Salaries

As a 1999 program graduate who recently became unemployed, I can
fairly assess what is going on in the employment scene.  The money
issue has recently become a greater problem as a large number of
institutions have added postgraduate internships, instead of real
positions. After my third year internship, I spent one year on an
NEA-funded postgraduate internship, followed by two more
postgraduate internships at another institution. Several people at
my former institution (who were not fully aware how long I had been
out of school) actually suggested that I apply for a three year
Mellon fellowship being offered by a prestigious museum.  I asked
them why I would not want have a real job six years after receiving
my second master's degree.

At this point, I have started doing private work, because
entry-level positions are not being created in many institutions. It
is much easier to receive grant funding for "education" than to
simply add staff positions. After all, interns do the work of an
assistant conservator, usually with more on-the-job experience and
more formal education than assistant curators, but those
conservation interns don't get the benefit of being real employees
in the eyes of upper management.  Fortunately, the curators do
recognize that the interns are de facto assistant conservators.

As for technicians, there are many who are apprentice-trained de
facto conservators.  On the other hand, new technician positions
continue to be created.  Most entry-level technicians are
pre-program interns who aren't well-heeled enough to take volunteer
internships while putting food on the table and paying rent,
particularly in DC, Boston, San Francisco, NYC, and other high-rent
cities. I know, because that's what I did pre-program.

Management at many institutions is simply ignorant of conservation
needs. It is usually the conservators in the labs, recognizing that
they need help, who struggle to get an intern or a technician into
their labs. Unfortunately, conservators don't hold the purse strings
at most institutions.

Valinda Carroll
paper conservator


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                  Conservation DistList Instance 16:62
                 Distributed: Thursday, April 17, 2003
                       Message Id: cdl-16-62-003
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