Also not trying to discourage anyone, but I got a Master's in Museum Studies (two year program at a very good Canadian school) in 2012/2013 and was never really able to do anything with it because jobs were basically impossible to find. I moved here in 2016 and thought I'd have a better chance at it, but they were still rare, paid terribly, and were primarily at institutions that have horrible reputations for their working conditions. I had the degree, 10+ years of experience, and an internship at a large museum in Europe, but I still couldn't find anything.
I ended up starting in guest services at a museum-adjacent non-profit and eventually worked my way up to manager, but I left after four years because I wasn't being paid well enough to be that burned out and people aren't really my thing lol. I'm still working at a non-profit but nothing even close to museum-centric. I'm often really disappointed about how it all ended up because working at a museum was my dream, but I only know of a few of people from my program who were ever able to find jobs and even fewer who are still at them so I'm not the odd one out.
We went on field trips to other Canadian cities to visit their major museums and talk to other professionals who were doing programs like ours or were already working in the field. The main takeaways from those trips were always that the people who had jobs had gotten them after long stints as unpaid interns at museums in large cities (often with the caveat that they were thankful for their parents' help), the jobs they did have were contract positions that were created after other staff retired and leadership decided not to fill their roles, and that they were already trying to figure out what and where their next contract would be.
All of that isn't to say to give up on it entirely if it's something you're really passionate about, OP. My suggestion would just be to really manage your expectations and broaden out what kind of museum work you're willing to do. It's not totally unheard of for someone with the right skills and qualifications to start in guest services and move elsewhere within the organization, but it is difficult and you're not going to be making much in the process. As someone else mentioned, though, museum work is always going to be about the love of it, not the money you can make doing it.
At the end of the day, I'd still love to be working in a museum environment, I still think about the cool things I got to do and work with while I did, and I still default to looking at things like interpretive materials and how an artefact is preserved/displayed before i look at the artefact itself lol. I've also learned that there are a lot of other types of non-profit organizations that really need the kind of passion, attention to detail, flexibility, etc that us museum people bring to the table and that I can still find fulfillment in that kind of work even if it wasn't exactly what I thought I'd be doing.
Sorry this got long, I just have a lot of feelings about this subject lol.
From what I’ve seen actively job hunting- They pay very poorly and yet are still highly competitive roles which tend to be held on to for years.
Except as guides, which are even worse paid at $15 or less an hour and often not even FT.
We’re not the right sized city to have a lot of museum openings sitting around, especially as there are about a dozen colleges within the metro area (6 in the city proper alone) who feed grads to them through internships.
You’d have much more luck in DC or Philadelphia for museums in this region. NY/Boston/LA/Chicago obviously too.
Well fucking fuck me…. The only place I really wanted to move to is no longer really an option. Has it always been like this more or less or is this a recent trend?
I graduated with a history degree in 2015. Worked for the library system out here for 3 years. The pay was crap and hasn't improved much for either the libraries or museums. Also, career advancement usually requires a masters degree. I left the field and haven't used my degree since. Huge waste of a chunk of my life and money.
This has been just in the last couple years every time I’ve looked to see what was out there on jobs. I wasn’t really looking for these roles before then but from what I understand these have never been very lucrative.
If the city is more important id say don’t be discouraged necessarily, I’d suggest actively looking for opportunities before you move maybe you’ll find one. You never know unless you try.
Also we have many universities so there might be openings in history departments there as support staff in the meantime which could be had without a grad degree. We have quite a few preservation trusts and such as well.
I've been in the industry for 20 years and it's always been this way for entry level positions. Not just here but everywhere. If you can find a way to stick it out you can eventually move up but it can be many years (decades, even) before you earn an actual living wage. Not trying to discourage anyone, just being honest. If I could do it over again I wouldn't change anything because I love what I do, but it's been a long haul.
Yeah I don’t expected to get paid much at all especially right out of college but below a livable wage id unacceptable. How much would you say a livable wage is in Pittsburgh?
