Bill Peterson's thoughts about the possible wage-depressing effects of highly
educated people volunteering strikes a chord. It is generally accepted in
industrial economics that employing a people-group willing to work for less
(women, minorities, non-union) in fact depresses the wage scale for the
entire industry. It's an interesting philosophical question to ask if museums
haven't in fact done that to themselves. I certainly know of one museum that
turns part-time people into "full-time professionals" by taking their
part-time hourly rate (average $6 per hour) and giving them 40 hours per
weeks (exempt from overtime) and benefits. Ouch!

On another point, as someone who employs staff, "intern" sounds much better
than "volunteer," at least for a long-term (several months) unpaid
experience. I might find myself wondering why someone was "unemployable" if
they worked for a long time as a 5 day a week "volunteer". On the other hand,
getting a less desired job in a somewhat related field while continuing to
volunteer for a 1 or 2 per week would show me that this person was was
employable in general and still dedicated to the museum field. This could be
useful if someone had gotten a job somehow in one area of museums (say a
history museum) but really had the training and desire to work in an art
museum.

Anyone who is thinking of going to grad school in the museum field should try
to attend a school an area of the country where you would like to live for
awhile. That's because you will learn the professional network for that area
and it will be easier to get a job there. This advice was given to me before
I attended grad school and I'm grateful that I heeded it.

Well, that my 2 cents.

Jeannine Finton
Museum Education Consultant and Program Developer

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