Jennifer, I am afraid you are as yet unaware of one of the plain truths of
the museum profession-  that those of us who work in museum's are generally
non-profit.  And I am not talking about the museum!

Arlyn Danielson

----------
From:   jennifer carlquist[SMTP:[log in to unmask]]
Sent:   Friday, April 17, 1998 3:51 PM
To:     [log in to unmask]
Subject:        Re: JOB OPPORTUNITY: Museum Director, Golden State Museum

Dear Hervi Gagnon,

        As a student in her last month of art history undergraduate
status, I have just begun to examine seriously the employment prospects
of our chosen field.  They are, as you have pointed out, meager in
availability and compensation.  I myself net about $6.50/hr as the only
staff member working in collections management in a university museum.  I
gain invaluable experience, and the museum gets good work at very
little expense.
        At work I have absolutely no budget.  My exhibit catalogs are
black and white, designed on my school computer and xeroxed. The office
once had to function for a week without letterhead stationary, having no
money to pay the printers.  Everyone I work with has been laid off at
least partially sometime in the last three years.  I accept that museum
budgets are tight.  But the misconception that we are non-profit
professionals is unacceptable. We're not - we're professionals who work
for non-profits.
        Unfortunately, it's uv filtration for the windows or a livable
wage for me. It hardly makes for a black bank account, but I think we're
supposed to pick the windows.



Jennifer Carlquist [log in to unmask]
Glensheen Estate, Property of the University of Minnesota-Duluth


On Thu, 16 Apr 1998, Herve Gagnon wrote:

> I couldn't agree more with Arlyn.  How can a professional establish any
long-
> and medium-term employment strategy if salaries are never disclosed
before
> application?  But I notice that there are only 4 or 5 of us who are
actually
> participating to this debate.  I'd be interested to know what others
think
> about this.
>
> Herve Gagnon
>
> Arlyn Danielson a ecrit:
>
> > Perhaps you are comparing apples and kiwis.  Museums are obviously in a
far
> > different bracket money wise than IBM etc..  To answer your question, I
> > have seen more than my fair share of game playing with salaries and
ranges.
> >  All I would like to see is reasonable salary information being offered
up
> > front in order for a museum professional to make an informed decision
on
> > what he/she should do, or strategy to take.   This is not unreasonable,
but
> > I appreciate your feedback.
> >
> > ----------
> > From:   Ross Weeks[SMTP:[log in to unmask]]
> > Sent:   Thursday, April 16, 1998 10:18 AM
> > To:     [log in to unmask]
> > Subject:        Re: JOB OPPORTUNITY: Museum Director, Golden State
Museum
> >
> > For what it's worth, have you ever seen IBM "advertise" for a CEO or VP
at
> > a
> > salary range (negotiable based on KSAs) of between $1,250,000 and
> > $18,000,000 excluding options, bonuses and perquisities?
> >
> > Have you ever seen the White House advertise for ANY of its employees?
> >
> > Have you ever seen advertisements that specify a salary range for a
> > particular job (as required by policy, state regs, whatever) only to
find
> > that the state, the museum, or someone has dictated that only the entry
> > salary can actually be offered?
> >
> > Do you know of people who have accepted positions not just for the
> > compensation, but because of the quality of the museum, its location,
its
> > potential, etc.?
> >
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: Arlyn Danielson <[log in to unmask]>
> > Newsgroups: bit.listserv.museum-l
> >
> > >I for one have never enjoyed digging around for salary information
that is
> > >not posted or included in an ad.  Usually I find out what I am looking
> > for,
> > >but in some instances, it's like pulling teeth.  I don't like to waste
> > >anyone's time- mostly mine, if a position is not a good match.
 Someone
> > >mentioned previously that if a museum doesn't mention a salary, or at
> > least
> > >a range, it almost seems like they have something to hide, or they are
> > >ashamed of what they offer.  In this case, shame is good! -- As hard
> > >working museum professionals, many of us wish for and deserve higher
> > >salaries.
>