On Mon, 3 Jan 2005 23:01:20 EST, Elizabeth Becker <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

> I am surprised at the negativity aimed at new applicants to the field. Have
> you all forgotten your own feeble attempts at gaining experience in the
> field? 

I don't think people are being negative, just realistic. People go
into museum studies because they want to do the work, not because they
want to get rich or have a stable career. The flip side of this is
that you've got to work probably 10x harder than the average corporate
type to get a job - any job.

Currently, job searches for regular corporate type jobs take 6-8
months and even then you could be laid off in a few months. Even a few
years ago when the economy was booming, a museum job search still took
about a year. People who want to go into the field need to know this
*before* they get their advanced degrees and rack up their student
loan debts so they can be prepared for the long job hunt once they
graduate.

While I love seeing fresh ideas and new people come into the field, I
don't want the field to be glutted with the unemployed. I would have
stuck with theater if I wanted to deal with that. (Actor's Equity, the
stage actor's union where 90% of its members are unemployed at any
given point in time.)

> I don't think anyone pursuing a museum career expects to "chase the green" as one posting suggested. But museums should also take a long hard look at the fact that they have very high expectations for their applicants while they offer little in terms of salaries, benefits and working conditions. 

That's partly the fault of museum studies programs who churn out
master's and PhD students who continue to glut the market. An ad
placed in Adviso, AAM's classifieds, is guarenteed to get at least 100
applicants for the job. If museums have their pick of people with
advanced degrees and at least 5 years of experience, those fresh out
of college don't have a chance. And again, since there are so many
people wiling to work for so little money, museums have little
incentive to raise salaries. I don't blame museums for not offering
competitive salaries as many cannot and will never be able to but I
think most museums can do more to get their salaries closer to the
cost of living. A lot of money can be saved with better budgeting and
planning, something which I think the museum world is lacking as a
whole.

So the long and short of it is, museum professionals are more than
willing to talk to new graduates and network with them, but I think it
is a disservice to job applicants not to tell them how tough the
market is. It's like telling med students about how wonderful it is to
save lives and make lots of money but glossing over the long hours,
the massive amount of studying, and all the people that you won't be
able to save no matter what you do. I think people need the real,
honest picture of their future careers - the good and the bad so they
can decide for themselves if they want to go into that career.

Deb

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