I've not been following this issue lately, but since the latest digest to
reach me was so big that it nearly killed my PC, I feel it's time to wade
in.

To begin with,  PLEASE do not return your comments with the entire original
message attached to it. Those people who are following the issue won't need
to be reminded about what has been said, and those who aren't interested
don't want to read the same "banter" over and over again. Please use a
little commonsense and follow the protocol.

Now to the issue itself! Lets try and look at the positions & politics
issue on a global scale. There are many members of this list who do not
reside in North America. The posting of position announcements enables us
real time access to potential jobs. If we have to rely on snail mail, then
we often miss opportunities because the information is out of date by the
time we get it. Perhaps a compromise is in order? Should position postings
on the list be limited to what job is available, and where/who to get more
information from? I'd be happy with that.

As for postings of resumes, I must say I wouldn't encourage that, although
I don't necessarily object to it. Let's face reality; there aren't too many
museums that have vacant positions that are so hard to fill that they have
to go actively looking for people, rather than inviting applications. I've
never heard of any museum approaching someone, purely because they stumbled
across a resume somewhere.

With respect to getting your foot in the museum world door, I support those
others who have suggested volunteer work. I've been on both sides of the
door. When I was studying at university, I was also doing volunteer work at
several institutions. In fact the Materials Conservation program at the
University of Canberra requires their students to do  a certain amount of
volunteer work before they can graduate. I found it invaluable for several
reasons. To begin with, it exposed me to the "real world" where time is
money. It also helped me establish a reputation with potential employers. I
consider this to be just as important as my formal qualifications.

From the other side of the "door", ie, a potential employer, when I'm
looking for a new employee, I want someone with a proven ability to the job
that I'm offering. A university qualification isn't necessarily proof of
that. I've had undergraduate student volunteers who have performed better
than some qualified people I've worked with.  On many occasions my
contemporaries in other Australian conservation labs have sought my opinion
of recent graduates who have did volunteer work with me.

George Bailey
Objects Conservator
Australian War Memorial
Treloar Centre for Conservation
4 Callan St, Mitchell, A.C.T. 2911
Australia
Phone: +61 2 6243 4440
fax:   +61 2 6241 7998
email: [log in to unmask]

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