As someone who has been on the job hunt for over a year (while finishing a Master's,
moving, and taking another full-time job completely out of the field to pay the
bills), I feel that  this issue needs to be brought up in relation to Mr. Koos's
point: how are you supposed to get enough experience to get a job if no one will give
you a chance to get the experience? Please don't remind me again to volunteer or do
interenships; I have done plenty of both and found them all very rewarding. What I
silently wonder about is, when are employers going to find my non-paid experience
valuable?

It is completely understandable that those who do the hiring want people with
experience, and also that not all academic training is as useful day-to-day as is
hands-on experience -- but somewhere, somebody has to take a chance on those of us
who have less hands-on experience but do have years of "minds-on" experience gained
through relevant courses, research, discussions, projects, etc. I realize I may not
be exaclty what the employer wants, but please consider giving me a chance to show
that I can learn to be what you want by building off of the variety of experience I
have.

Just a note from the frustrated folks
E. Watkins
Master of Museum Studies, University of Toronto

> I do a bit of hiring for my museum and teh thing I am most interested in does
> not relate to course work or name schools - it relates to experience.  Does the
> candidate demonstrate interset in the subject beyond the classroom   Internships
> are really important.  Distant Leaning folk  are more likely to be hands-on in
> hteir learning.  That because their schools are not based on the creation of new
> academic programs which are developed to keep tenured faculty employed.
>
> High quality distant learning programs like The Union Institute or University of
> Victoria are learner centered - not faculty centered.
>
> Greg Koos
> Exec. Dir.
> McLean Co. Museum of History
>
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