I think I come from outside this discussion. I never volunteered or interned anywhere during or after college and I am now a 6 year museum professional. So though I agree interning and volunteering is beneficial to gain experience, it is not always necessary. What happened for me was I got my foot in the door and worked my way up (yeah, I know, the hard work story). Unless youshow talent, innovation, and drive, you're stuck. To break in, be willing to go anywhere inthe country. That in itself makes a candidate attractive to a museum. It's a funny world, but most things work your way. Peter Thomas Lamothe Education Dept. ISGM Boston, Mass (opinions are exclusively my own and do not reflect ISGM) > ---------- > From: Jennifer Gayman > Reply To: Museum discussion list > Sent: Thursday, November 4, 1999 3:32 PM > To: [log in to unmask] > Subject: Re: Volunteering for museum jobs... > > I wonder if this whole concept of volunteering to get a foot up in > this business is a largely (North) American phenomenon? When I was > studying in Britain, part of my course was a two month work > experience. Volunteer, unpaid work - so basically, our entire class > of trained museum (almost) professionals were offering to work for > free. I would say at least a third of the class had a very hard > time finding a position at a museum of their choosing - and it wasn't > because we were all looking in the same place. This was a > country-wide search for most people. One of my > fellow students on the course was German, and he said that in > Germany, volunteering is unheard of as a means to gain job > experience. > > I bring up these points to add a new dimension to this discussion - > is this an American phenomenon? Why is this? Comments? I'd also be > interested in hearing from any British museum people out there as to > why it's so hard to volunteer there. > > I personally am one who benefited greatly from all my volunteer > experiences. Would it have been better if I'd been paid to be there? > Certainly, but I knew coming into the field that volunteering was > the way to get ahead, and it has definitely helped me. > > *************************** > Jennifer Gayman > Collections Manager > University of Maryland > School of Nursing Exhibition Project > (410) 706-6635 > All opinions are mine. > > ========================================================= > Important Subscriber Information: > > The Museum-L FAQ file is located at > http://www.finalchapter.com/museum-l-faq/ 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). > ========================================================= Important Subscriber Information: The Museum-L FAQ file is located at http://www.finalchapter.com/museum-l-faq/ 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).