JHANDLEY wrote:
>
>      You've stumbled onto one of the hard facts of the museum field today,
>      and I don't believe it will ever change. There are so many young
>      people coming into the field (is it true that there are some 7,000
>      students enrolled in museum grad programs?) who are willing to work
>      for low wages or as interns to gain experience. It makes it very hard
>      to enter the field (for that matter, it is hard for those already in
>      the field who just want to move on to a new position). I was one of
>      those interns once and worked for peanuts part-time so that I could
>      gain experience.
>
>      Here's another question that I struggle with.  What I really don't
>      understand is why, when museums are so concerned about building local
>      community, do they immediately launch a national search for a position
>      that could easily be filled by someone living locally?  It is one of
>      the great contradictions of the field.
>
>      John Handley
>      San Francisco
>
> ______________________________ Reply Separator _________________________________
> Subject: Museum jobs. *sigh*
> Author:  Museum discussion list <[log in to unmask]> at internet
> Date:    2/6/98 6:36 AM
>
> Is it fair to say that most museum jobs (even entry-level) require 3+ years
> experience?  How does one get museum experience without a museum job?  I see
> a pattern of itinerant workers in the museum field: volunteer a few months
> here, work on a project a few months there, etc.  Stay at the same location
> at most a year.  It doesn't sound a very stable lifestyle for a
> married/family person breaking into the field.
>
> I'm not a total newcomer to the ideosyncrasies of museum studies.  Undergrad
> degrees in anthropology and history, with some graduate work in archaeology
> and museum studies -- I really wanted to pursue (and still think about) the
> field(s).  But it seemed too harsh.  I ended up going back for an undergrad
> in the computer sciences.  Jobs abound, salary is good, but they're dull.
>
> My dream job would be a database analyst/researcher for a huge
> paleontological or archaeological collection.  Full benefits package, didn't
> require 10+ years in a museum (2 years as a database administrator, and a
> triple-major in anthro/history/computer science should be adequate). If only
> such a job were there.  Would some kind soul e-mail me if it exists?
>
> -Paul Bramscher
>  Information Technology Specialist
>  [log in to unmask]
>  http://www.freenet.msp.mn.us/people/bramschp/resume.html

Your last point is interesting.  I run a museum in a mixed rural/urban
county, not too far from Houston.  I have just met with our human
resources committee to argue that there is no way in the world I could
possibly attract a "qualified" curator of exhibits and collections on
the salary recently recommended by a compensation consultant.  The one I
have just interviewed up the road a piece, at a comparably sized museum,
for a position that would start at $5500 more than she currently makes.
The consultant recommended that the county increase her salary to $4000
less than she would get at the other museum.

If she leaves, as she surely will if offered the job, there is a minimal
chance that I would be able to replace her from the "local" community,
as you suggest.  The problem is, I will probably have to try and will
probably have to accept an unqualified, untrained, curator and then
spend three to five years and lots of money getting her/him trained.
Contrary to what you have noted about the availability of cheap help,
low salaried help is not necessarily cheap.  We have just completed two
projects that each took over a year of staff time, fixing what a series
of low paid librarians and curators had done to our collections records.
That is two years of staff time that could have been devoted to other
projects.  It is a direct result of volunteer managers who, in ignorance
(bless their hearts), ran the institution for ten years knowing little
about collections management. And that was not their only shortcoming.
My predecessor was the previous director's secretary!  They hired her
because they would only have to raise her salary a little bit (she was a
woman after all) and did not want to go to the Commissioners' Court for
an attractive director's salary.  We have paid the price.

I wonder how many other museums that are paying low salaries to
youngsters right out of school will also pay the price down the road.  I
would hope that those who have such employment practices, at least have
competent management to lead them.

I response to the person who complained about the oft-stated requirement
that one have 3+ years experience:  ignore it and send your resume.  I
was hired here six years ago without having one day's experience in a
museum.  What I did have, was twenty years of non-profit organization
development and administration.  As I remember, I didn't even send a
resume, just a letter and in the letter I matched my skills to what
their ad said they were looking for.  It worked and if I might toot my
horn a bit, it has paid off for them.

In short, don't be turned off by what the ad says.  Go for it anyway.
--
Bob Handy, Director
Brazoria County Historical Museum
Angleton, Texas
http://www.bchm.org