Peter,

It sounds like you need to narrow your search and tailor your resumé to the positions you're actually hoping to get hired for.

The museum world is not just competitive; it's comparatively small with a high barrier to entry.  Having a degree in Communications is open-ended – are you interested in working within Development?  Curatorial?  Marketing?  Collections management?  Each department within a museum has specific guidelines for what they're looking for, and they're going to want to know that you have specific experience within their department.  Be aware that in this market, Curatorial and Collections Management departments will almost exclusively interview and hire individuals with a Master's degree or above.  And while this may be economically challenging for many individuals, it often takes more than one unpaid internship to acquire the skills you need to get hired (many individuals do closer to three or four internships before they ever get hired).

A great way to get your foot in the door is to reach out to an institution as a volunteer.  Often, this commitment can be enough to put you at the forefront of the candidate pool when the museum will actually be looking to hire somebody.  And if not, at least you'll have added this experience to your resumé.

Best of luck,
Yana

Yana Myaskovskaya | Curator | Heurich House Foundation | [log in to unmask] | 847.502.5423

On Oct 23, 2012, at 8:17 AM, Peter Meloni wrote:

Lister's

I have been applying for different positions in a museum over the past year.  I understand that the job market is very competitive.  But after many rejection letters and no interviews, I have no idea which way to go to make my resume better in order to get closer to finding my first step in a museum career. 

I graduated in 2008 with a Bachelor's Degree in Communications.  After not finding a position in media, staying with the job that I had, I was laid off in 2009, and not finding a job at that time, I went back to school to finish my BA in History.  I have since ran out of funding, and was unable to finish my BA in History.  I completed all the credits that were required in the program as of 2008, but after graduation in 08, Susquehanna University added two more requirements for the History Degree.  A 200 level and 300 level classes to the degree requirements.  I have all the junior and senior requirements including completing my Senior Thesis.  I have also completed a Internship at a small local museum.  In the internship I have done a variety of jobs such as collections, archival work, curated exhibits and even museum management.  The internship was May, 2011 to August 2011, I enjoyed everything about it that I continue to this day going the museum in order to hone the necessary skills for a career in the museum world.  In order to at least have employment and have an income, I took a job at a local supermarket to at least have employment.

With all that said, I am looking for any advice from anyone that can point me in the right direction and what I can do to further my chances of catching the eye of a prospective museum manager trying to fill a position.  Resume help, or even job boards that advertise museum employment openings.

Thanks for all of your help listers

--
Sincerely




A. Peter Meloni




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