Elizabeth, and others:
As much as I empathize with your position, having been there myself, I have
little sympathy for your complaints. I too exited university with a
Masters in Museum Studies and $20,000 in debt. While my friends and family
continually told me to "give up on that ridiculous museum thing and find a
real job" I persevered. I worked full time as an office temp and
part-time in retail sales, all the while sending out resumes and going to
job interviews. After many, many months of trying, and literally hundreds
of resumes and dozens of interviews, I finally got one of those
"entry-level" positions, which paid a wage that was far below the poverty
line. It required that I pick up and move my life hundreds of miles from
my friends and family, but I did it. I couldn't afford to live on the wage
I was being paid, but I did it. And the experience I gained was enough to
get me my present job, which pays a wage I CAN live on. And 5 years later
(almost 6) I am STILL paying off that student loan and I STILL have that
part-time retail job whose paltry wage sometimes makes the difference
between eating and starving, as I try to dig myself out of the massive
additional debt I incurred when my wages couldn't cover my cost of living.
I couldn't afford to give free labour either, but that didn't mean I didn't
work. Anyone who is too proud to take those menial jobs even when they are
the difference between employment and unemployment are despicable, and
deserve what they get. I'm sorry if that sounds harsh, but I bust my butt
and there's no reason why anyone else can't either. And now I know I am
marketable and employable and EXPERIENCED, and if I'm ever in the position
of job seeking again, I know I can get a job because I worked hard to get
where I am now. I don't ask for sympathy, because I don't warrant it and I
don't deserve it.
I am also in the position of being able to give museum experience to a
recent Museum graduate. She volunteers with me one day a week, and
volunteers with another museum another day a week, all while holding down a
part-time retail job and continuing her search for that "entry level"
position. If I was in a position to hire, I would hire her in a
nanosecond.
Bottom line: work if you can, wherever you can. The world doesn't owe you
a living. Keep plodding. If you want it bad enough, you'll get it. Many
of us currently working in museums are living proof of that.
Alex Avdichuk
[log in to unmask]
P.S. for those of us who are not from the U.S., could you please avoid
using abbreviations for places and institutions so we have half a
chance of knowing where you're talking about? Thanks.
I could not agree more. I am finishing up my MA degree at GWU and have
been volunteering for a year. While this is a wonderful experience, I too
CANNOT devote any further time to free labor. Why? Because my wonderful
education put me $24,000 in debt! Come December my loans come due. Loan
companies could care less if I have decided to devote myself to a
wonderful career. They just want their money!
Believe me I understand the value of interning. I have gained many
wonderful experiences. I have done the
collections management for almost 1000 objects, I have research many of
them, I have helped with exhibitions . . . but I am sorry at some point I
deserve to be paid for my efforts. There seems to be a lack of balance in
this field. Many creative, talent people are left out because they had to
completely finance their educations alone and cannot volunteer because
they were not independently wealthy before they entered the field.
Maybe a few things need to be considered. For example, maybe it should be
harder to get into MA museum studies programs since there are not enough
jobs to support all the candidates. Maybe museums should collect less
stuff if they cannot afford to pay the staff to care for them? Maybe more
museums should offer paid opportunities for MA and Phd candidates to use
museum collections for their thesis papers?
Am I nuts? Can any one relate to what I have mentioned?
Elizabeth Hanson
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