Adrienne Roberts wrote: >..... I was wondering if a few of you wouldn't mind giving me soem quotes about the benefits of volunteer work for >experience, and for when it comes to hiring practices. Undertaking volunteer as an undergraduate (or graduate) give a person two key advantages over their contemporaries who don't volunteer. Firstly, the volunteer is exposed to "real world" experiences that one doesn't necessarily get within the confines of colleges and universities. Let's face it - in the museum world time is money, and there is never enough of either, so short cuts are often taken. You rarely learn about short cuts in the class room. You also get to learn about little irritating things like budgetting, staff meetings, working with other sections of the museum, and a miriad of other distractions that prevent archaeologists from chipping away at the remains of history, curators from researching their collection, and conservators from stopping the rot. The second advantage a volunteer gets is a reputation. There are nearly always more than one applicant for a job in a museum. Museums are therefore able to pick who they want to work for them. As I said above, money is always tight, so, anyone selecting a potential employee should choose someone who has claims that can be supported by referees, over someone who can only offer promises. George Bailey Objects Conservator Australian War Memorial Treloar Centre for Conservation 4 Callan St, Mitchell, A.C.T. 2911 Australia Phone: +61 2 6243 4440 fax: +61 2 6241 7998 email: [log in to unmask] Website: www.awm.gov.au ========================================================= Important Subscriber Information: The Museum-L FAQ file is located at http://museums.state.nm.us/nmmnh/museum-l.html. You may obtain detailed information about the listserv commands by sending a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] The body of the message should read "help" (without the quotes). If you decide to leave Museum-L, please send a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] The body of the message should read "Signoff Museum-L" (without the quotes).