One idea that I’d be curious to see explored is accreditation of individuals by AAM or some other organization. I know NAI has some interpreter certification. I could see something similar being useful in other areas of museum work – possibly as a replacement for what’s becoming a grad school requirement for entry level positions. In my mind, I see something that has a goal of helping museums know who is in the field and has the basic knowledge of how it works AND helps make entry into the field more accessible to people with fewer resources than what it takes to enter grad school. There’s a lot to consider there, but the could be some benefits if that second portion is kept in mind during development. Care should be taken to ensure that an idea like this doesn’t become another barrier to entry and continuance in the field.

 

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Lucy,
it is a common feature of the simple minded and untrained  to maintain "anyone can do it". Of course, poor practise is the result. "Anyone" can not run a museum, but anyone can run down a museum. It needs excellent people in the human resource departments to prevent such adventures, and excellent colleagues to stop poor practise.

How would Museum-Lers stop poor practise? Any general proposals?

Christian

I’m a retired museum professional, but still working as a museum volunteer, so this is an observation rather than an job hunting experience.  It relates to the fact that this is a multi-faceted problem and that there should be many more professional museum job openings than there are:

 

I believe there is a critical need to develop a more wide-spread understanding of the benefits of having trained, professional staff, as well as better ways to help fund positions.

 

I live in a large county in which the largest town, pop. 120,000 +, has at least 4 museums run entirely by untrained people, plus in the greater county at least  ten more museums similarly without any professional staff.  And this is in spite of having a museum studies program at our local state university!   Needless to say, poor practices are evident way too often.

 

These museum’s boards or leadership believe they can’t afford staff at all, OR they do have staff but hire people with no museum background,  not understanding why they should hire people trained in collection care and management, and with understanding of Museum Ethics and legal issues.

 

I believe this is probably common nation-wide….people observe museums without  knowing what goes on behind the scenes, and believe that ‘anyone can do it.’

 

Lucy Sperlin

 

From: Museum discussion list [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Anne W. Ackerson
Sent: Monday, October 23, 2017 9:25 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: [MUSEUM-L] The Museum Job Search: Hunter or Hunted?

 

Or perhaps exhausted. This week Leadership Matters considers the museum job market -- a not so pretty picture.  If you'd like to guest write a post about your job hunting experiences, let us know.

 

http://bit.ly/2zKR8Wj

 

Happy reading,

 

Anne and Joan

 

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Anne W. Ackerson
Creative Leadership & Management Solutions
1914 Burdett Avenue
Troy, New York  12180
T:  518-271-2455
E:  [log in to unmask]

 

Co-Author: Women in the Museum: Lessons from the Workplace; Leadership Matters; and the Leadership Matters Blog

 

 

Co-founder: Gender Equity in Museums Movement

 

Read my Blog, Leading by Design
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