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/

Support us on Patreon! https://www.patreon.com/thecword

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.