Pros
- My direct manager is great. And the managers in my region are all really kind and supportive.
- Friendly and helpful coworkers.
- Pays a living wage (although the starting wage could be more livable, it is one of the most expensive cities in the country after all).
- Great benefits on the whole, especially the medical insurance and pension if you stay for at least five years.
- Some people will view this as a con, but I like that we work one weekend day and in exchange get one weekday off. It helps me have time to run errands and do things that are only open on weekdays, like go to the pharmacy or see my therapist. It was hard at first but you get used to it.
- If you work in the library branches, your start time is anywhere from around 9:30 to around 11:30. So if you're not a morning person, this schedule might be a great fit for you. And if you are a morning person and you like getting things done for work, it might be good for you too.
Cons
- Almost no opportunities to move up or grow your career professionally. They hire externally a lot more than they hire from within, so if you're getting your MLIS degree and you work at KCLS, expect that you'll need to move out of state to get your first librarian job. They don't want to hire anyone who hasn't already been a librarian. The same is true for service center positions. Apparently there's a team working on internal development opportunities, but I'm not exactly sure what they do all day.
- Senior leadership and people at service center do things without consulting people at the branches, and send emails notifying you of significant changes or programs with one business day's notice.
- HR is notoriously slow at responding to email requests. They haven’t got the time of day to pay attention to their internal customers. They could learn a thing or two from people in other departments, like IT.
- Expect to have to do a fair amount of masking at work, especially if you are neurodivergent.
- The Public Services Assistant job is pretty boring to be honest. Expect to spend a lot of time staring into space while you look for something to do. There's not enough work to go around, but they need enough staff at any given time in case something goes down with patron behavior, and so that staff don't get burnt out on the desk. But if you're someone who likes staying busy, having something to do at all times, and being mentally challenged in your work, then you may find this job very psychologically difficult and boring. Boreout is a real thing.
- You'll get off work late, some days at 8pm or later.