On April 9, Sandra Harris wrote: >>Elena is right- it's an investment in yourself and from reading this thread I think >>perhaps an excellent weeding out process for those who can't handle a >>lifetime of service without large monetary reward. Jay Smith replied: >I would not be so bold or egotistical to think that I'm doing the museum >field a service by "weeding out" interns who desire compensation for their >services. Wake up Sandra!!! I mentioned in a post that maybe a daunting internship and professional training period was not a bad system when there seems to be an imbalance between the number of young graduates looking for Museum work and the number of entry level positions available. I was not advocating any of these circumstances but responding to the reality of the profession. I do not think either Sandra or myself (or a couple of other people who implied the same thing) are being bold or egotistical, but are responding to what we (and I do not mean to put words into people's mouths, I am merely relating what I sense in their posts if I am wrong correct me) see as a lack of realistic expectations on the part of many of the students on this list. Yes I too would love to have had paid internships when I was a student, and I would love to offer them now, and based upon some very helpful suggestions in this thread I am looking into some way of offering at least minimal compensation. I recognize your straits as seeming and being insurmountable and I wish you luck with your situation. I hope you find what your looking for. But I think the reality for many years to come will be that there will be about 100 unpaid internships for every paid one. And that there will be a large number of applicants for every entry level position. And from everything I can gather from people who have been in this line of work for a long time, IT HAS ALWAYS BEEN THIS WAY. So when I hear a student complaining that the program they find themselves in requires so many hours of internship, they can't find a paid or minimally compensated one, and they do not have the economic wherewithal to support themselves during this period, I wonder why they didn't inform themselves of this situation BEFORE they started their program. I am not blaming them or accusing them of naivete. I think they have been ill-served by whatever counselor, professor, professional mentor or recruitment flier that talked them into their current programs or choice of fields. Someone at some point should have been very harsh and explained the economic reality of entering this field and that program. Full time, formal graduate or certificate programs in Museum Studies or Museum Education that have long internship requirements are not the only ways to join the profession, but I doubt many recruitment officers from these programs mention that fact. I lament the fact that the current interning processes may care a lot of talented people away from the profession, just as I lament the fact that a lot of talented people leave the profession every year because of the relatively low salaries in the field. But young or potential museum professionals should be warned in no uncertain terms about this situation for their own sake, not the profession's. Better to learn it early than two months after your car was repo'ed. I do not see this as a service to the museum profession, but a service to the student. I will be performing a service to the profession when I bust my butt this summer trying to come up with ways, based upon advice from this list, that some interns from some programs can be compensated when they intern at my institution. THese thoughts are mine and do not reflect the opinions of my employer, co-workers, employees, friends, relatives, or signifigant others. Matthew A. White Director of Education Baltimore Museum of Industry 1415 Key Highway Baltimore, MD 21230 (410)727-4808 [log in to unmask]