On 2/3/07, Pamela Silvestri <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>
> For example, how could I assure you Lane, that despite what little knowledge
> I have of the subject of your collections - that I will become knowledgeable
> and be able to properly care for and interpret these collections?
>
> Across the board, I have found that museum's are more willing to consider
> hiring someone who is an 'expert' in whatever the collections are, but has
> no museum background...rather than vice-versa.

I think you may be misreading the situation. Perhaps the unwillingness
is not that they don't trust that you can learn it. It's that they
view their primary mission as "the museum". That's what they value. If
you don't have that as your primary mission, then you are seen as less
valuable. They're uncomfortable with people who are not exactly  like
themselves, and they're uncomfortable with hiring you. Your lack of
specific knowledge says to them, "I'm different. You'll be taking a
risk in hiring me. If things go wrong, it will be easy for people to
see that I was the wrong choice."

Also, when you try to convince them that you can learn the specifics,
you're saying to them "Your job is so easy to do that a
"non-professional" can do it. It's just a matter of training." There's
no way to win this -- except by saying that you can learn "enough to
support the real experts that work/volunteer at this institution."
It's the word "enough" that gets you out of a jam.

In addition, you should realize that the behavior you ascribe to
yourself positions you as a generalist. One who's able and interested
in learning a variety of subjects. There's nothing wrong with this,
but I don't think generalists are valued by today's society. We
respect specialists and look at generalists as people who are
scatterbrained and can't settle down to a single subject. That's a
bias that's hard to beat. So, by talking about a wide variety of
subjects you've studied, you may be telling them that you're never
happy with what you're doing, that you want to be a "perpetual
student." People who don't operate this way (i.e., the majority),
don't really understand people who really want to be constantly
learning about new things in new areas. Thus, they're uncomfortable
hiring them.

So, what to do? The main thing would be to make them comfortable
hiring you. Demonstrate how your wide-ranging skills and experience
will actually make their lives easier. You must stop pretending that
you can ever be a specialist and show them that your lack of special
knowledge won't get in the way of the specialists. And that your
skills as a generalist will give them innovation in whatever areas
they need it. For this, you'll need to do your research to figure out
in advance what areas they say they need improvement. Not what areas
they need improvement, but what areas they say they need improvement.
(Well, you can take a risk and talk about what areas you think they
need to improve, but this my hinder your ability to get the job. Get
the job first and then work on the areas you think they've ignored.)

It isn't easy. In fact, one of the reasons I gave up museum work is
because I got tired of hearing I was "overqualified". It's sad to
think people who love learning are pushed out of the field that's all
about learning.

-- 
Margaret
[log in to unmask]

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