While everyone knows the reasons to take a job like this (experience
hopefully will lead to a better job later, most would rather poor pay at a
great job than high pay and misery), there are larger problems here. As a
profession, we are loosing talented people to other jobs. If we continue to
work harder with less staff and less money, quality will drop. We don't do
ourselves any favors in the (very) long run by undervaluing ourselves.

We should take a page from archaeology and focus on promoting ourselves and
educating the public about the benefits of museums. People are willing to
pay for and support what they value. To paraphrase Cybil Sheppard, "We're
worth it".  I realize this is easier said than done, but it can be and the
Florida Public Archaeology Network is proof. (For the record I am also
doing 2 part-time, poorly paid jobs).


Laura Seifert

Chairperson, Savannah Heritage Emergency Response
http://sheronline.info





> ------------------------------
>
> Date:    Fri, 14 Dec 2012 15:12:10 -0600
> From:    Therese Quinn <[log in to unmask]>
> Subject: Re: MUSEUM-L Digest - 12 Dec 2012 to 13 Dec 2012 (#2012-315)
>
> Hi, all. The job description is second down, and it says the candidate
> should have a Master's and specifies a pay rate of $10.00 per hour. It
> doesn't say if it comes with any benefits.
>
> I think another factor, beyond trying to get a foot in the museum
> employment door, is important to consider: whether or not the
> museum/institution CAN pay more. One way to figure this out is by looking
> at the tax filings of the institution. You can download those for free
> here: http://foundationcenter.org/findfunders/990finder/
>
> These indicate the highest earners at an institution, assets and expenses,
> and so on. For me, it would be important to know what the most highly paid
> employees earn in relationship to my wages. An institution that is grossly
> unfair, in terms of payment ratio from the highest to lowest earner, would
> be a bad place to work, and I'd try not to take the position. Or, I might
> try to leverage a higher wage based on what I know the institution can
> really pay.
>
> It's important to understand something about how to advocate for ourselves
> as employees, so looking up some intro labor law and employment rights
> information is helpful, too.
>
> Therese Quinn
> University of Illinois at Chicago
> Director, Museum and Exhibition Studies Graduate Program
>
>

=========================================================
Important Subscriber Information:

The Museum-L FAQ file is located at http://www.finalchapter.com/museum-l-faq/ . You may obtain detailed information about the listserv commands by sending a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "help" (without the quotes).

If you decide to leave Museum-L, please send a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "Signoff Museum-L" (without the quotes).