Listers.
I volunteered at a National Park as an Interpretive Guide, then served as
volunteer Program Manger for the friends of the Park. I worked
their Park events in Living History and for fund-raising, dressed in period
clothing.
I did living history demonstrations for a Historical Society, and did
volunteer outreach in K-12 grade public schools and public speaking
engagements. Worked the End of the Oregon Trails event as a volunteer.
I volunteered for community events (marathons, fund-raising, etc.) and
spearheaded and served as Founding President of two nonprofit community
organizations raising money for the community and program(s).
I volunteered in libraries, such as genealogical libraries and nonprofit.
I volunteered for a City Park's departments doing environment work such as
with birds and tourist sites.
I volunteered (ran) for a political office (and even won!!)
I volunteered on a YMCA Youth Accountability Board, a state Pluralism
Council and served on numerous boards and committees with my work as a
"volunteer."
Lots of "I's" I know, but without volunteering "I" would not have broken the
hard crust to get into museum work.
As Roybn stated, without being a volunteer it is very difficult to get the
experience or land a position.
Best, John
SLC, UT
----- Original Message -----
From: "Robyne Miles" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Wednesday, January 30, 2002 10:28 AM
Subject: Re: Getting a job *without* volunteering
> Well...
>
> 1. I volunteered as a teen at a children's museum one summer.
> 2. In college, I interned all over the place in our Art Museum.
> 3. My first paying, professional job was at the Children's Museum I
> volunteered at. It was certainly a novelty to the Director that I was a
> volunteer as a teen (I was a talk piece to "visiting dignitaries" i.e.
Board
> Members and potential Donors), and while I'm certain that my past with
them
> gave me an edge, I doubt they would have hired me if I hadn't had the
> continued experience to back it up.
>
> Bottom Line: I cursory glance at an AVISO tells you that most museum
> positions require 3-5 years experience. Unless you luck out, how will you
> get that experience unless you intern or volunteer?
>
> LET ME TELL YOU: I currently work for a small museum where I am the only
> staffer with previous museum experience. Yes, everyone is fabulous at
their
> job, but they come from different, applicable backgrounds (PR/Marketing,
> Education). If you are willing to work for peanuts and wear a zillion
hats,
> then look in to small museums... and I hate to say it, many of even our
> staff started as Volunteers (our current Director of Education followed
this
> path: High School Volunteer->Special Exhibit Staff->Weekend Supervisor
> (while she attended the University)->Education Staff->Director of
> Education... and she is fantastic!).
>
> Good luck to everyone!
> --
> "Reserve your right to think, for even to think wrongly is better than not
> to think at all." - Hypatia
> --
> Robyne Miles
> Director of Operations & Volunteers
> The Science Factory
> www.sciencefactory.org
> phone: 541-682-7882 fax: 541-484-9027
> reply to: [log in to unmask]
>
>
>
> > From: Jerry Fahey <[log in to unmask]>
> > Reply-To: Museum discussion list <[log in to unmask]>
> > Date: Wed, 30 Jan 2002 10:39:56 -0600
> > To: [log in to unmask]
> > Subject: Re: Getting a job *without* volunteering
> >
> > I'm not sure if you would classify me as having been a volunter or not.
After
> > a B.A. in ceramics I returned to school for a M.F.A. in drawing and
landed an
> > assistantship with the university museum. At the time I just figured
"great, a
> > free ride"! However once I got into it I
> > found out this was the life for me. It was a 20 hour a week gig, but I
began
> > putting in 40 to 60 hours a week doing everything I could think of to
try to
> > make myself irreplaceable. Luckily for me the museum was just getting
started
> > making reproductions from their architectural
> > ornament collection. With my background in clay I knew a bit about
making
> > plaster molds. And with my 10 years of bartending I knew how to deal
with
> > people pretty good so the director put me in charge of the student
workers.
> > To make a long story short, about 6 months after I finished with school
the
> > director called me back and offered me a job. He couldn't afford to pay
me
> > much so for 5 years I was a "material". No benefits, no sick leave, no
> > vacation, you get the picture. Well 20 years later it has all
> > payed off. I have what I consider the best job in the universe and I'm
making
> > a decent wage. Paying your dues are a bitch but if it works out it's
well
> > worth it.
> >
> > Jerry Fahey
> > Exhibits Designer
> >
> > PS I didn't know what I'd do with a B.A. in ceramics either!
> >
> > Ehr Nine wrote:
> >
> >> Michael A. Lewis asked:
> >>
> >>> Show of hands... how many of you got a job through
> >> volunteer work?
> >>
> >> What I'd like to know is how many (if any!) of you got
> >> jobs *without* doing any volunteer work (including
> >> unpaid internships), whether for the institution that
> >> hired you or somewhere else. If you didn't have
> >> volunteer experience, did you have other applicable
> >> experience? Has anyone found it possible to get a job
> >> without *any* experience of some sort?
> >>
> >> My volunteer work helped me "sample" different aspects
> >> of museum work, including collections and education
> >> (with a paid internship adding exhibit development).
> >> Most importantly, it put me ahead of every other
> >> candidate with the same education, but less
> >> experience. In a field this competitive, I can't even
> >> imagine trying to find a job without some kind of
> >> experience on my resume, paid or not.
> >>
> >> Oh, and to answer Michael's question: In my volunteer
> >> orientation at Henry Ford Museum and Greenfield
> >> Village, I met a member of the education department
> >> who hired me for a part-time position a couple of
> >> months later. It wasn't a permanent position, but I'm
> >> sure it helped to have it on my resume. It helped that
> >> it was an evening position, as I also had a full-time
> >> job and another part-time job during that time. You
> >> gotta do what you gotta do... (Unfortunately, I hadn't
> >> been available when the full-time position had been
> >> open -- I'd had to go back to school to wrap things up
> >> for my MA...)
> >>
> >> M. Ehr
> >>
> >> __________________________________________________
> >> Do You Yahoo!?
> >> Great stuff seeking new owners in Yahoo! Auctions!
> >> http://auctions.yahoo.com
> >>
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