Jennifer Holt asks:
> I'm wondering what type of questions are asked in museum interviews?
>
There are a couple of things that you can expect to be asked.  For instance,
there is sure to be some sort of questions about museum ethics.  Although we
all talk about ethics, hiring officials usually like to know that
prospective employees know what is and is not ethical.

You can expect to be asked about your familiarity with federal laws that
pertain to museum collections.  Specifically, you might be asked about
NAGPRA, federal gun registration requirements, or endangered species laws
and treaties.  You might also be asked about archaeological resources
protection laws (aside from NAGPRA) and laws and treaties on the importation
of antiquities.  Depends entirely upon what type of museum you are
interviewing at and what position you are interviewing for.

If you are interviewing for a programming position, you should have some
ideas about programs that the museum is not currently doing that they might
consider--remember to make it as specific to the mission and collections of
the institution as you can.

The other thing that you should be prepared to do is demonstrate that you
are aware of what museum you are actually in (don't laugh--you cannot assume
that someone coming in for an interview actually knows where they are!),
what it collects, what type of programming it does, how it is governed, and
it would be helpful to know names of staff (who is the director, if you are
not interviewing with that person).  That, actually, is the same as for any
business interview, but I guarantee you that you will not get a happy call
if you breeze into a place and really don't know where you are.

Interviews are nerve-wracking things, but if you are prepared (and if you
don't set yourself up by deciding that this is THE job for you), you can
relax and enjoy getting to know someone who, with luck, will become a
professional colleague someday.

Good luck to you.

Claudia Nicholson

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