Note: the following are entirely my own opinions. It's long, but
(hopefully) helpful.

>What non-site/museum specific skills, experience, personalities do you
>look for or are most important?

This is a *very* short list:
- enthusiasm
- interest in life-long-learning
- evidence that the applicant has made some effort to learn something about
our institution before the interview
- problem-solving skills
- flexibility, adaptability to change
- computer literacy
- interest in working with the public (at The Tech all staff work with the
public at one time or another)

>Some recent postings have addressed the method of application, but are
>there further "rules" an applicant should be aware of?

Visit the museum before your interview. Check out their website. Read
newsletters, program brochures, and anything else that will help you
understand what kind of institution you have applied for.

It never hurts to say "thank you" for an interview.

>When is it appropriate to use new technologies, fax/e-mail?  this
>information is often provided in postings.

Only when invited. Many institutions are not prepared to deal with
non-traditional applications. When e-mailing cover letters and resumes, it
is best (unless otherwise instructed) to send text in the body of your
e-mail. Some institutions will not open attachments for fear of viruses --
and even then, they may not have the proper software to read them.

Personally, I would (almost) never fax an application. Somehow it seems
wrong that I should ask my potential employer to pay for the paper. If they
asked me to, though, I would.

>References are an important part of museum applications.  Any
>suggestions for handling them?  Resumes and cover letters are often
>tailored to the posting, can you and should you try to tailor
>references?  Any suggestions for building a good reference base?  Are
>non museum references acceptable?  When do you send contact information
>and when do you send a letter written by the reference?  How do you not
>antagonize your references when applying in several places in a short
>time frame?

If the institution requests references and contact information, you
probably don't need to submit a letter of reference. (You can always ask
what would be most appropriate.) If references are not requested with the
initial application, you might note that references are available on
request. If letters are required/requested, a custom letter describing how
your experience with the reference directly applies to the position at hand
will be most effective. Generic letters will always be less effective, but
are sometimes necessary. In that case, you reference might describe your
experience and skills in relation to the type of position you are seeking.

>How long should a searcher plan to spend on the search?

When I relocated to the San Francisco Bay Area from Boston eleven years
ago, I expected to spend about a year searching. It actually took six
months. There are so few jobs -- especially if your interests are
specialized. Your search could take a long time. Patience is essential --
especially if you are limited to a particular region.

I sent out about 300 letters of inquiry in advance. (At the time, I had 6
years experience including visitor services, curatorial, and exhibits.) One
person offered to introduce me to museum people in the area. (And I didn't
take her up on it! That was stupid.) Another wrote back to say that they
were laying people off, not hiring. The third, director of a small museum,
invited me to arrange an informational interview once I relocated. I
subscribed to Opportunity NOCs, joined WMC for their job listings, and read
local newspaper job listings. (The Internet was not a viable resource for
job searching then.) My boss back east connected me with a museum curator
in San Francisco who had an opening on staff. I interviewed the day after
our move, but decided the job was not what I wanted. At the informational
interview with the museum director, I learned about the museum's mission
and plans for the future, and the director learned about my experience and
interests. He was working to get additional staff positions approved and
asked me to keep in touch. Meanwhile, I took a job as a picture framer to
make money, continued looking for openings, and went on a few job
interviews. About three months later, I was offered a guide position (that
paid less than picture framing) by the director. I declined. Three months
after that, he asked me in for another interview, then offered me my choice
of two positions -- registrar or preparator. (I chose the later.)

>Museum jobs and professionals tend to be very individual and unique.
>How good a match between subject and interest should the museum and
>individual be for an entry job?

There are many schools of thought on this subject. I prefer to be a
generalist, and this has served me well. When I was exhibitions curator at
a small museum turnover left us without anyone to run the planetarium --
and lots of school groups scheduled. My response was, "It might be fun to
run a planetarium!" I reviewed the scheduled shows, cracked out my
astronomy text book from college and picked up some other books from the
library, read the technical manual to learn how to run the shows, and just
did it. I used skills and knowledge developed through formal education,
personal interests, and job experiences (those summers as a draftsman
during college sure helped with the tech manual).

When I got into writing grants, I found that my experiences with different
museums jobs really helped me bridge the communication gaps between
departments. I could understand sometimes wildly divergent points of view.

I've worked at three very different institutions in a variety of jobs (some
all at the same time;-). All have been deeply rewarding and every
experience has contributed to my understanding of museums.


Susan B.F. Wageman
Evaluation Manager                              (408) 795-6303
The Tech Museum of Innovation           (408) 279-7167 fax
201 South Market Street                       [log in to unmask]
San Jose, California  95113                   http://www.thetech.org

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