Good morning Christa and all, While I am not in a position to hire or supervise interns, I am an emerging museum professional with my internships in the not-so-distant past. My undergraduate degree is in Apparel Design, and during my time at university I completed two internships: one in the fashion industry of NYC and the other at a state historical society working primarily with historical costume. I bring this up because, at that time, I was a student who "loved history" but had no idea that I would end up in the heritage sector. Some of these interns you are working with may well start off unsure of what path they want to take, and yes, some may be there for perceived fun. An internship is (or should be) an opportunity to discover and hone our passions. If an intern decides that museum work is not for them, so be it. My opinion is, if they do the job well during their internship, that's all you can ask for. Hope this is an encouragement to all of you out their supervising interns! Best, Adam MacPharlain 859.200.2320 [log in to unmask] >________________________________ >From: Christa McCay <[log in to unmask]> >To: [log in to unmask] >Sent: Tuesday, April 17, 2012 11:09 AM >Subject: [MUSEUM-L] Is a love of history enough for interns? > >Hello All, > >My question is about interns. After having recently interviewing over 20 interns for the summer semester (fyi, we are a staff of 4 and will have more interns then staff at the Museum this summer), I have begun to feel that potential interns think that a love of history is enough to get them a position. Is it really enough? >I have begun to feel that no it?s not. Often times they don?t have the experience with basic computer programs or with graphic design programs (mainly exhibits and marketing interns). I understand with this economy getting an internship and experience is the best for their resume and for getting a job after college. Also I understand that people need to start their experience somewhere,but most of these students don?t want to be in the Museum world when they graduate and often times assume that they will get to ?play? with cool artifacts all day. We all know that the truth is, there is a lot of paperwork involved with maintaining a collection along with data entry, both of which are not glamorous or very exciting. >I know that our job is to teach interns but like many of us, we are juggling multiple tasks to make up for the positions that are currently empty and can?t be filled due to budget. Our teaching and training time is limited. I do want to have interns with a passion for history but also a passion to work in Museums. I sometimes feel like my time was wasted trying to teach and train someone who just wanted to do this for fun. > >I am sorry if this sounds like whining or sour grapes but I would like to know from others if a love of history is enough? > >Sincerely, > > >Christa McCay, M.H.P. >Registrar >Marietta Museum of History >1 Depot Street, Ste. 200 >Marietta, GA 30060 >770-794-5726 > >========================================================= >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). > > > ========================================================= 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).