I would also like to thank Deb Fuller for taking the time to list helpful
ideas for finding a museum position.  After twenty years of retail and
office work, I decided to change gears and get a degree in Art History.  I
am presently, while finishing my second semester of graduate school,
applying for internships in the DC area.  Hopefully, I will be successful,
and will become one step closer to my goal of full-time employment in a
career that will enable me to research, write and educate others about art,
a passion I have had all my life but never stopped to think it was
practical - until just a few years ago. (Thanks to a very welcome mid-life
crisis!)

Carol Riggles
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-----Original Message-----
From: Deb Fuller <[log in to unmask]>
To: [log in to unmask] <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Sunday, April 02, 2000 10:00 PM
Subject: Museums jobs - an unoffical guide


>Since we've recently been bombarded with "Gee, I have a X degree and want
to
>work in the museum world, what do I need to do to get a job," posts, I
>figured I'd write an unoffical guide to getting a museum job which sums up
>everything people have said and will say to questions like that. Feel free
to
>add to it.
>
>-------
>Deb's Unofficial Guide to Getting a Job in the Museum World
>
>So you want to work in museums? Why? You think they're cool; you want to
>justify getting a degree in obscure pre-celtic French impressionist
painters;
>or you really loved going to your local museum as a kid and want to work
>there. Whatever the reason, the museum job hunt is challenging, demanding
and
>ultimately rewarding. Expect your job hunt to take 6 months to a couple of
>years. Yes people get jobs first shot but those are the exceptions. The job
>hunt is like a job in itself. It will take time and effort to get where you
>want to be in the museum world.
>
>1. Research museum jobs. There are many different types of positions and
>fields out there to go into. Museum educators, curators, registrars,
>development/grant writers, administration, special events, exhibits,
computer
>specialists and volunteer coordinators just to name a few. The smaller the
>museum, the more areas each person will have to cover.
>
>2. Network, Network, Network. Find museum professionals and talk to them.
>Find out what experiences they have and what education they got. Most
museum
>professionals are friendly and will take time out to talk to you. Ask for
>informational interviews. DON'T bring your resume to them. It's bad form.
>After you talk to someone, thank them profusely and ask them to refer you
to
>someone else. Send them a nice note after you leave. You never know when
they
>might call you back or pass a job lead on to you. Make a schedule of
>networking like one a week, every two weeks or every month. Keep it up and
>keep meeting people.
>
>3. Think Small. This comes in two parts. First off, don't apply for that
>director position straight off. Go for the executive assistant instead.
Don't
>go for full curator, go for registrar or curatorial assistant. You need
>experience even if you are coming from another career field and have job
>experience.
>    Secondly, look at smaller, local museums. Smaller museums usually will
>allow you to get a lot of work experience in different areas. In a large
>museum, you might be stuck in one area like registrar of a certain
>collection. But in a smaller museum, you might be a registrar, lead
>educational programs and help coordinate volunteers.
>
>4. Volunteer, Intern or Work Part-time. If there are no positions open or
you
>aren't sure if you really want to work in the museum field, look at
>volunteering or interning or getting a part-time position. Most museums
won't
>turn down someone who is eager to work and is willing to learn. Don't
expect
>to come in and take over either. Again, start small. If you want to be a
>registrar, start out by volunteering to clean artifacts from a local
>archaeology dig. If you want to do museum education, volunteer to help out
>with summer camps. If you stick around long enough and show people that you
>are responsible, you will get more and more responsibilities. Larger
museums
>usually have formal intern or volunteer programs. For the Smithsonian,
Elena
>Mayberry is a treasure-trove of information. (I always have to plug Elena
>because she helped me get my first museum job. :) Interning and
volunteering
>are good ways to meet people and NETWORK.
>
>5. NETWORK! Did I mention networking?
>
>6. Professional Organizations. Find out what the professionals in your area
>belong to and pay your dues. A good one to start out with is the American
>Association of Museums. Not only will you keep current on what is
happening,
>you also can put it on your resume. All professionals should be a member of
>at least one professional organization in their profession.
>
>7. Go to Professional Conferences. Have VISA will travel. Pay it off later.
>Take advantage of student discounts. This is probably the best way to meet
>people and NETWORK. A lot of conferences also have job boards and resume
>drops. There are usually jobs posted at these conferences that aren't
listed
>anywhere else. Come with plenty of resumes and business cards. Thanks to
ink
>jet printers, you too can have decent looking business cards.
>
>8. You're competing with people with Master's degrees and 5 years of
>experience. Get used to it. You may be just as competent to do the job as
the
>next guy but his MA with 5 years of experience will get his foot in the
door
>while it slams on yours. Keep applying for jobs but volunteer, intern or
work
>part-time to get you that experience. If you want to be a curator of
>pre-Celtic French Impressionist painters, you'll have to get an advanced
>degree in pre-Celtic French Impressionist painters. Museum educators
usually
>have advanced degrees in either a subject area and/or education of some
sort.
>Exhibit designers usually have degrees in architecture or design. Other
>fields like development or computers can have  backgrounds from a variety
of
>fields but will have experience in their area. If you only have a
bachelors,
>don't expect much. Bite the bullet, get those student loans and get an
>advanced degree. Regardless of what degree you end up with, you'll still
need
>experience.
>
>9. Look at companies that work with museums or similar fields. If you can't
>get a job in a museum, get a job with a company that works with museums.
>There are plenty of companies that do exhibit design, artifact restoration
>and shipping, educational materials and bunches of other stuff. Clients
with
>those companies are a good way to find people and NETWORK. There are also
>similar fields that you can go into that will give you job experience for
>museum work. If you want to curate, work for an auction house; if you want
to
>do education, try libraries or local schools. Computer or design people can
>get a job practically anywhere. Combine similar job experience with some
>museum volunteering and you'll have a resume that can compete with the
>Masters + 5 years of experience.
>
>10. Don't expect to get rich. Most museum salaries are in the low-20s
>regardless of the job or location. Some are higher but you'll never compete
>with the corporate sector. A lot of times, your first museum job will pay
>less than your student loan debt. Be prepared to budget carefully or work
>another job to make ends meet. See #9 for other job options until you get
>those student loans paid off.
>
>11. Be willing to travel. There are plenty of museum jobs out there if you
>are willing to go for them. You might end up in the middle of nowhere
>starting out but that will get you experience and a lower cost of living as
>well. Who knows, you might like the bucolic countryside.
>
>All these won't guarantee that you'll get a museum job but it will increase
>your chances. Sometimes, all that is required is being in the right place
at
>the right time. Good luck!!
>
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