Good Afternoon Jillian,
Don’t give up and keep your positive attitude!
Here is my “two cents”…….
1.
Relocation has always been the reality: As you stated, you are 100% willing to relocate. Being willing to relocate – to anywhere -- is a large part of anyone’s strategy to embark on a museum career. My first full-time
museum professional job was 750 miles away from home. I did not anyone in that entire State. I met many new friends there……and, I met and married my wife in that town.
2.
Give a closer look to smaller museums: That first full-time museum job, was in a small, under-staffed museum, where I could get a wide-variety of experiences doing a multitude of different museum job roles and responsibilities.
Since the pay was not stellar, it did help that I was single, had no pets, and almost no debts. In retrospect, it was the equivalent to an 8 year on-the-job advanced museum training program…… and it was the best preparation for the next rung on my museum
career ladder. By the way, that next rung on the museum career ladder, resulted in a 150% increase over my first rung’s starting salary.
3.
Look for a first job that offers you a learning opportunity: The bottom line is to be willing to relocate anywhere and work in a museum where your roles and responsibilities will provide you with the knowledge, skills, and
abilities to move up the museum career ladder. Please do not under estimate the career development opportunities posed by working in a small museum.
4.
Network: A wise person once told me, “It is NOT about who you know,….. it IS about who knows you!”
Best Wishes for Success!
Wesley
Wesley S. Creel
Administrator of Programs
Pink Palace Family of Museums
3050 Central Avenue
Memphis, TN 38111
Office 901.636.2370 new telephone number
FAX 901.636.2391 new FAX number
Please consider including the Pink Palace Family of Museums in your charitable giving plans
along with your other charitable interests.
Please visit all our great facilities as well as our website:
www.memphismuseums.org Our mission: The Pink Palace Family of Museums inspires people to learn how history.science, technology and nature shape the mid-South. Through
rich collections, thought-provoking exhibitions, and engaging programs, we encourage our diverse community to reflect on the past, understand the present, and influence the future
From: Museum discussion list [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
On Behalf Of Jillian Shoblock
Sent: Wednesday, October 24, 2012 2:39 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: [MUSEUM-L] Help with starting a Museum Career
I guess I will throw my hat in the ring to. I recently graduated with my MA in Art Gallery and Museum Studies from a program in England and am working on my third internship and am finding in difficult to get
an interview, as well. I have tailored all of my internships to be collections specific because that is where I would like to work, and History specific seeing as I have a BA in History along with Communication. I am quickly running out of money and the alotted
time my parents have given me to help me until i find a job before I am left to "fend" for myself. I live in NJ and am a great area for museums, I am an hour from NY, 45 minutes from Philly, 3 hours from DC and 5/6 hours from Boston. All of these I consider
easy drives for an interview. I am 100% willing to relocate, I even have a friend who would move with me because they are looking to go to school. Getting my foot in the door is proving much more difficult then I anticipated. I guess my question is, how many
more unpaid internships will I have to do, and is there any other advice that one in the field can give?
Not giving up hope yet,
Jillian
On Wed, Oct 24, 2012 at 3:21 PM, Valerie Waksmunski <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
Jordan/Jess,
I am curious to get more of your opinions on the Johns Hopkins program. I, too, am aspiring to one day work in the museum field, and am currently in the process of applying to Masters programs. What have each of your experiences been like
with your individual programs? Do you feel that their program would benefit certain areas of focus over others? For instance--I found that a major area of interest for me during my undergrad studies was in Asian history, specifically Chinese. Does Johns Hopkins
offer room for such specialization?
Apologies to Jordan and Jess for so many questions, and to Peter for interjecting in this discussion. There has been a lot of fabulous advice on this thread so far.
Regards,
Valerie Waksmunski
On Oct 24, 2012, at 1:21 PM, Jessica Pedigo <[log in to unmask]> wrote: