In article <9601162041.AA17958@corb>
           [log in to unmask] "Indianapolis Art Center" writes:

> > employers can still get round
> >this by advertising for lower qualifications (eg. the four grades in the age
> >16+ school certificate for national museum and gallery recruits I mentioned
> >earlier) even though they have every intention of appointing people
> >with far higher qualifications than those asked for in the
> >advertisment.
> >
>
> How sneaky!  I understand the "...commensurate with qualifications and
> experience" verbiage because often there is a salary range within which the
> actual salary could fall, and the q and e makes the difference between the
> lower end and the higher end.  However, I don't see how advertising for
> lower qualifications adequately represents the position in question.  Isn't
> there an awful lot of mismatch between the people in the positions and the
> job requirements?
>
> Julia Moore
> Indianapolis Art Center
>
My first job in a museum was one of these.  The advert was very open:
it described the position accurately (basic curatorial and conservation
work), stated that the minimum requirement was four O'levels at grade
C or above, but said that the appointed person was likely to have
a degree.  I don't think that anyone without, or not currently studying
for a post-graduate degree in Museum Studies made it to the shortlist.

3/5 of the job _could_ have been done by a responsible, intelligent
person with a basic education, but they would have needed more training
and much more supervision than the resources of the museum had available.
The remaining 2/5 of the job would have needed someone with experience
of research at an undergraduate level, and then much more training than
I did.

So, there was no mis-match between the person in the position and
the job requirements - just between the grading of the job and
the job itself.  Looking back, I suppose I could have tried to do
something about it - arguing for a re-grading review, perhaps.  But
then, as now, museum jobs were very difficult to come by, it was
a fantastic place to work, and I was allowed to get experience of
work far above the actual grade, which was not really essential, and I
think that could have been stopped if there was a danger that it could
raise the grade of the job even higher.

The salary, by the way, was dreadful - I spent a quarter of it on
the season ticket!

--
Patricia Reynolds
Keeper of Social History, Buckinghamshire County Museum / Freelance Curator

16 Gibsons Green
Heelands
Milton Keynes
MK13 7NH
ENGLAND

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