Dear Carrie & entry-level job seekers: I graduated with a BA degree in the history of art in May, and with full intention of working in a museum, and perhaps you will find my experience useful to you. I did, finally, find a great entry-level job, but I had to widen my net and be flexible. Here are some pointers: (1) I had started looking for jobs, like you, throughout my senior year. However, many of my previous mentors in professional experiences also informed me of the reality that entry-level job seeking is most effective during May and the summer months, when a turnover of employees who are to enter grad school in September occurs. This did prove to be a good window, and I was able to apply to many more opportunities starting in May. If you are seeking to start employment in the summer after graduation, looking now may be a good warm-up, but institutions will not be prone to holding openings for you; normally the need is immediate. (2) Internship vs. employment: Even though I wanted a paid, full time job, I also applied to various summer internships after realizing how tight the market was. I ended up accepting an offer to intern at a museum during the summer months, but as it was unpaid, and I, along with many new graduates, was bearing monetary sacrifice in the name of the internship, kept on applying to jobs here and there. I finally got a response after casting many nets, had an interview, and was offered the job within a week of applying. The complication was that, as mentioned in (1), the need was immediate, and I had to break my previous unpaid commitment to train before my predecessor left for grad school. But that's business. (3) Entry-level job seeking is about compromise, and often that can lead to discovering niches you may have overlooked otherwise. For me, I was so set on museums that I did not even begin applying to gallery jobs until the summer -- and that's where I ended up finding the best entry-level employment opportunity. You should also consider not just one areas you would consider living, but many. In addition, don’t forget about applying to museums at universities and colleges – that’s a growing niche that is often not considered by new graduates. (4) About salary: Many majors in my university joked about how entry-level jobs, especially in NYC, pay $15,000 - which is not nearly enough to live on. It proved not to be a joke when a friend of mine was offered that sum for an entry-level job. However, if you find a job whose responsibilities are diverse and challenging (read, beyond receptionist and clerical work) you might be able to find opportunities ranging from $25-30K. I work on curating exhibitions, editing scholarly essays, and catalogue production on top of general gallery administrative duties, and my salary falls within that range. I hope any of this is useful to you and others. ~Erica _________________________________________________________________ Find great local high-speed Internet access value at the MSN High-Speed Marketplace. http://click.atdmt.com/AVE/go/onm00200360ave/direct/01/ ========================================================= 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).