Open Forum

So I currently work three jobs (one of them is at a museum in Boston as a substitute museum guide).

I have a bachelors degree in history and am struggling to get by. I noticed that most history majors need a masters degrees to make above $30,000. With my heavy student loans I need to make more money. I noticed that the only job I can obtain with a bachelors degree in history that pays above $30,000 is a Museum Technician Position or Registrar, but I need 3-5 years of experience in the field to even be considered for a position. Moreover, I refuse to go back to school because my debt is so high.

What are some other history related careers at museums that one can work with a bachelors degree which pays above $30,000? How do I gain experience in those positions so that a museum would consider me for the career?

So I currently work three jobs (one of them is at a museum in Boston as a substitute museum guide).

I have a bachelors degree in history and am struggling to get by. I noticed that most history majors need a masters degrees to make above $30,000. With my heavy student loans I need to make more money. I noticed that the only job I can obtain with a bachelors degree in history that pays above $30,000 is a Museum Technician Position or Registrar, but I need 3-5 years of experience in the field to even be considered for a position. Moreover, I refuse to go back to school because my debt is so high.

What are some other history related careers at museums that one can work with a bachelors degree which pays above $30,000? How do I gain experience in those positions so that a museum would consider me for the career?

Hi Nyadenya,

                    Have you looked into the education or programs departments of museums and science centers yet, most of the people staffing those positions have a Bachelors of Science or Arts degree in various fields of study. For example here is a position in Boston that you may want to look into:

Fellow, Early Childhood Education - Boston, MA

Good luck with your search!

Joel

So I currently work three jobs (one of them is at a museum in Boston as a substitute museum guide).

I have a bachelors degree in history and am struggling to get by. I noticed that most history majors need a masters degrees to make above $30,000. With my heavy student loans I need to make more money. I noticed that the only job I can obtain with a bachelors degree in history that pays above $30,000 is a Museum Technician Position or Registrar, but I need 3-5 years of experience in the field to even be considered for a position. Moreover, I refuse to go back to school because my debt is so high.

What are some other history related careers at museums that one can work with a bachelors degree which pays above $30,000? How do I gain experience in those positions so that a museum would consider me for the career?

So I currently work three jobs (one of them is at a museum in Boston as a substitute museum guide).

I have a bachelors degree in history and am struggling to get by. I noticed that most history majors need a masters degrees to make above $30,000. With my heavy student loans I need to make more money. I noticed that the only job I can obtain with a bachelors degree in history that pays above $30,000 is a Museum Technician Position or Registrar, but I need 3-5 years of experience in the field to even be considered for a position. Moreover, I refuse to go back to school because my debt is so high.

What are some other history related careers at museums that one can work with a bachelors degree which pays above $30,000? How do I gain experience in those positions so that a museum would consider me for the career?

I wish I had a brilliant suggestion for crossing the salary threshold, but I'm afraid I don't.  Unfortunately, finding an entry level museum job that you can afford to do (i.e. you can live on the salary) is one of the more challenging aspects of working in museums, especially in museums located in cities with high costs of living.  Salaries are frequently (but not always) tied to managerial responsibilities of some kind, which means that in order to move up the pay scale, sometimes you need to become somebody's boss.  That's hard to do from the bottom rung of the ladder, and it can take a long time.  Sometimes, there's not much of a ladder to climb, as many positions with higher salaries are director-level positions (marketing, development, etc.) and are filled by external searches rather than by promoting from within the institution.  This can be out of necessity in some cases (a preparator is probably not the best choice for a development director, nor would they want the job).

In some respects, the museum sector shares issues similar to those of the corporate sector.  The median individual income in the U.S. is about $27K/year, which would suggest that there are a great many people working in all jobs that struggle to hit the $30K target that you're seeking.  I don't mean to suggest that museum staff just aren't worth any more, but this statistic does put things into context within the larger economic picture. 

The museum field also suffers from the "dream job" phenomenon.  People who want to work in a museum are often very passionate about their field of study, and often have near zero passion for working in retail, insurance, finance, or other types of jobs.  Having a job that they feel is meaningful to society and personally fulfilling to them is a high priority, and some are willing to make financial sacrifices in order to have that kind of job.  Those sacrifices may be acceptable for someone who is 22, but they get harder to make when things like buying a home or starting a family come into the picture.  Some find a marital solution.  I've seen more than a few dedicated museum professionals whose ability to work for modest pay is enabled by the significantly higher income of their spouse in another profession.  An education coordinator can work for $26K/year when they're married to an anesthesiologist. 

I hope that this doesn't sound like I'm trying to chase you away from the museum field.  It can be very rewarding, and is populated by a lot of very fun and interesting people.  However, these realities are part of the picture, and I think that it's important to bring them into the discussion.  Acknowledging and talking about the difficulties is the first step to positive change.  Most of the people I know who have worked long-term in the museum world have career paths that aren't exactly linear.  But they've found a way to make it, and I think that you can as well.  



- Michael

Michael,

Thank you for articulating so well the fact of museum life! 

I wonder how the ratio of museum CEO and director correlates to the private sector. It was on average 20:1 in 1950, now its 200:1.

This is an issue that AAM needs to shed light on. Perhaps I missed that issue of Museum magazine.

