Melanie, I will be happy to share with you my experience looking through job listings, talking to a Headhunter, and not getting two interviews for jobs for which I was asked to apply. In all instances, even though I have 17 years in the field, I was not a successful candidate due to lack of an advanced degree. In these days of Human Resource matrices, I'm afraid you simply would not advance past the application phase without it. As such, I decided to get a graduate degree via an online degree program, so that my credentials match my experience. Even still, it takes more than the degree. My peers are often complaining about getting the degree and not being able to get a job. You should approach the degree not as means to an end, but a required element that will work with experience and service/networking to land the job you desire. Best of luck to you! Mary Mikel Stump Mary Mikel Stump Gallery Director/Curator The University Galleries [1] & [2] School of Art & Design Texas State University 512.245.2611 [office] 512.665.0730 [mobile] From: Melanie C Deer <[log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>> Reply-To: Museum discussion list <[log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>> Date: Thu, 6 Sep 2012 11:55:38 -0500 To: "[log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>" <[log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>> Subject: [MUSEUM-L] Continue working in a museum vs. Museum studies Master Hello everyone, I'm stuck in a sticky situation and I was hoping some of you had some advice. I volunteered/internship/did independent studies at the undergraduate level at the Arizona State Museum (ASM) in Tucson, AZ (as Southwest archaeological museum) for about two to three years and then managed to get a student position in the Repository and held that for a year, graduated with a BA in Anthropology and Creative Writing and I am currently employed full time at ASM working on a major repatriation project as well as working on finishing an article on a research project I did with Southwestern Prehistoric pottery that I hope to get published. Before I got the full-time position I had applied to Arizona State University's Museum Studies Master program and was accepted. I am scheduled to start classes Fall 2013 (I've already postponed enrollment the max amount of time, due to a different situation). My employers already knew about my plan to attend graduate school in a year before they hired me, so that is not a factor. I am wondering whether it would be better to stay at my full-time position and pursue a Masters later (in other words tell ASU I will not be attending classes in Fall 2013, potentially closing that door permanently) or if I should leave my full-time position to attend classes as originally intended risking not having a job when I graduate. An idea I had was to get an online Museum Studies Certificate while still working full-time at ASM and possibly do night classes to get an Anthropology MA. But I'm not sure how highly or lowly Museum Studies Certificates are viewed in the museum world. Any advice/opinions would be greatly appreciated. Thank you, Melanie Deer ________________________________ To unsubscribe from the MUSEUM-L list, click the following link: http://home.ease.lsoft.com/scripts/wa-HOME.exe?SUBED1=MUSEUM-L&A=1 ========================================================= 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).