7. Go to Professional Conferences. Have VISA will travel. Pay it off later. Take advantage of student discounts. This is probably the best way to meet people and NETWORK. A lot of conferences also have job boards and resume drops. There are usually jobs posted at these conferences that aren't listed anywhere else. Come with plenty of resumes and business cards. Thanks to ink jet printers and free business card sites on the 'net, you too can have decent looking business cards.
Also attend smaller workshops, seminars or conferences held by museums, professional organizations and universities to further your education. Cheaper than the large conferences, especially if they are held in your area, these are a great opportunity to enhance your education, NETWORK and learn what is going on in your field of interest as well as the museum world in general. But unlike the big professional conferences, do NOT take your resume. Treat the smaller workshops and conferences like an informational interview. Take plenty of business cards to NETWORK and send your resume along after the fact. This will also make sure that your resume doesn't get lost in a pile of workshop papers and forgotten.
8. You're competing with people with Master's degrees and 5 years of experience. Get used to it. You may be just as competent to do the job as the next guy but his MA with 5 years of experience will get his foot in the door while it slams on yours. Keep applying for jobs but volunteer, intern or work part-time to get you that experience. If you want to be a curator of pre-Celtic French Impressionist painters, you'll have to get an advanced degree in pre-Celtic French Impressionist painters. Museum educators usually have advanced degrees in either a subject area and/or education of some sort. Exhibit designers usually have degrees in architecture or design. Other fields like development or computers can have backgrounds from a variety of fields but will have experience in their area. If you only have a bachelor's, don't expect much. Bite the bullet, get those student loans and get an advanced degree. Regardless of what degree you end up with, you'll still need experience.
9. Look at companies that work with museums or similar fields. If you can't get a job in a museum, get a job with a company that works with museums. There are plenty of companies that do exhibit design, artifact restoration and shipping, educational materials and bunches of other stuff. Clients with those companies are a good way to find people and NETWORK. There are also similar fields that you can go into that will give you job experience for museum work. If you want to curate, look at art insurance companies; if you want to do education, try libraries or local schools. Computer or design people can get a job practically anywhere. Combine similar job experience with some museum volunteering and you'll have a resume that can compete with the Masters + 5 years of experience.
10. Don't expect to get rich. Most museum salaries are in the low-20s regardless of the job or location. Some are higher but you'll never compete with the corporate sector. A lot of times, your first museum job will pay less than your student loan debt. Be prepared to budget carefully or work another job to make ends meet. See #9 for other job options until you get those student loans paid off.
11. Be willing to travel. There are plenty of museum jobs out there if you are willing to go for them. You might end up in the middle of nowhere starting out but that will get you experience and a lower cost of living as well. Who knows, you might like the bucolic countryside.
All these won't guarantee that you'll get a museum job but it will increase your chances. Sometimes, all that is required is being in the right place at the right time. Good luck!
From your Guide: Deb Fuller has graciously given permission to publish her Unofficial Guide at the About Art History site. She herself is gainfully employed by a museum, and knows whereof she speaks. Aside from the generous and excellent advice given here, however, she cannot help you personally.