Regards,

I wish I had a brilliant suggestion for crossing the salary threshold, but I'm afraid I don't.  Unfortunately, finding an entry level museum job that you can afford to do (i.e. you can live on the salary) is one of the more challenging aspects of working in museums, especially in museums located in cities with high costs of living.  Salaries are frequently (but not always) tied to managerial responsibilities of some kind, which means that in order to move up the pay scale, sometimes you need to become somebody's boss.  That's hard to do from the bottom rung of the ladder, and it can take a long time.  Sometimes, there's not much of a ladder to climb, as many positions with higher salaries are director-level positions (marketing, development, etc.) and are filled by external searches rather than by promoting from within the institution.  This can be out of necessity in some cases (a preparator is probably not the best choice for a development director, nor would they want the job).

In some respects, the museum sector shares issues similar to those of the corporate sector.  The median individual income in the U.S. is about $27K/year, which would suggest that there are a great many people working in all jobs that struggle to hit the $30K target that you're seeking.  I don't mean to suggest that museum staff just aren't worth any more, but this statistic does put things into context within the larger economic picture. 

The museum field also suffers from the "dream job" phenomenon.  People who want to work in a museum are often very passionate about their field of study, and often have near zero passion for working in retail, insurance, finance, or other types of jobs.  Having a job that they feel is meaningful to society and personally fulfilling to them is a high priority, and some are willing to make financial sacrifices in order to have that kind of job.  Those sacrifices may be acceptable for someone who is 22, but they get harder to make when things like buying a home or starting a family come into the picture.  Some find a marital solution.  I've seen more than a few dedicated museum professionals whose ability to work for modest pay is enabled by the significantly higher income of their spouse in another profession.  An education coordinator can work for $26K/year when they're married to an anesthesiologist. 

I hope that this doesn't sound like I'm trying to chase you away from the museum field.  It can be very rewarding, and is populated by a lot of very fun and interesting people.  However, these realities are part of the picture, and I think that it's important to bring them into the discussion.  Acknowledging and talking about the difficulties is the first step to positive change.  Most of the people I know who have worked long-term in the museum world have career paths that aren't exactly linear.  But they've found a way to make it, and I think that you can as well.  



- Michael

Hey it is Nyadenya O F Inyagwa. I want to thank everybody for their wonderful advise. I decided to work my way to  full-time at the New England Aquarium through Sharpshooter Imaging as a Sales Photographer and as a per-contract archivist through Boston Institute for Non-Profit Journalism. I am making enough money to pay all my bills now except I am still struggling with food. In the attempt to utilize my history degree and explore my hobbies, I am exploring YouTube and DeviantArt by making historic, Godly, and sport posts. I want to start an entrepreneur pursuit.  I did take everyone's advice into consideration and have decided to interview at Art Galleries in Boston for end-of-the-week-work, in collections (as a volunteer). I think it is always good to learn new things.

Michael,

Thank you for articulating so well the fact of museum life! 

I wonder how the ratio of museum CEO and director correlates to the private sector. It was on average 20:1 in 1950, now its 200:1.

This is an issue that AAM needs to shed light on. Perhaps I missed that issue of Museum magazine.

Regards,

I wish I had a brilliant suggestion for crossing the salary threshold, but I'm afraid I don't.  Unfortunately, finding an entry level museum job that you can afford to do (i.e. you can live on the salary) is one of the more challenging aspects of working in museums, especially in museums located in cities with high costs of living.  Salaries are frequently (but not always) tied to managerial responsibilities of some kind, which means that in order to move up the pay scale, sometimes you need to become somebody's boss.  That's hard to do from the bottom rung of the ladder, and it can take a long time.  Sometimes, there's not much of a ladder to climb, as many positions with higher salaries are director-level positions (marketing, development, etc.) and are filled by external searches rather than by promoting from within the institution.  This can be out of necessity in some cases (a preparator is probably not the best choice for a development director, nor would they want the job).

In some respects, the museum sector shares issues similar to those of the corporate sector.  The median individual income in the U.S. is about $27K/year, which would suggest that there are a great many people working in all jobs that struggle to hit the $30K target that you're seeking.  I don't mean to suggest that museum staff just aren't worth any more, but this statistic does put things into context within the larger economic picture. 

The museum field also suffers from the "dream job" phenomenon.  People who want to work in a museum are often very passionate about their field of study, and often have near zero passion for working in retail, insurance, finance, or other types of jobs.  Having a job that they feel is meaningful to society and personally fulfilling to them is a high priority, and some are willing to make financial sacrifices in order to have that kind of job.  Those sacrifices may be acceptable for someone who is 22, but they get harder to make when things like buying a home or starting a family come into the picture.  Some find a marital solution.  I've seen more than a few dedicated museum professionals whose ability to work for modest pay is enabled by the significantly higher income of their spouse in another profession.  An education coordinator can work for $26K/year when they're married to an anesthesiologist. 

I hope that this doesn't sound like I'm trying to chase you away from the museum field.  It can be very rewarding, and is populated by a lot of very fun and interesting people.  However, these realities are part of the picture, and I think that it's important to bring them into the discussion.  Acknowledging and talking about the difficulties is the first step to positive change.  Most of the people I know who have worked long-term in the museum world have career paths that aren't exactly linear.  But they've found a way to make it, and I think that you can as well.  



- Michael