While I fully agree that job satisfaction can make up
for lower pay, people still need to pay the rent.
This is especially an issue in places like the greater
Boston area where the cost of living is very high.  I
was a tour guide and as much as I loved my work, and
was quite good at it, I could not pay the rent and had
to leave for a less fulfilling job.  I have met
several interns and volunteers that are "doing their
time" to get into the field and meanwhile using credit
cards to eat and pay for their car (something that is
mandatory for many museum jobs), not to mention
sitting on years of student loans.  While workers need
to push harder for higher pay, I also think that
management has a responsibility to give their
employees a living wage.  As it is, they are most
often taking advantage of skilled people with college
degrees and justifying it by saying that in return the
worker is getting "valuable experience".  Again, I
agree that people who want corporate wages and
corporate perks should go get corporate jobs, but I
also think that dedicated museum employees should be
able to expect a living wage.

Kathleen Simone

--- Timothy McShane <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> I believe that is exactly Mr. Maurer's point--that
> those who do just
> "accept" a low pay because that's "the way it is"
> are getting paid just
> what they're telling their employers they are worth;
> hence, they are not
> underpaid.  It's been said time and again on this
> list that museum work
> is not the way to go if you're looking to make a lot
> of money (and to
> help out, there have been some pretty good ramen
> noodle suggestions
> offered in the past!).  The question for a newcomer
> in the field has to
> be, is your interest in the job primarily financial,
> or will you accept
> other benefits (ie., the chance to do a job you
> love) as part of the
> overall compensation for the work you do?
>
> I'm in a good place right now--I'm with a city union
> with decent pay
> scales and benefits, and no, I'm not in security or
> maintenance (my work
> is primarily collections management, with some
> exhibit work thrown in).
> I would say I'm lucky, except I strongly believe we
> all make our own
> luck--I'm where I am because I worked hard to get
> here.  I spent five
> years working in museums where my pay was in the low
> 20s--and these are
> Canadian dollars (think around $15,000 US, at best).
>  Before that, I
> spent four years doing collections management for
> free as a volunteer,
> and had to work another job on top of that to
> support my "museum habit."
>  Oh, yeah--and let's not forget those four expensive
> years at university
> before I could even be taken seriously as a
> volunteer, and entrusted
> with collections management duties.
>
> My rather long-winded point here is that I agree
> with Mr. Maurer, and
> that everyone is entitled to what they settle
> for--no more.  But, for
> everyone who turns down a museum job because the pay
> is too low, there
> are going to be three more people like me who will
> make the financial
> sacrifice, because they love the work.  Eventually,
> you are given
> opportunities to show how much you're worth, and if
> one museum can't
> afford to pay that much for you, you can shop around
> for another
> position.  But, it's been by motto for years that
> "money is a lousy way
> of keeping score."  Job satisfaction is a rare
> thing; it seems that
> museum people have more of it than average--I think
> it's worth more than
> gold.
>
> Happy Holidays!
>
>
>
>
>
>
------------------------------------------------------------
> Tim McShane, Assistant--Cultural History
> Medicine Hat Museum and Art Gallery
> 1302 Bomford Crescent S.W.
> Medicine Hat, AB   T1A 5E6
> (403) 502-8587
>
> >>> [log in to unmask] 12/23/02 07:31AM >>>
> "There is no such thing as being underpaid."
> -William Maurer,
> Director,
> Gomez Mill House.
>
> I beg to differ.  Did anyone consider the fact that
> museum jobs
> continue to
> pay so little because so many simply "accept" it as
> "the way it is?"
>
>
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