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. > >========================================================= >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] . The body of the message should >read "help" (without the quotes). > >If you decide to leave Museum-L, please send a one line e-mail message to >[log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "Signoff >Museum-L" (without the quotes). _________________________________________________________________ Join the world’s largest e-mail service with MSN Hotmail. http://www.hotmail.com ========================================================= 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] . The body of the message should read "help" (without the quotes). If you decide to leave Museum-L, please send a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "Signoff Museum-L" (without the quotes).