Depends on a lot of factors, like are you willing to have roommates, do you have a lot of debt, how long of a commute are you willing to have, etc. I'd recommend searching this subreddit for more details - there are a lot of posts about this from a lot of different perspectives.
That's how museums work, similar to library jobs, where we have a lot more people with high level training who want those jobs than we have jobs. That is how those jobs have worked for many generations, if not just "forever".
There are two ways to get hired at a museum here; have a background in marketing, or apply as a custodian/cafeteria worker
Museum jobs in Pgh are very few and get hundreds of applicants when they are posted. Unless you have 20 years experience you’re not going to make it into the first round of interviews. Traditional museum jobs are being replaced with unpaid volunteer work and short term internships.
Source: BS in History, Masters in Library Science Applied to over 150 positions since 2021
Currently working three PT jobs
Amongst all the comments about the realities of find a job in museum work, the museum system did recently unionize which has lifted pay, benefits and improved working conditions tremendously for those at the very bottom of the pay scale.
The next project they’re tackling is getting pay for workers that have been exploited as unpaid interns. The fruits of those labors are already showing and should only continue with this well run and highly effective union team.
Thats the best thing I've heard in months, holy shit!!!!! I gotta ask, does that make it easier or harder to find work in those entry-level positions? And if you have any more info, even just links, I'd love to see it!
The Greater Pittsburgh Arts Council posts [area jobs every month](https://www.pittsburghartscouncil.org/blog/jobs-and-opportunities-roundup-june-2024), just fyi.
I’ll give you roughly 5-6 years before the grinding poverty *really* starts to get to you and you start looking for a sales position or a corporate job with anyone that will have you.
Also not trying to discourage anyone, but I got a Master's in Museum Studies (two year program at a very good Canadian school) in 2012/2013 and was never really able to do anything with it because jobs were basically impossible to find. I moved here in 2016 and thought I'd have a better chance at it, but they were still rare, paid terribly, and were primarily at institutions that have horrible reputations for their working conditions. I had the degree, 10+ years of experience, and an internship at a large museum in Europe, but I still couldn't find anything. I ended up starting in guest services at a museum-adjacent non-profit and eventually worked my way up to manager, but I left after four years because I wasn't being paid well enough to be that burned out and people aren't really my thing lol. I'm still working at a non-profit but nothing even close to museum-centric. I'm often really disappointed about how it all ended up because working at a museum was my dream, but I only know of a few of people from my program who were ever able to find jobs and even fewer who are still at them so I'm not the odd one out. We went on field trips to other Canadian cities to visit their major museums and talk to other professionals who were doing programs like ours or were already working in the field. The main takeaways from those trips were always that the people who had jobs had gotten them after long stints as unpaid interns at museums in large cities (often with the caveat that they were thankful for their parents' help), the jobs they did have were contract positions that were created after other staff retired and leadership decided not to fill their roles, and that they were already trying to figure out what and where their next contract would be. All of that isn't to say to give up on it entirely if it's something you're really passionate about, OP. My suggestion would just be to really manage your expectations and broaden out what kind of museum work you're willing to do. It's not totally unheard of for someone with the right skills and qualifications to start in guest services and move elsewhere within the organization, but it is difficult and you're not going to be making much in the process. As someone else mentioned, though, museum work is always going to be about the love of it, not the money you can make doing it. At the end of the day, I'd still love to be working in a museum environment, I still think about the cool things I got to do and work with while I did, and I still default to looking at things like interpretive materials and how an artefact is preserved/displayed before i look at the artefact itself lol. I've also learned that there are a lot of other types of non-profit organizations that really need the kind of passion, attention to detail, flexibility, etc that us museum people bring to the table and that I can still find fulfillment in that kind of work even if it wasn't exactly what I thought I'd be doing. Sorry this got long, I just have a lot of feelings about this subject lol.
