How To Become A Serials Assistant: What It Is and Career Path

What is a serials assistant and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

2 min read

There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a serials assistant. For example, did you know that they make an average of $17.39 an hour? That's $36,172 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow -4% and produce -6,400 job opportunities across the U.S.

ScoreSerials AssistantUS Average

Salary

2.8

Avg. Salary $36,172

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

4.9

Growth rate -4%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

6.3

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.79%

Asian 5.94%

Black or African American 11.43%

Hispanic or Latino 12.56%

Unknown 4.63%

White 64.65%

Gender

female 69.16%

male 30.84%

Age - 49

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 49

Stress level

4.9

Stress level is manageable

7.1 - high

Complexity level

3.7

Complexity level is basic

7 - challenging

Work life balance

10.0

Work life balance is excellent

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a serials assistant

Explore serials assistant education requirements

Most common serials assistant degrees

Bachelor's

74.4 %

Master's

14.6 %

High School Diploma

7.3 %

Start to develop specific serials assistant skills

Skills	Percentages
OCLC	30.18%
Newspapers	19.21%
Library Materials	16.49%
Cataloging	12.33%
Marc	11.42%

Complete relevant serials assistant training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 1-3 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New serials assistants learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a serials assistant based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real serials assistant resumes.

Research serials assistant duties and responsibilities

Edit MARC records for serials.
Process newspapers, magazines, and journals using SirsiDynix.
Shelve periodicals and newspapers in the periodical area and keep the area tidy.
Spearhead creation of a share document listing recurring names and terminology to facilitate consistent taxonomy across the cataloging team.

Prepare your serials assistant resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your serials assistant resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a serials assistant resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable serials assistant resume templates

Build a professional serials assistant resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your serials assistant resume.