On 8/4/05, Chris Pike <[log in to unmask]> wrote: > A few people have said I should stop volunteering as what I'm doing is > being done by others for good money. I'm being patient and continuing > because working there would be good future option but my question is > whether or not I should draw the line somewhere? I'm just really not sure > what to do? Museum rely on volunteers to do the work that others do for good money. If they didn't, they wouldn't survive. Even the largest institutions don't have enough a budget to pay for all the tasks that need to be done and thus, use volunteers. I've gotten jobs from being a volunteer but none of them have been from starting off as a volunteer with the promise of future employment. All of them have been because I liked volunteering and happened to be around when a job came open. Now how a museum treats its volunteers is very telling about the organization. A museum that constantly dangles the possibility of employment over your head probably doesn't have its act together or is simply cheap and doesn't want to spend the money to hire you or someone else to do the job. This could be intentional or unintentional. There are a lot of nice, well-meaning people in the museum world that can't organize worth beans and never really get anything done. Personally, I'd have to evaluate what you are getting out of volunteering. If you feel like you are being taken advantage of and your institution isn't really making an effort to get you a paying job, then I'd start looking elsewhere. If you feel like you are getting a good experience and learning some valuable skills that you can take with you, I'd stay. Museums can ALWAYS find volunteers. If they can't or can't keep them then there's usually something wrong with the museum. Never feel like you can't stop volunteering because the "museum needs you" or "can't survive without you". Volunteering is a two-way relationship. You need to get something out of your experience. It doesn't have to be learning new skills or free passes to events but it can be simply the satisfaction of knowing that you have done some good work for a good institution and are greatly appreciated. So like others have said, I'd set back and take a look at the whole picture. Never be afraid to walk away but don't burn your bridges either. deb ========================================================= 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).