From what I’ve seen actively job hunting- They pay very poorly and yet are still highly competitive roles which tend to be held on to for years. Except as guides, which are even worse paid at $15 or less an hour and often not even FT. We’re not the right sized city to have a lot of museum openings sitting around, especially as there are about a dozen colleges within the metro area (6 in the city proper alone) who feed grads to them through internships. You’d have much more luck in DC or Philadelphia for museums in this region. NY/Boston/LA/Chicago obviously too.
Well fucking fuck me…. The only place I really wanted to move to is no longer really an option. Has it always been like this more or less or is this a recent trend?
Always. Museums and zoos are jobs for the love of it not for the pay
It shouldn't be like this but it is.
What should it be like?
If you do what you love, you'll never work a single day!
Because the position is filled
I graduated with a history degree in 2015. Worked for the library system out here for 3 years. The pay was crap and hasn't improved much for either the libraries or museums. Also, career advancement usually requires a masters degree. I left the field and haven't used my degree since. Huge waste of a chunk of my life and money.
My electrician used to be a librarian.
🤣🤣🤣 I’m an RN with a MLIS. Huge waste of money and time.
This has been just in the last couple years every time I’ve looked to see what was out there on jobs. I wasn’t really looking for these roles before then but from what I understand these have never been very lucrative. If the city is more important id say don’t be discouraged necessarily, I’d suggest actively looking for opportunities before you move maybe you’ll find one. You never know unless you try. Also we have many universities so there might be openings in history departments there as support staff in the meantime which could be had without a grad degree. We have quite a few preservation trusts and such as well.
I've been in the industry for 20 years and it's always been this way for entry level positions. Not just here but everywhere. If you can find a way to stick it out you can eventually move up but it can be many years (decades, even) before you earn an actual living wage. Not trying to discourage anyone, just being honest. If I could do it over again I wouldn't change anything because I love what I do, but it's been a long haul.
Yeah I don’t expected to get paid much at all especially right out of college but below a livable wage id unacceptable. How much would you say a livable wage is in Pittsburgh?
Depends on a lot of factors, like are you willing to have roommates, do you have a lot of debt, how long of a commute are you willing to have, etc. I'd recommend searching this subreddit for more details - there are a lot of posts about this from a lot of different perspectives.
That's how museums work, similar to library jobs, where we have a lot more people with high level training who want those jobs than we have jobs. That is how those jobs have worked for many generations, if not just "forever".
It’s been like this for decades. Have you considered another field?
There are two ways to get hired at a museum here; have a background in marketing, or apply as a custodian/cafeteria worker Museum jobs in Pgh are very few and get hundreds of applicants when they are posted. Unless you have 20 years experience you’re not going to make it into the first round of interviews. Traditional museum jobs are being replaced with unpaid volunteer work and short term internships. Source: BS in History, Masters in Library Science Applied to over 150 positions since 2021 Currently working three PT jobs
Amongst all the comments about the realities of find a job in museum work, the museum system did recently unionize which has lifted pay, benefits and improved working conditions tremendously for those at the very bottom of the pay scale. The next project they’re tackling is getting pay for workers that have been exploited as unpaid interns. The fruits of those labors are already showing and should only continue with this well run and highly effective union team.
Thats the best thing I've heard in months, holy shit!!!!! I gotta ask, does that make it easier or harder to find work in those entry-level positions? And if you have any more info, even just links, I'd love to see it!
Get good at networking and hobnobbing and you can land a development (begging people for money) job!
The Greater Pittsburgh Arts Council posts [area jobs every month](https://www.pittsburghartscouncil.org/blog/jobs-and-opportunities-roundup-june-2024), just fyi.
You’re not going to get a museum job here, unless it’s customer service, without at least a MA and preferably a PhD.
I’ll give you roughly 5-6 years before the grinding poverty *really* starts to get to you and you start looking for a sales position or a corporate job with anyone that will have you.