Metropolitan Library System (Oklahoma) Interview Questions
& Process

The interview process involves behavioral questions, where they're looking for answers that follow the CAR method: Context, Action, and Result. They'll give you the interview questions upfront so you can take a few minutes to think about them before the interview officially starts.

The whole thing takes weeks to months, it's a very long process. I've applied to 7 different library positions in the last 4 months. I got an interview at 3 different libraries but haven't been hired yet. I don't have any customer service experience and no degree. All three libraries had basically the same "behavioral" questions. You'd definitely need to study and write down answers for these. There will be 3 people asking questions in turns during the interview. They will be judging your answers. The people I interviewed with were nice but didn't say much besides asking questions. I don't really get why they need 3 people for the interview, but whatever. I wrote down some questions they asked to help out. I don't think they'll hire me, maybe I'm too socially awkward or don't have enough customer service experience. You can write your answers down in a notebook to reference during the interview, they don't mind if you bring it and look at it.

I applied for the job in early December 2022 and heard back after about 3 weeks for a pre-recorded video interview. It was my first time doing one, so it felt a bit weird. It had just 3 questions: introduce myself and my background, and then two about dealing with difficult customers. A couple weeks later, they emailed to set up an in-person interview. This was a standard round robin format with a focus on behavioral questions (they let us know this and gave examples to prepare) and some technical questions too. I got the offer a few days after that and started about a week later. They match start dates to the start of pay periods, which means you wait around 3 weeks for your first paycheck.

You first submit an application online. It can take weeks to months to hear back. If you're selected, you'll do a video interview via VidCruiter with pre-written questions, where you have 2 minutes to respond. After that, you might have a live interview, sometimes with only a few days' notice. For the live interview, you need to prepare a presentation, the topic of which varies. There's also an online 'personality quiz'. The live interview itself is with a panel, often including managers without direct experience in the role or branch, plus the branch manager. They ask behavioral questions, usually complex and multi-part, and won't give feedback unless you cover all parts (context, action, result). Then you present for 7-8 minutes, often pitching a program in an unconventional format. They'll then ask if you have anything else to share and allow you to ask questions. You'll hear about an offer a few days to a few weeks later. If not selected, you might hear back or never hear back.