In response to Laura Mahoney: After actively looking for a year, I've taken a job in grant/contract administration. Although not what I went to school for, I do believe that the experience I gain in this position will be valuable when I do find a museum position that is more related to my long term goals -- after all what museum couldn't use a person with experience in proposal development and award administration. In my opinion, people shouldn't be so limited in the types of positions they are looking for, at least for a first job. _______________________________________________________ Well, let's wait a second here. I couldn't help but notice that this job you have settled for temporarily does happen to be at the Smithsonian. It's one thing to take a job at the Smithsonian that may not be your ideal, and quite another to take on some other much less relevant job. Being at the Smithsonian may not be a guarantee of something better meeting your long-term interests within the Institution, but it certainly couldn't hurt nor could it hurt in applying for jobs elsewhere. I don't think any of us who are looking for jobs in the museum market would turn down this sort of opportunity. I too have been looking for an zooarcheaology or archaeology or museum job for over a year since earning my M.Sc. In the meantime, I have taken a less than ideal job as an "executive administrative assistant" at a retirement planning firm and also a night job producing mass mailings for an art studio. I don't think these jobs will make me more marketable in the museum field. I'm not at all inflexible about the sort of job I seek, but my outlook about my current work situation is realistic and I'm sure I'm not alone in that. So I would agree with you that YOUR job is a step in the right direction, but let's not compare apples with oranges. Andrea Shapiro