Good on you Dennis, I believe that those of us who have jobs can forget so easily the difficulty of actually acquiring the job! I sent out many letters and I phoned, and phoned and phoned until they begged me to stop phoning ..... but I didn't and eventually it paid off. I have now been in the business for 20 years and as the "employer" I now feel it is my responsibility to take note of all applications and if we don't have anything then maybe I know of something coming up and the applicant can be re-directed. My advise to you, for what it's worth, is be persistent with the place(s) you really want to work and I bet it'll pay off for you. Good Luck. Carol E. Mayer Curator UBC Museum of Anthropology Vancouver, B.C., Canada At 10:14 PM 6/5/96 -0400, you wrote: >On June 3 Helen Glazer, Exhibitions Director, Goucher College wrote: > >"I occasionally get letters in the mail with resumes from recent graduates >[...] asking if positions are available. They all get a boilerplate letter >saying, no, and there will be none in the forseeable future. >I suppose the theory is that I might read over the resume and tuck it >away, or pass it on to someone else, but I wouldn't pass along a resume >from someone I don't know. I can't imagine anything resulting from this >mass mailing approach..." > > >NO, the "theory" is that you might deign to show a modicum of respect for >a recent college graduate by actually taking a moment to seriously >consider their resume should a position be available. Apparently the only >way anyone gets a position in your institution is to know you... hardly a >diverse pool of applicants! > >As a graduate student in Museum Studies at NYU, I have taken both >approaches- responding to the few and far between ads, as well as sent >resumes cold. And in fact, I've gotten more interviews from exhibition >design firms and museums via the "cold" mailings than via the ads. All I >can say is thank goodness not everyone takes the same elitist attitude you >do... I find your comments insulting to those of us who invest our time, >and hard work, not to mention thousands of dollars in grad school (or even >undergrad) only to have their resumes ignored by someone who thinks they >PERSONALLY know everyone who might be qualified for their institution. > >Finally, for the many grad students who receive this list, I can say from >personal experience that sending "cold" resumes can generate results. >While I happened to find a full-time position by responding to a posting, >my fiancee found a position at the Whitney Museum here in NYC with "cold" >resume... good thing she didn't apply to Goucher College! > > >Dennis Kois >MA Program in Museum Studies >New York University >[log in to unmask] > >