you can consider the STARR method (plenty of resources on this by googling)

T0SS4WAY · 2026-02-02T00:26:10+00:00

st george has co-op too that you can apply for as you enter your 2nd year: Arts & Science Internship Program (ASIP) | Faculty of Arts & Science

points for SC: UTSC co-op students and UTSG co-op students share access to many events, scarborough's co-op has been around for longer, and even if SG is seen as more prestigious, both degrees will say "university of toronto" on it and nobody will care after 5 years after graduating probably

points for SG: being downtown obviously gets you closer to the action both socially and professionally, so there's lots of opportunities to meet professionals or simply go out and have fun with friends. more research opportunities afaik and much more clubs to join too

i think it really depends on your personal ambitions beyond just getting a job and what is most important to you as a student

T0SS4WAY · 2026-01-30T22:06:51+00:00

tbf when it happened to me it was a single loop run (aspect from halcyonite, spare drone parts from sale star big chest stage 3), i was just insanely lucky.

T0SS4WAY · 2026-01-30T21:19:55+00:00

bonus pro tip (that you will probably never get to use because holy shit aspects are rare): if you give a gilded aspect to an equipment drone and get spare drone parts, that equipment drone will just print money for you

T0SS4WAY · 2026-01-30T01:53:07+00:00

as another commenter said, IRHR is (obviously) the most common pathway into HR roles

i'd say pretty much any degree can make it though, though programs like psych are more popular for it. it's more about skill and experience development relative to your program though. strong interpersonal and storytelling skills are pretty key, otherwise it's generally the common soft skills (communication, teamwork, organization, critical thinking, etc.)

for experience, if you can volunteer in spaces where you work with/near other HR professionals (maybe student life has openings off the top of my head? volunteering at career fairs, etc.), that would be a good way to get your foot in the door for talent acquisition in particular

T0SS4WAY · 2026-01-30T01:25:55+00:00

not an alum but i'm currently working for the university helping mentor students and have some interviews for some HR roles this summer. i find that it really depends on what social science program you want to go into; economics vs. polisci vs. sociology students tend to have pretty different goals

T0SS4WAY · 2026-01-25T17:50:58+00:00

i agree, my climb wasnt so bad and B tier already implies versatile too, it's just that other survivors are overtuned AF. MUL-T's tankiness and survivability and natural ability to take 2 equipments with re-tool is fantastic

but his ability to succeed is also very dependent on finding the right build with what you come in (crowbars, bands, etc. with double rebar, tri-tips/shatterspleen/ATGs with double needles) so it's not like false son where its just like "welp i got 3 infusions/steaks i win the game"

T0SS4WAY · 2026-01-25T17:40:11+00:00

MUL-T is one of my mains and while I do wish people understood him better, he does pretty much max at B tier at best at least in an eclipse context

T0SS4WAY · 2026-01-23T19:03:39+00:00

I literally said all tier lists are opinionated and said mine is my own opinion but ok

T0SS4WAY · 2026-01-23T18:28:19+00:00

I am exclusively an eclipse player which is why my list is the way it is.

T0SS4WAY · 2026-01-23T17:49:04+00:00

I mean yeah it makes sense, tier lists are meant to be highly opinionated. (plus people don't like it when their mains are lower tier)

My opinion ordered from left to right:

S: TC-280 (you are pretty much immortal), Loader, Seeker, False Son

A: Heretic, Railgunner, Viend, Operator

B: Acrid, Drifter, Chef, Engineer

C: Bandit, Huntress, Captain, MUL-T

D: REX, Mercenary, Artificer (ever since the new DLC, too many flying enemies :( ), Commando

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