I have decided this is one of the most important topics for emerging museum professionals today--as others have referenced, this topic has been brought up time and time again. I am a current student of the Johns Hopkins University program that has been mentioned in previous messages. While I could, I will not pontificate on why the program is fantastic (for me)--but I do encourage you to consider online programs for your situation. They exist as an option to moving away from your current location, and (if done right) can be very effective.

What I would like to bring to light is something I have rarely seen discussed when this topic arises--healthy reasons for keeping or leaving a job. In our current economy and with a shortage on museum-related positions, many (including myself) consider taking or keeping positions just to have one. Yes, money is necessary to give you those physiological and safety needs (think Abraham Maslow, go with me on this)...but when reaching the upper tiers of esteem and self-actualization our education and our careers can go a long way to meeting those needs. From here, I speak of my personal experience--take it at what you will and apply it to your situation in any way you see fit:

1. I need an employer that values me for my character and my potential and not for my current skill set. This isn't just a case for getting a position, but for staying happy in one. If they hired you because you have skills and not for your character and not because they see you as an innovative learner they will be bored with you as soon as the next round of skills sets are placed in the hands of the upcoming generation. This says something about their opinion of learning--learning being of many forms including experience, self-development, formal education, collaboration with other institutions and industries. Will you be happy being viewed as a stagnant set of skills or do you need an employer to invest as much in you as you are willing to invest in them.

2. I need an employer who values professional and personal growth as (at minimum) equal to output. If my employer is overjoyed at my output on the first day will I feel motivated to excel, experiment, or improve? Will they be able to encourage innovation in the workplace? Will it be a stagnant experience? Or worse, will it be one that peaks early and drops into a deep valley quickly? This employer must be open to new ideas and accepting of 'failure', as failure in its purest form is a success--it is a trial from which something is learned and can be applied in the future (even if that application is to not do it the same way!).

3. I need an employer who provides opportunity for advancement. This in no way means a title change or a raise. My employer must be able to identify in me (and in those around me) when we are (and are not) ready for more. I expect to have learned and mastered new skills in any position I hold and to be able to add those to the knowledge, skills, and abilities I brought with me. If those masteries are not noted, it is first bad for staff morale. Second, it is bad for effectiveness and efficiency--a staff that can do more, should do more. I want an employer that says 'I trust you because you have proven yourself'--an employer that will not push you down, but build you up by creating opportunities for career advancement through learning and experiences.

We are not beamed to earth with 20 years of experience behind us--we have to learn somewhere, sometime. If our leaders, our professors, our employers are not active participants in this, we are surely all lost. I cannot speak highly enough of this article: http://www.forbes.com/sites/davidkwilliams/2012/06/13/the-case-for-hiring-under-qualified-employees/. If you exhibit the non-negotiables and find an employer who acknowledges and respects them, I imagine you will have found yourself in a very gratifying position. Finally, in a time when jobs are short, it is easy to think the onus is always on the employee--make sure you hold your employer accountable for their responsibilities in developing, sustaining, and advancing a productive workforce!

In summary, I think you need to ask yourself where you are. Do you have your most basic needs covered? Which decisions will allow you to continue covering those needs? What do you want and need to do in order to feel gratification in your career? (Careers are HUGE factors in life satisfaction, so don't take this lightly--it's equivalent to your basic needs in so many ways). Is your current position cutting it? Is your current position on funding with an end date--ie would be cutting short an already inevitable end? Is your job directly related to what you want to do long-term? Would it be rewarding to continue your education? Can you have the best of both worlds?

On Thu, Sep 6, 2012 at 12:55 PM, Melanie C Deer <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

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

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