Among other things, Robin said:  I was looking through a museum
newsletter and became very frustrated when all of the jobs in museum work
that I was interested in requested that the applicant have 3 to 5 years of
experience.

Robin:  You have gotten lots of good advice so far.  I will add some more.
It may be that the type of job you need right now is not the type that is
advertised in the "museum newsletter".  There are many short-term, part-time
jobs available in many museums.  These jobs are usually for funded grant
projects, or paid for with other types of soft money.  At your stage of
professional development, this is probably the best route for you to take.
And, these jobs are generally not advertised, but the recruiting takes place
by word of mouth.

That being said, you have to live somewhere and get to know the folks that
work in the local museums.  Sometimes, this is easier to do in a smaller
town, but it is risky to move someplace on the off chance you could pick up
some of this temporary work.  From what I have seen (15+ years in the
field), this type of temporary employee has first crack at the fulltime
permanent jobs that come down the pike, if they can demonstrate the
appropriate qualifications.

If you are settled in a community, put together a resume (maybe a "skills"
type would be more appropriate for you right now), and make some
appointments for informational interviews with museum folks in the area.
Find out what types of jobs they offer, and how you might get yourself
considered for them.  Ask each person you talk with what kinds of skills you
should add to your resume.  These days, anyone who can do more than simply
turn on the computer and work until it crashes has a better chance of being
hired.  These skills are at a premium in our field.

And don't sneeze at non-traditional jobs in museums.  As has been pointed
out, many job openings are only opened internally, within the bigger
institutions.  This is not always because there is already a candidate, but
museums know that there are people like you waiting in the wings, already on
site, and they want to make a quick hire.  It can happen.

And make sure that everyone understands that you are aiming for graduate
school.  Experience now will help you determine which of the vast number of
programs would be right for where you are headed.  They are not all the
same, they are regarded differently in the museum world, and many might not
be for you.  Talk about that too with anyone you meet.  (Ask, for instance,
which programs they like to hire from--everyone has biases!)

You must realize, however, that today in this highly competitive field, a BA
is not going to be enough.  You won't be hired as a curator now.  But you
could be hired as a curatorial assistant (I've hired curatorial assistants
with MAs!), and if you keep your eyes open and avail yourself of the
educational opportunities at whatever job you get, you'll do o.k.  When you
finally get to looking for that first "real" museum job, it will be the
stuff that you know that you have no real reason to know that will get you
hired.

Good luck, but be realistic.

Claudia Nicholson

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