Dr. Carr,
I've been in the museum business for over 10 years at this point. I started
out in archaeology, but decided that being a shovel bum was not how I wanted
to spend my life. Not being independently wealthy, I had to always have
paying work (read: no unpaid internships). My first "museum job" was
actually working in the theater of a large museum. At the same time, I
volunteered on weekends as an education docent and tour guide. Being on the
"inside," while I pursued graduate work in museum studies, allowed me to see
the job postings prior to the general public. Very soon, I transferred over
to the Anthropology department. I worked from a data entry job into a NAGPRA
collections assistant position. To move up I opted to move over, and
changed museums and positions several times before finding the size museum I
preferred and my dream job. Incidentally, I am the
curator/director/educator/tour guide/staff archaeologist of a 256 acre
historic house museum and site.
Museum work is not all horror stories and hard work, but living through the
horror and being willing to work very hard -- don't snub cleaning toilets
and repairing broken gates -- they can contribute greatly toward success.
Being a generalist helps as well -- learn as much as you can about as many
topics, types of objects, historic or artistic periods, people, places, etc.
It makes you much more marketable. The best advice I could give to someone
just starting out is be realistic. You will not be given your ideal job the
first time out. You need to gain practical experience, team skills, and
myriad other bits of knowledge along the way. Develop a good work ethic, be
willing to learn from those around you (paid and volunteer staff), and never
be afraid to seek out advice from your colleagues.
Best of luck.
Michelle
-----Original Message-----
From: Museum discussion list [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf
Of Christian Carr
Sent: Thursday, January 06, 2005 8:30 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Misguided applicants-a new angle
As a professor of arts management who trains and counsels future museum
professionals, this thread has been of great interest. I generally have my
students subscribe to this list during the semester so that they get a good
feel for the issues of the field--the good, the bad and the ugly!
I just wanted to suggest a change of direction for this thread. Would
anyone
be willing to share the story of how they got their first job in the museum
field, or how they got their current job? There's been lots of good
discussion
on what you *should* do while job hunting; real-life stories might be a
useful
and interesting addition.
All best,
Christian Carr
Director, Sweet Briar Museum
Assistant Professor, Arts Management
Sweet Briar College
Sweet Briar, VA 24595
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