You haven't give much of your background, but here are some suggestions:

If you have recently finished a degree, internship or volunteer project, ask
your colleagues and/or supervisors for help.  They may be able to point out
places where you need to either be more specific (in terms of experience) or
less broad (in terms of goals: avoid the "I want a job doing anything in any
museum" approach)

Your references may also be a good source of advice.  I know I've made
suggestions to some of the people who have asked me to be references.  Of
course, I don't know if they've actually TAKEN the advice...

If you are looking for work in one of the professions that has good
networking (registration, education, exhibition work) see if someone from
one of the local organizations will take some time to talk to you.  Also try
the regional and national level.  AAM can give you a contact name for each
of the Standing Professional Committees (curators, small museum
administrators, exhibits, development and marketing, media and technology,
educators, audience evaluation).

Finally, you might ask someone at one the museums you applied to (or at
another museum that you respect) to review your resume with you.

Good luck and hang in there,

Janice Klein
Director
Mitchell Museum of the American Indian, Kendall College
[log in to unmask]



-----Original Message-----
From: Christian Trabue <[log in to unmask]>
To: [log in to unmask] <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Tuesday, July 31, 2001 2:26 PM
Subject: resume advice


>List-
>I have a question that is probably very familiar to
>many of you.  Where do I go to get advice about my
>resume?  It seems that most companies that give resume
>advice are geared toward helping those with business
>type resumes- not those who need help applying to
>museums.
>Over the past few weeks I have applied to many many
>museums.  In a few cases I have gotten a form letter
>stating that the museum has received my resume and
>will review it but I have not gotten a single
>interview.  I have NEVER had this much trouble finding
>a job.  I have always been a hard worker and I have
>excellent references.  Therefore, I must conclude that
>my resume is not up to par.  ANY advice in this area
>would be helpful.  What do you look for in a canidate
>and how can I make my resume the best it can be?
>Thank you in advance for any advice.
>You may answer off-list if you would like at the
>following email address
>[log in to unmask]

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