I will be graduating from grad school in a week with a masters in
museum studies, I've got a masters in history already, and lots of volunteer
experience, and I'm having problems finding a job!  I've been looking since
February and expect to keep looking for a while. I would suggest applying to
any job that looks interesting, regardless of experience. You don't know
what the institution might be looking for that you might be able to offer.
Definately volunteer, especially at museums you'd be interested in working
for someday - that way if jobs come up, the staff already knows who you are
and what you can do. Look at jobs which you aren't that interested in but
which could give you a foot in the door: get a job in a museum store - sure,
retail isn't great, but you have access to job postings within the museum
which aren't always advertised, and with flexible hours you can spend more
time volunteering. One of my classmates got a great job at the Museum of
Flight here in Seattle by starting in the gift shop. If you are serious
about grad school, maybe you should take a few years in a job that will make
lots of money, then you can get back to museums when you are in school - and
you can volunteer or intern for credit then.
            Don't give up hope, but don't have unrealistic expectations
either.
      Good luck,   Kirstin Holm

-----Original Message-----
From: Robin <[log in to unmask]>
To: [log in to unmask] <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Monday, May 29, 2000 3:44 AM
Subject: museum experience


>I will be graduating college with a B.A. in history in 2 months time. I
>would like to pursue a career in museum work. Graduate school is of course
>planned for the future, not the immediate future, but sometime within the
>next 3 years. I was looking through a museum newsletter and became very
>frustrated when all of the jobs in museum work that I was interested in
>requested that the applicant have 3 to 5 years of experience. The is a
>double edged sword here folks. How am I supposed to get that many years of
>experience when I can't get a job because I haven't had a job to gain that
>many years of experience? I am a huge fan of volunteerism, but I certainly
>can't volunteer in a museum for the next 3 years. I am currently doing a 6
>week internship at a locan railroaders museum, getting introduced to all
>aspects of museum work. However, 6 weeks isn't 3 years. There are people,
>me being one of them,who would want to be able to take over caring for
>historical artifacts and want to learn the proper techniques for doing so,
>but run into problems because we are unable to find people or programs that
>are willing to do on the job training. Remember, if you (as in museum
>professionals) are worried about who will take care of artifacts and other
>historical aspects, rest assure there are people out there who are more
>than willing to learn the craft, just teach us.
>
>Any advice and/or comments would be wonderful and most appreciated.
>
>Thank you
>Robin F.
>
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