Deb-
Thank you for posting this again.  I had not seen it
before and I found it inspirational.  The insights
were helpful.

Sincerely,
Christian Trabue
[log in to unmask]
--- Deb R Fuller <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> It's in the archives but I figured I'd post it again
> for all to enjoy a
> second time. :)
>
> -------
> Deb's Unofficial Guide to Getting a Job in the
> Museum World
>
> So you want to work in museums? Why? You think
> they're cool; you want to
> justify getting a degree in obscure pre-celtic
> French impressionist
> painters;
> or you really loved going to your local museum as a
> kid and want to work
> there. Whatever the reason, the museum job hunt is
> challenging, demanding
> and
> ultimately rewarding. Expect your job hunt to take 6
> months to a couple of
> years. Yes people get jobs first shot but those are
> the exceptions. The job
> hunt is like a job in itself. It will take time and
> effort to get where you
> want to be in the museum world.
>
> 1. Research museum jobs. There are many different
> types of positions and
> fields out there to go into. Museum educators,
> curators, registrars,
> development/grant writers, administration, special
> events, exhibits,
> computer
> specialists and volunteer coordinators just to name
> a few. The smaller the
> museum, the more areas each person will have to
> cover.
>
> 2. Network, Network, Network. Find museum
> professionals and talk to them.
> Find out what experiences they have and what
> education they got. Most
> museum
> professionals are friendly and will take time out to
> talk to you. Ask for
> informational interviews. DON'T bring your resume to
> them. It's bad form.
> After you talk to someone, thank them profusely and
> ask them to refer you
> to
> someone else. Send them a nice note after you leave.
> You never know when
> they
> might call you back or pass a job lead on to you.
> Make a schedule of
> networking like one a week, every two weeks or every
> month. Keep it up and
> keep meeting people.
>
> 3. Think Small. This comes in two parts. First off,
> don't apply for that
> director position straight off. Go for the executive
> assistant instead.
> Don't
> go for full curator, go for registrar or curatorial
> assistant. You need
> experience even if you are coming from another
> career field and have job
> experience.
>     Secondly, look at smaller, local museums.
> Smaller museums usually will
> allow you to get a lot of work experience in
> different areas. In a large
> museum, you might be stuck in one area like
> registrar of a certain
> collection. But in a smaller museum, you might be a
> registrar, lead
> educational programs and help coordinate volunteers.
>
> 4. Volunteer, Intern or Work Part-time. If there are
> no positions open or
> you
> aren't sure if you really want to work in the museum
> field, look at
> volunteering or interning or getting a part-time
> position. Most museums
> won't
> turn down someone who is eager to work and is
> willing to learn. Don't
> expect
> to come in and take over either. Again, start small.
> If you want to be a
> registrar, start out by volunteering to clean
> artifacts from a local
> archaeology dig. If you want to do museum education,
> volunteer to help out
> with summer camps. If you stick around long enough
> and show people that you
> are responsible, you will get more and more
> responsibilities. Larger
> museums
> usually have formal intern or volunteer programs.
> For the Smithsonian,
> Elena
> Mayberry is a treasure-trove of information. (I
> always have to plug Elena
> because she helped me get my first museum job. :)
> Interning and
> volunteering
> are good ways to meet people and NETWORK.
>
> 5. NETWORK! Did I mention networking?
>
> 6. Professional Organizations. Find out what the
> professionals in your area
> belong to and pay your dues. A good one to start out
> with is the American
> Association of Museums. Not only will you keep
> current on what is
> happening,
> you also can put it on your resume. All
> professionals should be a member of
> at least one professional organization in their
> profession.
>
> 7. Go to Professional Conferences. Have VISA will
> travel. Pay it off later.
> Take advantage of student discounts. This is
> probably the best way to meet
> people and NETWORK. A lot of conferences also have
> job boards and resume
> drops. There are usually jobs posted at these
> conferences that aren't
> listed
> anywhere else. Come with plenty of resumes and
> business cards. Thanks to
> ink
> jet printers, you too can have decent looking
> business cards.
>
> 8. You're competing with people with Master's
> degrees and 5 years of
> experience. Get used to it. You may be just as
> competent to do the job as
> the
> next guy but his MA with 5 years of experience will
> get his foot in the
> door
> while it slams on yours. Keep applying for jobs but
> volunteer, intern or
> work
> part-time to get you that experience. If you want to
> be a curator of
> pre-Celtic French Impressionist painters, you'll
> have to get an advanced
> degree in pre-Celtic French Impressionist painters.
> Museum educators
> usually
> have advanced degrees in either a subject area
> and/or education of some
> sort.
> Exhibit designers usually have degrees in
> architecture or design. Other
> fields like development or computers can have
> backgrounds from a variety
> of
> fields but will have experience in their area. If
> you only have a
> bachelors,
> don't expect much. Bite the bullet, get those
> student loans and get an
> advanced degree. Regardless of what degree you end
> up with, you'll still
> need
> experience.
>
> 9. Look at companies that work with museums or
> similar fields. If you can't
> get a job in a museum, get a job with a company that
> works with museums.
> There are plenty of companies that do exhibit
> design, artifact restoration
> and shipping, educational materials and bunches of
> other stuff. Clients
> with
> those companies are a good way to find people and
> NETWORK. There are also
> similar fields that you can go into that will give
> you job experience for
> museum work. If you want to curate, work for an
> auction house; if you want
> to
> do education, try libraries or local schools.
> Computer or design people can
> get a job practically anywhere. Combine similar job
> experience with some
> museum volunteering and you'll have a resume that
> can compete with the
> Masters + 5 years of experience.
>
> 10. Don't expect to get rich. Most museum salaries
> are
=== message truncated ===


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