To quote John Martinson, "As Roybn stated, without being a volunteer it is
very difficult to get the experience or land a position."

It is very difficult, but not impossible.
My first experience in a history-related "job" was two years as a graduate
research assistant. I then got a part time job on a project at the NJ State
Archives through a professor at one of the undergrad schools I attended. I
was there less than a year when I was tipped off to an opening at a major
historic site near my home. The position was Coordinator of Interpretation
and Museum Education. The outgoing incumbent was a fellow student in my
program and I was told when he was leaving and when to send the resume.
Everything else was up to me. (Although working in American - nay, New
Jersey- history was a distinct advantage considering my predecessor's
qualifications were being a Civil War reenactor and being an Eastern
Europeanist.)
Oddly enough, with my relatively meager qualifications, I did get the job. A
year later, I was Interim Executive Director as well head of interpretation
and education. When I left, I realized that there was a big downside to my
fortuitous situation: I did not have enough time in service to get similar
positions. At once I was overqualified for entry level positions and
underexperienced for management level positions. Consequently, despite
having roughly ten interviews in five states, I had to endure a two year
return to the retail footwear industry - where, oddly enough, I went from
seasonal part-time to Store Manager within a year and a half.
Further irony: the company I worked for closed one of our local stores and
brought the staff to my store. I was told to take a demotion and pay cut, or
hit the bricks. I already had one interview scheduled at another major
living history site in NJ when this happened. Two days later I got the call
and an interview for my current position. Instead of hell, I knew something
would come out of either interview. I was offered BOTH positions. The job I
turned down would have paid $10K more than I am now making, but for a number
of family reasons, I chose the lower paying position.
What did I turn down? My dream job: Lead Interpreter (a position that
actually started out as Assistant Director) with a big salary. What am I
doing now? Look at the title on my sig.
I got this position through people: I got in good with certain people in the
field in my area, impressed them with my abilities and talents, more than
proved myself in every facet of museum administration, publicity, education
and interpretation in my previous position and was making a name for myself
through my research. I got my job because of who I knew, as well as what I
knew. The people who influenced the decision to hire me had always been
colleagues, not employers. So make those contacts. The job I declined? I was
offered it because I had successfully done the same thing at a comparable
site in the same state with a nearly identical time period and had
references who worked with me at the previous site who also were close to
the person making the hiring decision. Again- I proved my abilities, I had
the right field of study, I was in the right place at the right time with
the right people around me.
And you want to know what (since we're on this track)? The job I declined
went to a friend of mine from my graduate program. A Civil War reenactor who
did a lot of work (as a volunteer) at our county historical society
(Monmouth, not Ocean) transcribing diaries and letters of Civil War soldiers
and editing them for publication. He also had the right knowledge set and
skills. And guess what? It was his first job in the field. Went from 14
years in retail to a $37,000 a year assistant director position at a living
history museum overnight. For that reason alone I do not regret declining
the position.

Sometimes you can start at the top. But you have to know the right people,
gain the right experience and prove your abilities better than anyone else.
You can get a job with no volunteer experience. But the time in service you
can get as a volunteer can be critical when it comes time to compare
candidates.

Think about it.

Sorry for the long-winded post.


Scott D. Peters
Research Director/Archivist
Ocean County Historical Society
26 Hadley Ave., P.O. Box 2191
Toms River, NJ 08754-2191
(732) 341-1880
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"Telling the Stories of Ocean County"

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