I'll throw in my two cents as well... I agree with Janice. If you can afford
to stay in the field in this manner, it is the best way of continuing to
gain experience AND networking. Even though you are moving around a lot, you
are constantly meeting new people in the field. Ultimately, any of the
people you have worked with could be good connections for a permanent job.

I wish I had taken advantage of more opportunities to move around and try
internships before landing a permanent job and getting so settled in.

As long as you are not quitting a project halfway through, or cutting an
internship short, there is nothing about this kind of job experience that
would speak poorly of you when applying for a "real" job.

Erica

>
> >I've just graduated with a BA in History myself, and have taken
> a year out
> >to travel and gain some relevant work experience before, hopefully,
> starting
> >an MA in Museology/Museum Studies in the UK next year. And, like many
> museum
> >hopefuls, I've tried to get as much experience as possible in the field -
> >I've completed a summer internship at the Smithsonian, done a short work
> >placement at a film archive, and am currently doing research at
> a museum in
> >Singapore in preparation for a new exhibition, on an intern's salary.
> >
> >But recently, the nagging question of how expedient these short-term
> >'experience' stints will be in the long run has cropped up. Some people
> have
> >suggested that a future potential employer would be more interested in
> >whether I've managed to hold down a 'real' job (ie a properly-paid,
> >long-term employment stint, not necessarily in a museum, as such jobs
> aren't
> >that easy to get into in Singapore) than the number of volunteer/work
> >experience placements I've done. There's been some pressure from family
> >members to forget the year out idea and to find myself a
> regular, permanent
> >job instead of moving from one stint to another before I leave again next
> >September. Does anybody have any thoughts on this? As another poster
> pointed
> >out, I've tried to focus on specific aspects (curatorial, in
> this case) of
> >museum work instead of volunteering to try everything and
> anything, but I'm
> >growing increasingly uncertain as to whether these short-term placements
> >will ultimately prove more useful than holding down one (not necessarily
> >related) job for a prolonged stretch of time before trying to enter the
> >museum world.
> >
> >Liana
> >
> >-----------------------------------------------------
> >5000J Marine Parade Road #03-43
> >Singapore 449291
> >Tel: 65-4498483
> >-------------------------------------------------------
> >
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