A Circus Full of Ring Leaders
Pros
The bottom of the pecking order staff (exhibits, facilities, visitor experience, and some events staff) are wonderful. They have a genuine care for the place and invest quite a bit of time in it and, therefore, take any bad decisions that the museum management makes to heart. I've met some really great individuals that made a great impact on me.
Cons
Where to start? In my department, a very inexperienced manager was put in charge of multiple teams and immediately made the baffling decision to eliminate all part-time front desk roles-right in the middle of peak field trip season. Full-time staff were then expected to absorb those duties, with no added support and barely any compensation while also being handed responsibilities from other departments, as well. And after cutting my position, they still asked if I could stick around a bit longer to help cover the very responsibilities they had just eliminated-until my full-time replacement arrived. Then we’d “part ways.” Promotions? Don’t count on one unless the museum is desperate or management decides a task is too hard for them-like creating the volunteer schedule-so they invent a new role just to hand it off. If you're applying to Visitor Experience, be ready to wear seven hats for $15 an hour, all while being managed by someone who’s clearly in over their head.
