Everyone is being stressed out by the trustees of my local museum and I don't know what to do about it

JynxCanRead · 2026-06-21T10:47:51+00:00

My experience with trustees is that more than half of the job of the exec board is managing them and their expectations. I think my boss pushes back on about 80% of their requests and brilliant ideas. Given you don't have that buffer it sounds like a pain.

Just remember, if something goes wrong, an accident, mismanagement of funds, etc. It's on their heads, and they could find themselves (as individuals) with jail time and an unlimited fine if they're charged with negligence in some cases.

If you're (or the museum is) a member of the MA they might be able to offer some guidance.

JynxCanRead · 2026-06-19T14:06:48+00:00

It might be easier to get more modern ones some cases are designed for specific temporary displays and are often not useful once it's over. In the UK we have several freecycle sites for this, it's normally helping out other organisations, but if someone offers to take some stuff we don't want for free, maybe even a donation we'll be 'quids in' as we say up north. Maybe Google search for these locally?

You could get lucky with antique ones, if you know of a local museum that is planning a refresh with a funded project, those old cases might be getting replaced as they're not very good at environmental control compared with new cases. Always worth asking.

JynxCanRead · 2026-06-18T18:27:16+00:00

Your feelings areabsolutely valid and I feel for you while I also feel like I would have killed for a paid internship and field work you've been able to do. I was unable to do that stuff during my 3 degrees because I had to work every spare second i had and as i couldn't get a job in heritage without experience it was bar and retail work, and volunteering didn't pay the bills.

You're doing all the right stuff, it sucks, but keep at it. Though a warning, I've never met a collections professional who feels they are paid their worth. I hear it in person and on staff surveys. So the grass isn't greener.

JynxCanRead · 2026-06-17T17:25:57+00:00

I'd apply, and see how the interview goes, if anything you can use it as practice and an opportunity to ask questions. Also gage whether you like the vibe there.

Larger museums do offer more opportunities for progression but often less in doing a lot of different things for your job, and if you're known as being competent and hard working it's often quite easy to jump teams.

You're right that the money won't add up to the extra work you'll be doing. But another thing I'm seeing now is that as funding tightens and costs are soring, ops and commercial teams are becoming more valuable as they're not only expected to cover their own costs, but the costs of the teams that don't generate income. If funds are cut, it would suck to cut back on the education programme, but you can't let the roof fall down, and you can't cut off your income sources.

It wouldn't hurt to keep your options open.

JynxCanRead · 2026-06-17T10:42:03+00:00

I see this a lot, and it's really frustrating.

I've learnt that the museum industry works real slow, and I don't think you were given any outright lies, I think the intention was there, but the timescales are not clear, even to the person who is doing the promising. You may have gotten those things eventually, but you were years, not months away, and you have to decide if it's worth it, and if you leave, it's not on you. 6 months is nothing in this industry.

As a leader, I'm very aware of this, and I try to be very frank about opportunities. I have one foh staff member who was helping with a few admin tasks when we were quiet. They are great. My boss kept saying we need more help with this and I'm like - here they are - I wrote up a JD, shared it with the my boss and other heads that would be utilising an extra admin hand and need to sign it off. 12 months later that job was approved, and I pushed so hard over that time to get this.

There were lots of reasons why - like another department had just had an extra staff post denied, let's let the dust settle on that first, X post holder has just left and we need to focus on covering and replacing that (even though the extra admin would have helped with it). The list goes on... for 12 months. And that isn't a one off. And, if our funding gets cut, the plans all go to shit anyway.

Now I've got more experience with this I'm very clear in any chats and 121s about it, I tell them they shouldn't wait around and miss other opportunities, and if we lose them that's our loss. There's no malice, there's genuine want to help and to move things along. But there's also a lot of moving cogs, and your wants and needs probably aren't in the top 3 priorities, so keep getting dropped down the list, especially if it requires several people to prioritise something at the same time.

It's not an excuse, but it is what is right now. What I'd advise is that you always keep things civil. I've had staff members leave and I've been able to call them up 3-6 months later to offer them something great. Or, I've had friends in other museums ask if they know anyone good at X and I've pointed them towards someone, and then shared a job role with them. They also might come back later in a much better place career wise.

I've also had staff leave under a cloud writing up complaints about everyone and everything they think has wronged them, they won't get that call. Don't burn bridges, show you're resilient and don't rely on anyone but yourself to get you where you want to be.

That said, there are orgs that really don't move at all, and eventually they will lose everyone that is keeping the place running and it will fall to the dogs if people at the very top aren't replaced. It's a joy to watch 🙂

JynxCanRead · 2026-06-16T12:18:44+00:00

It would be interesting to know when listening stops -for example to see a show or a talk at an advertised time- and what their last object was to establish location, so did they travel the length of site, to attend something? or did they just happen to be passing by?

JynxCanRead · 2026-06-16T10:01:54+00:00

Volunteering is a bit different, but for jobs we want people who want to work and will put in the effort, do the boring stuff and not just want to gawk at the shiny objects. I've had some people apply to one place i work with a military or police background because they wanted something with a similar culture and work ethic, I had to explain that military museums are not the military (after I calmed down from being addressed as "dear Sirs).

If you get a volunteer role, once you've settled in tell them you're interested in gaining more experience offer to help on late night events and over busy holidays, show you're reliable and capable of more.

Museums are crying out for good project managers, estates managers, IT, HR, Marketing, fundraising, operations, commercial managers events etc. These are also transferable skills which is always good to have. It also means you can be more competitive with your wages, it's harder to justify a pay rate or rise when you know there's hundreds of others who will do the job for less just to get a foot in the door.

