I would also like to thank Deb Fuller for taking the time to list helpful ideas for finding a museum position. After twenty years of retail and office work, I decided to change gears and get a degree in Art History. I am presently, while finishing my second semester of graduate school, applying for internships in the DC area. Hopefully, I will be successful, and will become one step closer to my goal of full-time employment in a career that will enable me to research, write and educate others about art, a passion I have had all my life but never stopped to think it was practical - until just a few years ago. (Thanks to a very welcome mid-life crisis!) Carol Riggles [log in to unmask] -----Original Message----- From: Deb Fuller <[log in to unmask]> To: [log in to unmask] <[log in to unmask]> Date: Sunday, April 02, 2000 10:00 PM Subject: Museums jobs - an unoffical guide >Since we've recently been bombarded with "Gee, I have a X degree and want to >work in the museum world, what do I need to do to get a job," posts, I >figured I'd write an unoffical guide to getting a museum job which sums up >everything people have said and will say to questions like that. Feel free to >add to it. > >------- >Deb's Unofficial Guide to Getting a Job in the Museum World > >So you want to work in museums? Why? You think they're cool; you want to >justify getting a degree in obscure pre-celtic French impressionist painters; >or you really loved going to your local museum as a kid and want to work >there. Whatever the reason, the museum job hunt is challenging, demanding and >ultimately rewarding. Expect your job hunt to take 6 months to a couple of >years. Yes people get jobs first shot but those are the exceptions. The job >hunt is like a job in itself. It will take time and effort to get where you >want to be in the museum world. > >1. Research museum jobs. There are many different types of positions and >fields out there to go into. Museum educators, curators, registrars, >development/grant writers, administration, special events, exhibits, computer >specialists and volunteer coordinators just to name a few. The smaller the >museum, the more areas each person will have to cover. > >2. Network, Network, Network. Find museum professionals and talk to them. >Find out what experiences they have and what education they got. Most museum >professionals are friendly and will take time out to talk to you. Ask for >informational interviews. DON'T bring your resume to them. It's bad form. >After you talk to someone, thank them profusely and ask them to refer you to >someone else. Send them a nice note after you leave. You never know when they >might call you back or pass a job lead on to you. Make a schedule of >networking like one a week, every two weeks or every month. Keep it up and >keep meeting people. > >3. Think Small. This comes in two parts. First off, don't apply for that >director position straight off. Go for the executive assistant instead. Don't >go for full curator, go for registrar or curatorial assistant. You need >experience even if you are coming from another career field and have job >experience. > Secondly, look at smaller, local museums. Smaller museums usually will >allow you to get a lot of work experience in different areas. In a large >museum, you might be stuck in one area like registrar of a certain >collection. But in a smaller museum, you might be a registrar, lead >educational programs and help coordinate volunteers. > >4. Volunteer, Intern or Work Part-time. If there are no positions open or you >aren't sure if you really want to work in the museum field, look at >volunteering or interning or getting a part-time position. Most museums won't >turn down someone who is eager to work and is willing to learn. Don't expect >to come in and take over either. Again, start small. If you want to be a >registrar, start out by volunteering to clean artifacts from a local >archaeology dig. If you want to do museum education, volunteer to help out >with summer camps. If you stick around long enough and show people that you >are responsible, you will get more and more responsibilities. Larger museums >usually have formal intern or volunteer programs. For the Smithsonian, Elena >Mayberry is a treasure-trove of information. (I always have to plug Elena >because she helped me get my first museum job. :) Interning and volunteering >are good ways to meet people and NETWORK. > >5. NETWORK! Did I mention networking? > >6. Professional Organizations. Find out what the professionals in your area >belong to and pay your dues. A good one to start out with is the American >Association of Museums. Not only will you keep current on what is happening, >you also can put it on your resume. All professionals should be a member of >at least one professional organization in their profession. > >7. Go to Professional Conferences. Have VISA will travel. Pay it off later. >Take advantage of student discounts. This is probably the best way to meet >people and NETWORK. A lot of conferences also have job boards and resume >drops. There are usually jobs posted at these conferences that aren't listed >anywhere else. Come with plenty of resumes and business cards. Thanks to ink >jet printers, you too can have decent looking business cards. > >8. You're competing with people with Master's degrees and 5 years of >experience. Get used to it. You may be just as competent to do the job as the >next guy but his MA with 5 years of experience will get his foot in the door >while it slams on yours. Keep applying for jobs but volunteer, intern or work >part-time to get you that experience. If you want to be a curator of >pre-Celtic French Impressionist painters, you'll have to get an advanced >degree in pre-Celtic French Impressionist painters. Museum educators usually >have advanced degrees in either a subject area and/or education of some sort. >Exhibit designers usually have degrees in architecture or design. Other >fields like development or computers can have backgrounds from a variety of >fields but will have experience in their area. If you only have a bachelors, >don't expect much. Bite the bullet, get those student loans and get an >advanced degree. Regardless of what degree you end up with, you'll still need >experience. > >9. Look at companies that work with museums or similar fields. If you can't >get a job in a museum, get a job with a company that works with museums. >There are plenty of companies that do exhibit design, artifact restoration >and shipping, educational materials and bunches of other stuff. Clients with >those companies are a good way to find people and NETWORK. There are also >similar fields that you can go into that will give you job experience for >museum work. If you want to curate, work for an auction house; if you want to >do education, try libraries or local schools. Computer or design people can >get a job practically anywhere. Combine similar job experience with some >museum volunteering and you'll have a resume that can compete with the >Masters + 5 years of experience. > >10. Don't expect to get rich. Most museum salaries are in the low-20s >regardless of the job or location. Some are higher but you'll never compete >with the corporate sector. A lot of times, your first museum job will pay >less than your student loan debt. Be prepared to budget carefully or work >another job to make ends meet. See #9 for other job options until you get >those student loans paid off. > >11. Be willing to travel. There are plenty of museum jobs out there if you >are willing to go for them. You might end up in the middle of nowhere >starting out but that will get you experience and a lower cost of living as >well. Who knows, you might like the bucolic countryside. > >All these won't guarantee that you'll get a museum job but it will increase >your chances. Sometimes, all that is required is being in the right place at >the right time. Good luck!! > >========================================================= >Important Subscriber Information: > >The Museum-L FAQ file is located at http://www.finalchapter.com/museum-l-faq/ . You may obtain detailed information about the listserv commands by sending a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . 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