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 ========================================================= Important Subscriber Information: The Museum-L FAQ file is located at http://www.finalchapter.com/museum-l-faq/ . 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).