While internships are an excellent way to network, especially for
professionals new to the field, quite a bit of committment is made when
taking on an internship.  Internships do not require the same kind of
committment as a career, but they still are a committment.  Students are
expected to work their best at an institution for 3 months, 6 months, 9
months, or longer without being paid?  I have no problem with working
hard for a long period of time, but please, I would like to know how
museums can expect students to work full time for them for several months
with no pay, keeping in mind that the students do have bills (rent,
utilities, food), when the student can get another job that wil put food
on the table.
Some provisions should be made to help students support themselves while
they are working on an internship.  Some sort of payment, a stipend, a
scholarship, room and board provided by the museum, something to help
make a volunteer internship more possible for the student.
I agree that contacts are important, but not as important as eating for
six months while working at an internship.
If interning and meeting some great contacts means starving, is it really
worth it?

Heidi Anderson
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On Mon, 8 Apr 1996, Tom Vaughan wrote:

> Ellen Giusti wrote:
> >
> > Even an unpaid internship can lead to a paid job. Once you're an insider,
> > you are in a position to hear first about positions opening up.
> >
> > Internships also provide a realistic view of how a particular museum
> > functions. An intern can learn a lot about an institution with only a minor
> > commitment on his or her part. This can be a big help when the time comes
> > to look for a "real" job.
>
> I would like to second Ellen's comments.  Whether it's an internship or a
> volunteer position (which I guess unpaid internships are), it's qualifying ex-
> perience in a field you're interested in.  You get to try out the job/company/
> agency/profession with relatively little investment.  If you don't like it, yo
u
> haven't lost much and you've gained valuable career insight.  By the same toke
n,
>  the
> job/company/agency gets to try you out.  If they're good supervisors, they'll
> let you know if they find your interests and attributes don't quite  match
> what they need in that kind of job.  If things go well (mutual admiration
> society), you've got an experience notch, maybe an entree to networking in
> your chosen field, and a reference based on working in the field (which I
> always was better than an academic reference for a job in a non-academic
> setting).
>
> Interesting thread!
>
> Tom
> --
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