and now I am going to end it (I hope).

 

I’m afraid the phrase “glut of graduates” was plucked from one of my recent posts.  I’m not taking it back, but it evidently hit a nerve.  Those of us who have been around for a while are alarmed by all of the new M.A.s out there looking for work, those who are new rightly resent the requirement for significant experience when they can’t get their first job--first jobs being extremely difficult to come by these days.  And all of us lamenting that while following our passions, we have to struggle every week to put food on the table, a roof over our heads, and gas in the car (or, for that matter, a car).

 

This much seems clear from the universe of responses:

                Everyone’s situation is unique, and it is fruitless to lump “all new graduates” or “old cranky boomers” into one category (although I feel as if I OWN the cranky boomer designation these days.)

                There are many ways to skin this particular cat we’ve been talking about, like putting everything you’ve got into a museum job search, using all available resources and networking until you can talk no more;  broadening your job search a little bit to include professions that are allied with museums in some way, like Brigid, who works on programs for the Girl Scouts and works with museums every week; seek a variety of experiences through internships and volunteer work; or go elsewhere for a while--work in any nonprofit (especially in fundraising) can aid you later in a museum job search; or go elsewhere permanently, knowing that your museum studies will aid you in many aspects of your life--even if it only enriches your free time when you are earning big bucks in computers or some other current lucrative field.

                And then, of course, all of this depends upon your personal situation:  the presence of a partner who can help support the family while you pursue your dream of museum work; the presence of staggering grad school debt, which necessitates more immediate action; the ability and willingness to relocate; the mental fortitude to take something “beneath” you, just to get your foot in the door (my opinion is that if you are working in a museum, you will be learning enormously useful things, even if you are working in the front of the house in visitor services--remember, we are doing this for the visitor and other users anyway); and the personal well of patience and self-esteem that each of us does or doesn’t possess, which allows us to go through this long, arduous process to get hired into a museum in the first place.

                So remember:  there will always be some kinds of museum work--I do not plan on living forever, and neither do most of the museum people that I know.  We work very hard to ensure that our museums outlast us, so it stands to reason that there will always be some jobs.  Search out the source of your passion for museum work--there may be other equally valid ways to feed that passion.  And if you must earn a very good living, for whatever reason, know that museums will always be there for you, and that there are ways to serve that do not produce a paycheck.

                Indigo issued a call to action to each of us:  do what you can, at your museum, locally, regionally, and nationally to improve the lot of museum workers, and to establish museums’ place in society as valued and treasured resources.  In the end, this is the key.

 

Each of us knows how to proceed in a way that is best for us, and the rest of us would do well to support these personal choices and wish them the best. 

 

And now, we rest.

 

Claudia

 

Claudia J. Nicholson

Executive Director

North Star Museum of Boy Scouting and Girl Scouting

651-739-8857

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www.nssm.org