How much does the institution have available to give the intern?  To respond directly to Christa's situation, if you have four staff and none of them have the time to train or mentor the large number of interns you are planning to bring on board, then you may want to consider reducing the number of interns you accept.  One possible solution could be to take one or two less experienced interns and one or two highly skilled interns; it could institute an additional element of intern-to-intern mentoring that would help reduce the intensity of staff supervision.
 
I have both supervised interns and been an intern several times over. I a skilled intern who has gone back to graduate school after working in one area of the field for almost 10 years.  I have completed 3 internships with an ongoing 4th and can say with some confidence, if there is not a staff member dedicated to the supervision of a larger number of interns, none of the interns will be very successful and the minimal amount of divided time that partially dedicated staff can invest will be wasted.  I quit an internship that had too many interns to one supervisor who also had other duties.  The museum lost out on a skilled intern because they were spread too thinly to support me even minimally.  Of course having too many interns to too few staff is frustrating; it goes both ways if interns don't get enough access to the people who are supposed to be teaching them.  If interns knew everything they could learn on the job, why would they intern?  Why wouldn't they just try to get a job?  Is it possible to poll your previous interns about strengths and weaknesses of their experiences at your institution and about the adequacy of the teaching/supervision they received?  This information might help in selecting interns who are appropriate for the level of supervision and teaching that the institution is able to provide.
 
Conversely, I was very unskilled when I began my first internship and had not yet considered going into the field; in fact, I had absolutely no idea what I wanted to do and only was 9 months from graduating with my BA.  I was the only intern at my institution and had an involved supervisor who knew what to delegate and what to do alongside me.  That experience directly led to me working in visitor services and museum education for the next ten years.  Another internship I did along the way allowed me to expand into administrative aspects and ultimately led me back to school.  Graduate school internships have opened my eyes to how much I LOVE the tedium of collections management.  They have also taught me how to ask for the opportunities I need to learn and when I am being asked for work that is not reasonable. 
 
Good luck, Alex!
 
Lissa Kramer
Master's Candidate
Museology Graduate Program
University of Washington
 
 
On Tue, Apr 17, 2012 at 10:18 AM, Daniel Lay <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
I have a history student as an exhibit intern this semester. He's really sharp with building mounts and handling artwork. He's a great asset to have for a few months. Last semester, he didn't know he wanted to work in a museum, but in the three months he's been working here, he knows that's what he wants to do. He didn't even know building exhibitions was a career option. So this internship is shaping his life, and adding a good professional to our field.

I've turned down interns who I thought would be black hole of staff time. But if a student is professional, and has good follow-up, I'll take a risk on them.

Daniel


On Tue, Apr 17, 2012 at 11:34 AM, John Marks <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
My best intern of all time loved history, but she REALLY loved having things in order - her cataloging and organizational skills were impeccable. You should definitely ask if they love [the tasks you really need done] - yes, there will be history along the way, but s/he needs to looovvee doing layout for publications, or scanning photos, or doing marketing. A love of history is why we apply our skills to this career, but we have to love doing certain tasks, too. (yeah, yeah, "love" is stretching it some days, I know....)

John Marks
Curator of Collections & Exhibits
Geneva (NY) Historical Society


On 4/17/2012 12:09 PM, Christa McCay wrote:
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

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