On 8/4/05, Chris Pike <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

> A few people have said I should stop volunteering as what I'm doing is
> being done by others for good money.  I'm being patient and continuing
> because working there would be good future option but my question is
> whether or not I should draw the line somewhere?  I'm just really not sure
> what to do?

Museum rely on volunteers to do the work that others do for good
money. If they didn't, they wouldn't survive. Even the largest
institutions don't have enough a budget to pay for all the tasks that
need to be done and thus, use volunteers.

I've gotten jobs from being a volunteer but none of them have been
from starting off as a volunteer with the promise of future
employment. All of them have been because I liked volunteering and
happened to be around when a job came open.

Now how a museum treats its volunteers is very telling about the
organization. A museum that constantly dangles the possibility of
employment over your head probably doesn't have its act together or is
simply cheap and doesn't want to spend the money to hire you or
someone else to do the job. This could be intentional or
unintentional. There are a lot of nice, well-meaning people in the
museum world that can't organize worth beans and never really get
anything done.

Personally, I'd have to evaluate what you are getting out of
volunteering. If you feel like you are being taken advantage of and
your institution isn't really making an effort to get you a paying
job, then I'd start looking elsewhere. If you feel like you are
getting a good experience and learning some valuable skills that you
can take with you, I'd stay.

Museums can ALWAYS find volunteers. If they can't or can't keep them
then there's usually something wrong with the museum. Never feel like
you can't stop volunteering because the "museum needs you" or "can't
survive without you". Volunteering is a two-way relationship. You need
to get something out of your experience. It doesn't have to be
learning new skills or free passes to events but it can be simply the
satisfaction of knowing that you have done some good work for a good
institution and are greatly appreciated.

So like others have said, I'd set back and take a look at the whole
picture. Never be afraid to walk away but don't burn your bridges
either.

deb

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