Christa,

Amy Fox's reply had a lot of merit, but I very much share your concerns. 
The world of small museums is chock full of very nice people who think that
love of history is enough to run a museum.

The time and effort invested in an intern is huge, and I hope you have
enough applicants to choose the best. If they can do the job they are
interviewing for, and learn at the same time that there is a lot more to
museums than just liking history, that would be win-win.

It's critical, I believe, to recognize the different levels of training
behind different internship expectations. In every case, whether a high
school intern, a college intern, a graduate student, or a museum studies
intern you have to adjust expectations and training. I've seen some pretty
sad situations where interns were expected to know much more than they did
and in small non-professional museums it became "the blind leading the
blind" in terms of good practices.

It sounds like you have a wonderful opportunity for interns to do real jobs
and I applaud you for providing this kind of learning experience --so I'd
say, 'just hire to the job', and if they haven't enough museum training, be
sure your opportunity is broadcast to regional museum studies programs.

Lucy Sperlin




-----Original Message-----
From: Museum discussion list [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf
Of Christa McCay
Sent: Tuesday, April 17, 2012 9:09 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: [MUSEUM-L] Is a love of history enough for interns?

Hello All,

My question is about interns.  After having recently interviewing over  
20 interns for the summer semester (fyi, we are a staff of 4 and will  
have more interns then staff at the Museum this summer), I have begun  
to feel that potential interns think that a love of history is enough  
to get them a position.  Is it really enough?
I have begun to feel that no it?s not.  Often times they don?t have  
the experience with basic computer programs or with graphic design  
programs (mainly exhibits and marketing interns).  I understand with  
this economy getting an internship and experience is the best for  
their resume and for getting a job after college.  Also I understand  
that people need to start their experience somewhere,but most of these  
students don?t want to be in the Museum world when they graduate and  
often times assume that they will get to ?play? with cool artifacts  
all day.  We all know that the truth is, there is a lot of paperwork  
involved with maintaining a collection along with data entry, both of  
which are not glamorous or very exciting.
I know that our job is to teach interns but like many of us, we are  
juggling multiple tasks to make up for the positions that are  
currently empty and can?t be filled due to budget.  Our teaching and  
training time is limited.  I do want to have interns with a passion  
for history but also a passion to work in Museums.  I sometimes feel  
like my time was wasted trying to teach and train someone who just  
wanted to do this for fun.

I am sorry if this sounds like whining or sour grapes but I would like  
to know from others if a love of history is enough?

Sincerely,


Christa McCay, M.H.P.
Registrar
Marietta Museum of History
1 Depot Street, Ste. 200
Marietta, GA 30060
770-794-5726

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