Hi Katie,

I just saw your message on museum-l and thought your name looked familiar.
Did you, by any chance, go to high school in Cherry Hill, NJ? Occasionally I
run into people on this list that I know from other times in my
life...wondering if this was one of those occasions.

Best,
Shana O'Hara
Aljira, a Center for Contemporary Art
Newark, NJ


>From: Katie Wadell <[log in to unmask]>
>Reply-To: Museum discussion list <[log in to unmask]>
>To: [log in to unmask]
>Subject: Job Seeker's advice for keeping yourself sane
>Date: Fri, 23 Aug 2002 11:38:26 -0700
>
>I haven't actually landed a museum job, but over the years I've learned a
>lot
>about how to keep yourself sane while looking.   I also have a question for
>those who hire.  Do you like it when job candidates list their membership
>in
>professional organizations on their resumes?   Does it mean anything to
>you?
>
>While I was going to graduate school, I realized that many of my fellow
>students
>had close personal relationships with people in the academic world.  Many
>had
>relatives or close family friends with Ph.d’s, and some of these future
>historians actually had parents who were historians.  (Many others, of
>course,
>did not have these personal connections. I don’t mean to generalize my
>fellow
>students.)  People who have these relationships have a level of support
>that
>others don’t have.  They have a good source of reassurance and advice about
>their careers.  This is my advice for the rest of us, who never met anyone
>who
>worked in a museum until we said, “That internship looks fun.  Why don’t I
>apply?”
>
>First of all, stay connected through email.  This list has always been a
>huge
>help to me, because every day I learn something about the practical issues
>of
>running a museum. The list doesn’t just give you one perspective- it lets
>you
>know how people in many different museums have solved the same problem.
>Plus,
>it helps keep me connected to the culture of museum professionals.  (Many
>thanks
>to Lucy, who stepped in as part of Indigo's mentoring project!)  For those
>interested in collections, the SAA list is also particularly helpful.
>
>Career counselors don’t help much in the museum profession, and neither do
>resume books.  Look at other museum professional’s resumes online at Global
>Museum or some other place.  Pay particularly close attention to those who
>have
>the same background as you.  You’ll learn ways to describe your skills, and
>may
>even learn to recognize experience that you haven’t included on your
>resume.
>
>Take the initiave in volunteer work, but also  work in a job that respects
>your
>museum skills and education. Many people will advise you to get a job that
>develops your skills (say, volunteer management).  I wholeheartedly agree,
>but
>also believe that you should be able to further develop skills you already
>have.   It’s easy to get frustrated when you can’t use your carefully
>developed
>skills, and where you boss/ coworkers think that your training is useless
>compared to their own.   One job used my graduate classes in African
>American
>history, and my current job uses my experience with museum collections.
>
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