Editor’s note: We welcome a guest blog post from Lexi Kadis, Teaching and Learning Librarian at the University of Maryland Libraries.
I was in a state of perpetual déjà vu throughout the Spring 2026 semester. Just a year ago, I was on the academic librarian job market—revising CVs, writing cover letters, interviewing (rinse and repeat)—and now, I was helping six Master of Library and Information Science (MLIS) graduate students navigate the job search process.
I work as the Teaching and Learning Librarian at University of Maryland Libraries where I am also a co-director of the Libraries’ Reference and Teaching Fellowship (RTF), a three-semester, scaffolded professional development program that prepares MLIS students to be academic librarians. Since its founding in 2015, the Fellowship has supported more than 50 Fellows and has a proven track record of helping students find jobs (I should know, as I am a 2025 RTF alumna myself!).
Over the past semester, I have learned that supporting MLIS students on the job market takes a great deal of time, energy, and emotional labor. While I am a part of a team of four librarians who mentor our Fellows, I understand that for many librarians, providing mentorship and guidance to graduate students is a siloed act of service to the profession. To that end, I wanted to share my experiences and perspectiveon how to provide effective and sustainable mentorship to MLIS students.
Don’t Be the Cure-All
I first want to acknowledge that many graduate students turn to their library supervisors and mentors for job search guidance because of a lack of support from MLIS programs. Many of our Fellows have noted that the coursework and infrastructure of their graduate program has not prepared them to apply for academic librarian positions. From knowing when to start applying to jobs to turning resumes into CVs to preparing for full day interviews with job presentations, the hidden curriculum of the academic library job process is not being taught in library science classes.
Given the deficit of structural support—something you may have experienced in your own MLIS program—it is easy to want to be a cure-all for your mentees. However, trying to provide all the solutions is not a sustainable model for mentorship, particularly when it comes to the job search process. Based on my own experience, it is important to clearly communicate to your graduate students the types of help you can provide and when they should seek support elsewhere. Even if their MLIS program does not have a robust job search support system, students may have access to a campus career center, for example, and you can direct them to these types of resources.
Synchronous Feedback is your Best Friend
Guiding MLIS students through the job search process is very time-consuming. Reviewing materials, practicing for interviews, and serving as references can quickly eat up your whole work week. That is why it is helpful to think of ways to reduce time spent on this aspect of mentorship. One of the best ways to save time is to provide synchronous feedback only for application materials (whether CVs, cover letters, job presentation slide decks, lesson plans, etc.). For our Fellowship, this typically looks like a 20-30 minute meeting where I meet with the Fellow to review their documents and to provide verbal feedback.
I have found that synchronous feedback has benefits for both mentors and graduate students. It takes significantly less time to read and comment on a cover letter in person or over Zoom as, compared to doing it asynchronously. Additionally, when providing live feedback, students get to ask you clarifying questions in real time. Our Fellows have also noted that synchronous feedback is more helpful because a mentor reading your cover letter mirrors a potential employer doing the same. Rather than receiving line by line edits, hearing someone’s gut reaction helps graduate students understand if a cover letter is written effectively and persuasively.
The Emotional and Invisible Labor of Mentorship
I want to conclude this post by recognizing the emotional labor that goes into mentoring MLIS graduate students. We all know that the job search process can be emotionally charged, especially in an increasingly competitive job market and an unstable world at large. Writing cover letters and preparing for interviews is a deeply personal and vulnerable process that can bring up questions of identity and various feelings. As mentors, we are not only helping students to navigate the job search, but also the emotional potholes that come along with it.
It is equally important to acknowledge that mentorship is often invisible labor. The guidance that library mentors provide to graduate students is invaluable but often overlooked or unseen as part of our professional portfolios. The lack of visibility contributes to the isolation of mentors from each other. Based on my work with a team of librarians to support our Fellows, I believe that mentorship is at its best when it is collaborative. We can become better mentors by learning from each other. I encourage everyone to share their ideas, advice, and resources for mentoring MLIS students within their networks and communities.
Lastly, I want to thank the librarians and LIS professionals who have mentored me over the course of my library science journey and education. I think mentorship is very much a pay-it-forward act of service, and I am very grateful to be able to be a mentor to current and future graduate students.