Chiming in:
Do strengths matter? I thoroughly enjoy doing
research, laying out exhibit spaces, running retail,
and giving tours. Classwork included education,
preservation, art history, landscape, art classes,
theater, etc.
In fact, right now I volunteer at a local museum,
researching a 1768 wedding for a Yuletide presentation
and learning the tour.
Add in a BA in modified history, an MA in History and
Museum Studies, five internships, two paid part-time
positions, more
retail and customer service experience than you can
shake a stick at, twelve years of teaching
(uncertified), having worked with special
needs and all ages, the ability to read several
languages and hammer straight... and still, I get few
or no interviews.
Ideally, the job would entail working closely with a
mentor in a position that allows cross-training.
Moving is an option: never unpacked from the last
move, and have purged even more since. Nothing ties
me to the area I'm currently in, not even a lease.
I suspect that the silence is in part due to
overqualification, a hard question to answer at an
interview without sounding desperate. Several
interviewers have cited overqualification as a reason
to go with someone else. It may be in part that one
knows one's skills and inclinations, or field
overcrowding. Questions that crop up more are:
1) How do you target a resume when you have held 27
jobs [no worries, they were up to 4 at a time around
school] and yet are specialized for a particular
niche?
2) Is it better to have a single page resume or CV
with few details, or to have a longer version that
emphasizes your accomplishments while working
elsewhere to pay the bills, AND outside interests?
What if you also have a portfolio and writing samples?
3) Is contract work an option? For example, I am very
good at designing and working with miniatures. One
eight foot tall, 400 lb model of a meeting house is
permanent display material. Do websites support this
entrepeneurial spirit?
4) Does a certification in teaching actually help your
odds in the museum field? Are the extra costs worth
future success or cross-training?
Any answers would be helpful.
Shannon Lefebvre
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