If you read my little profile blurb, you know that I work 4 part time jobs, an internship, and am in grad school. Who knew that it would be so crazy difficult to find a full time museum job? My undergrad museum classes did not prepare me for this fact.
I was one of the lucky ones who was hired for a full time, management level museum job right out of college. I finished student teaching on a Thursday, donned my cap and gown on Saturday, and started my big-girl job on Monday. I absolutely loved my work and was ridiculously passionate about the organization I worked for. I put in my 40 hours each week and felt amazing about the work I did. Unfortunately it was not "happily ever after" at this job. I moved and my new home was over an hour away from my museum. I made this commute 5 or 6 days a week for 6 months while gas money ate up a large portion of my pay. Around this time an opportunity came up to build a house and my boyfriend and I decided to take it. This new home would be almost two hours from my museum. Clearly, that would not work. So when the time was right, I left my full time job for a part time job close to my current and work-in-progress homes. And that is how I ended up working multiple jobs just to keep the student loan payments in check.
People thought I was crazy because I had been so lucky to find such a great job right out of school. While working so many jobs is not ideal, I have gained experience in so many different areas! (Especially time management, you should see the color-coded calendar I have to keep everything straight.)
I know many of my friends and classmates are in the same boat. I'm not sure if that makes me feel better or worse? Here's to hoping that 2015 will be a great year for museums and we will all find great jobs that will satisfy our loves of museums, history, science, etc. (Hopefully they will satisfy our piggy banks too!)
Good luck museum geeks!
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