As of August, I'm starting a new job search spreadsheet. I've been looking for work since October 2018 (off and on - at one point, working a full time job, three part time jobs, and looking for jobs was just a bit too much). Now that my contract position has ended, I've been devoting more time to searching, as well as long discussions with people who do the kind of work I can see myself doing.
I decided to do some quick data visualizations, breaking down the kind of work I've pursued in the past year:
I decided to do some quick data visualizations, breaking down the kind of work I've pursued in the past year:
By "job," I mean anything outside of academia or outside of the museum. These include a number of academic-related jobs, such as university admin, as well as non-profits, cultural heritage orgs, publishers, etc., in addition to far-fetched jobs that have nothing to do with the academic/non-profit world.
The most immediate misstep I see here is devoting more than 1/3 of my search to academic jobs last year. I don't know why I did it, particularly as most of these jobs were not in my primary field (Greek art history). There is not really much point in trying for an academic job anymore, except that it is the only world in which my education level is readily accepted. Hence the reason I gave it one more go.
Second, my museum job applications also haven't panned out, but one thing I realized in the course of applying is that I've always just wanted to work in a museum. I did the PhD because that was what was required for a curatorial job, and I started it when Museum Studies Masters programs weren't so popular, so I didn't think of that as a path toward museum work. But curatorial jobs are few and far between, and other types of museum jobs (education, editorial) get hung up on my PhD, as well as my antiquities focus. I would challenge the assumption that I would leave another type of museum job for curatorial, but it's hard to convince people. I just want to work with objects and people through content creation of some sort (digital projects, writing/editing, etc.). P.S., there are no jobs in provenance research.
The most immediate misstep I see here is devoting more than 1/3 of my search to academic jobs last year. I don't know why I did it, particularly as most of these jobs were not in my primary field (Greek art history). There is not really much point in trying for an academic job anymore, except that it is the only world in which my education level is readily accepted. Hence the reason I gave it one more go.
Second, my museum job applications also haven't panned out, but one thing I realized in the course of applying is that I've always just wanted to work in a museum. I did the PhD because that was what was required for a curatorial job, and I started it when Museum Studies Masters programs weren't so popular, so I didn't think of that as a path toward museum work. But curatorial jobs are few and far between, and other types of museum jobs (education, editorial) get hung up on my PhD, as well as my antiquities focus. I would challenge the assumption that I would leave another type of museum job for curatorial, but it's hard to convince people. I just want to work with objects and people through content creation of some sort (digital projects, writing/editing, etc.). P.S., there are no jobs in provenance research.
I'm also surprised by the shift in limited term vs. non-contract jobs to which I apply. This reflects a certain amount of choose-iness, I admit. I would say that this pie chart could be flipped, for the number of contract jobs out there far exceeds those that don't have an end date. But at this stage, securing a job in which I can grow and learn is high on my list of priorities, and in my experience, limited term jobs just don't allow for this (unless they're done right). So I re-focused my search. The LT jobs on here to which I did apply are those that are most relevant to what I want to do and where I see myself and I believed they could push me in the direction of my aspirations.
Finally, my rate of getting interviews appears fairly successful. 1/3 of the time is not too bad. It's also exhausting, time-consuming, and considering I am still not fully employed, ultimately discouraging. Interviews are "practice," right. But I'm ready to perform.
A couple caveats: I've not listed just how many jobs I've applied to here, nor have I listed how many just never respond, and there are lots of other small divisions that I could make. Freelance jobs are left off; most of them I haven't technically applied for. I've left off fellowships and grants (didn't get any of them this past year, and most are impossible given I was working full time until June), and I've not always been the best about keeping the spreadsheet updated (i.e, I've thrown my resume out to a few LinkedIn jobs, never heard anything, and forgot to record the application). I've also left off dozens of jobs that I ultimately gave up on applying to. So WYSIWYG.
This month, August, I began a new spreadsheet. And hopefully soon, I will begin new job. I am open, flexible, adaptable. I want to be challenged, to learn, and to grow.
A couple caveats: I've not listed just how many jobs I've applied to here, nor have I listed how many just never respond, and there are lots of other small divisions that I could make. Freelance jobs are left off; most of them I haven't technically applied for. I've left off fellowships and grants (didn't get any of them this past year, and most are impossible given I was working full time until June), and I've not always been the best about keeping the spreadsheet updated (i.e, I've thrown my resume out to a few LinkedIn jobs, never heard anything, and forgot to record the application). I've also left off dozens of jobs that I ultimately gave up on applying to. So WYSIWYG.
This month, August, I began a new spreadsheet. And hopefully soon, I will begin new job. I am open, flexible, adaptable. I want to be challenged, to learn, and to grow.
RSS Feed