We tackle life as an emerging conservation professional (ECP): Jenny and Kloe talk to guest host Marie Jordan about their collective experiences as new conservators and share a few of our listeners’ stories. We talk about the struggles of both British and American ECPs and the importance of making a fuss. Christina interviews Jonathan Ashley-Smith about conservation training, craft skills (the other c word!), and why it’s important to play nice as an ECP.
00:00:25 News in brief
00:04:22 We’re on Patreon!
00:04:47 Marie, Kloe, and Jenny talk about being emerging professionals
00:06:03 What is an emerging conservation professional, anyway?
00:08:57 Who has had the worst job rejection?
00:13:15 Silent employers are the worst
00:15:40 Listener stories: travelling far and wide, the phenomenon of Skype interviews, short contracts, and working away from spouses
00:28:18 Resume gaps, volunteering, and how to deal with unemployment
00:39:10 Working away from partners and families
00:40:52 Listener stories: worst distance-to-contract-length ratio
00:41:41 Impossibly expensive cities to work in: London and San Fransisco
00:46:30 The need for empathy from employers
00:47:50 Status quo, diversity, and why you should be angry
00:53:21 Listener stories: inexperience, commuting times, and job security
00:56:17 Vital skills you need to get hired
00:58:52 Comments, suggestions, questions, corrections
00:59:20 Interview with Jonathan Ashley-Smith
01:17:33 Research and the possibly disillusioned graduate
01:19:32 Craft skills and extracurricular CV material
01:23:55 Resources for ECPs
Show Notes:
– IIC 2017 Student & Emerging Conservator Conference in Bern – save the date: https://www.iiconservation.org/node/6935
– Museums Day 2017: https://www.museumsassociation.org/news/07032017-advocate-for-your-museum-on-museums-day
– Oddy Testing and Off-Gassing Analysis Opportunity: Contribute your list of frequently-used materials! https://www.mail-archive.com/consdistlist@cool.conservation-us.org/msg00597.html
– New emerging professionals group established in Australia: https://www.facebook.com/AICCM/posts/1302744763128633
– Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/thecword
– Marie’s homies at the American Swedish Historical Museum: http://www.americanswedish.org/
– MuseumPros on Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/MuseumPros/
Resources:
– Emerging Museum Professionals: https://www.facebook.com/groups/nempn
– Emerging Conservation Professionals Network: https://www.facebook.com/groups/419707523031
– Student Conservators @ Melbourne: http://www.studentconservators.com/
– Fistful of Cinctans blog entry on applying for museum jobs: https://fistfulofcinctans.wordpress.com/2016/01/12/museum-careers-advice-how-to-apply-for-jobs/
– Leicester Museums Jobs Desk: http://www2.le.ac.uk/departments/museumstudies/JobsDesk
– ICON Jobs: https://icon.org.uk/jobs
– Museum Jobs: http://www.museumjobs.com/
– National Museum Jobs: http://www.nationalmuseums.org.uk/jobs/
– Conservation List List archive: http://cool.conservation-us.org/byform/mailing-lists/cdl/
– NEW! Emerging Conservators Australia: https://www.facebook.com/groups/emergingconservatorsaustralia/
Hosted by Jenny Mathiasson, Kloe Rumsey, and Christina Rozeik. Special guest host: Marie Jordan.
Intro and outro music by DDmyzik used under a Creative Commons Attribution license.
Made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International license.
A Wooden Dice production, 2017.
Great podcast! Love the discussion. Any thoughts on the possibility that there are simply more conservators than there are jobs? Another resource for job hunting is the Canadian Heritage Information Network (CHIN) https://app.pch.gc.ca/application/emplois-jobs/lister-list.app?lang=en I’ve applied to quite a few job listings there over the years.