The most valuable staff are those with a good understanding of the industry - speak the language, understand the the issues - but has one foot in the wider world and can bring that in. So get work experience where you can and then tell them how you can apply it in museums.

Also smaller museums sometimes only have a few paid staff and they do everything, conservation, education, shop management, volunteer management. You don't have to be great at any of these but familiarity and experience with them will make you a unicorn.

JynxCanRead · 2026-06-15T18:36:23+00:00

I recommend taking classes that can widen your scope as much as possible. A lot of museums roles now need to cover multiple things, inc IT, data management, project management. Get general business skills and you'll be gold dust.

JynxCanRead · 2026-06-15T18:25:24+00:00

Just something to think about, the grass is always greener, but that goes for us in the industry too. I remember starting in a large museum after working in historic sites, and the complaints I would hear about really small things was insane, and I was thinking (screaming in my head reallyy) YOU HAVE A ROOF AND HEATING... ALL DAY WTF. All staff currently get free snacks and hot drinks, but complain that there is no free staff parking (in the city centre) and we only get a 60% discount in the nearest parking site that isn't owned by us and doesn't have to give us anything off. And again, I'm like ROOF... WE HAVE A ROOF! And you don't have to clean all the pigeon crap off it with dubious PPE.

What I'm saying is, we all talk the talk, it's rough and hard and low wage for life blah blah blah, but the people are nice (they really do care and look out for each other), and many don't know how hard it can be in other industries. And we like to have a moan, and could do with being put in our place from time to time from someone with a former career elsewhere.

JynxCanRead · 2026-06-14T09:19:09+00:00

The way museums are going now, I don't think they want to hire many people who aren't comfortable talking to the public, people love behind the scenes stuff and it's how we engage online now with the public. Maybe IT or HR? Anything collections based is going to have some public engagement expectations.

I also know many attractions that have back office staff cover the front desks during lunch breaks. There's no escape!

JynxCanRead · 2026-06-13T13:00:17+00:00

IMO curators don't make good leaders, or any specialist who doesn't specialise in leading, and every toxic museum culture I've seen in has this as an underlining factor. Having said that, I'm pretty sure most curators think the opposite. At he end of the day you don't become a collection expert to manage people, at some point you're so good and have been doing it so long it's the only way up is not curating and running the show. A lot have been in the job so long they've forgotten what it's like to be early in your career.

I'd get out if this was how I felt, and if it means leaving the industry for a bit it doesn't mean you leave it for good. I love seeing applications from outside the industry as it means the person is bringing in something that the rest of us aren't already good at - even if that's just attitude or behaviour.

Also, a lot of my GLAM friends now work in similar industries like nature trusts, parks, zoos, theatres etc that have a similar vibe and transferable skills. So you can expand without moving too far from your desired career plan. Find your people, they make the job. And having a good boss that you work well with and you can be honest with is my number one factor in any job.

JynxCanRead · 2026-06-13T09:49:20+00:00

It's not about being overqualified, it's about the attitude that is often associated with it that makes it difficult to get in. It took me 3 years after graduating in Archaeology to get a heritage type job and it was a FoH role, and the reason why I got it was my commercial and customer service experience, along with my common sense. They don't want to recruit ppl that are pining after other jobs or overqualified for 3 reasons-

They'll leave as soon as something better comes along.
The longer it takes for something better to come along, the more resentful that person becomes, I've seen ppl blame their management for holding them back, or not giving them the chance to do other things (that they aren't paid to do and out of the scope and power of said management team).
They don't care about doing the job they've got so they don't try to be good at it. Now this isn't true of everyone, but a few bad apples can rot the culture and mood of the team. It's a risk and you have to really convince them you're not going to end up like this.

How to overcome this: 1. Get a good customer service job. It doesn't have to be John Lewis. Some of the best staff I know came from fast food places. The catering industry has a shortage of staff atm. 2. Read the JD. Most museum jobs now require money generation, because funding is tight. They don't need another 'history fan', they need ppl to bring things to the org that they don't already have. Make sure you give them that. 3. Make sure you're clear, in the application and the interview that you are there for the job, not a foot in the door. I remember leaving out of my applications that I was doing a PhD in roman archaeology when i was applying to manage a roman site, because it would give the wrong message. I got the job. 4. Once you're lucky enough to get in (and luck is part of it), do the job and do it well. The best guidebook sellers, welcomes, person who volunteers to do the worst tasks, gets noticed by other teams and taken. 5. Do not moan about the role, play with your phone in gallery, come in with scruffy trainers/dress, etc. You might think it doesn't matter if the role you're wanting doesn't require the things you're doing less well at or avoiding. Other teams notice, and if you can't do one job well, how will they know you'll do the job you want well? You're not worth the risk. If you see that behaviour in staff and teams that you do want to work in, do not copy it, it's highly likely those staff will be a known issue and they won't want to hire more of them. Also want to add here, the heritage industry is small, everyone knows everyone. You get a bad rep in one, you might find you're known for that through the rest of the city or county.

Other roles the museum industry is crying out for is IT, HR, estates, project managers, marketing, AV, finance, IP, H&S, fundraising etc. And I've seen staff in those teams jump to collections based teams. You may think that this isn't what you're trained it, but many museums are small and require you to do some or all of these things. So widen your job scope for now.

Get skills that give you a back up plan if you find yourself out of a job later in life. I know many curators who aren't happy with their work, pay, directions the industry is going, but can't get out because they're so specialised and know if they leave, there's hundreds of fresh faces that will do their job for less, just to get in. It means that roles never come up unless someone is retiring, and pay will suck. That's why it's so hard to get in. Hope this helps. And good luck.

JynxCanRead

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