I would like to add my 25 cents please. I admire the museum professional hopefuls who put in so much time and effort into finding a job. I do feel very passionately about doing your best to treat these potential workers and workers in other fields the best way you can. Word of mouth is damaging. I saw first hand in a local election in my county how bad word of mouth can damage chances of success. A lady who was running for local office has a reputation of being very rude and disrespectful to her workers. She lost the election by a large margin; this loss is well known in our county because of her attitude to others. Some of you have heard this story before: When I interviewed at the Museum of Early Southern Decorative Arts, Old Salem, Winston Salem, NC. The receptionist showed a very rude and cold attitude towards me. When my mother and aunt came in after I was taken to the interviewer's office, the receptionist behaved the same way to them. I had the feeling that I wasn't going to get the job anyway. Usually I have a lot of hope regardless, but this time I just knew that this wasn't it. That was the first time that I really felt unwelcomed in a place where I interviewed. This strong discomfort lasted for the whole time that I was there, it didn't just start and end with the front desk receptionist. I am the sort of person who is very loyal to products, companies, and services that treat me well. For instance, I always go the same grocery store (s) every week because of their great customer service, fresh produce and clean store. I always buy the same juice (OceanSpray Cranberry Juice) from the same store every week. When I tell people about where I go to buy groceries, I really lay it down thick of how wonderful the store is and how wonderful the produce and meats look. I can be an asset to any business, even when I don't have much money because the money that I do have and the favorable word of mouth will definately go to that business that treats the customers well. I tell everyone where they should go to get the best services and products...that includes museums. When I say to a museum hopeful, " that is a great museum to try for a job!" I mean it. I love to talk about places that are good to me. I love to point out museums that really shows respect for my efforts. I probably have been there as a visitor or interviewee and was treated in a decent fashion. When I go through a bad experience with that potential employer, I tell that to everyone also. Everyone makes their own decisions, but I don't want to see others wasting their time without knowing that they may have more of that chance of wasting time with certain employers. I also don't want to see others spending their money on certain businesses that don't respect their clients. I guess one could say that the way that I act resembles that of a news broadcast reporter and a cheerleader, literally. If you treat your customers/visitors/interviewers well, you may have loyal PR people and financial donators for a very long time. Sincerely, Merri n a message dated 9//202 12:52:25 PM Pacific Daylight Time, [log in to unmask] writes: > M erri C .Pemberton ========================================================= 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).