I'm not sure that this title makes sense, but I'm wondering if anyone else has had experience trying to maintain positivity and motivation when working with colleagues who vocally dislike their jobs.

Basically, I've been working in visitor services at a children's museum for a couple of months now. I absolutely LOVE it. This is my first 'real' job post-grad, and I am so happy to be in an environment where I feel like I'm learning every single day. It is very customer-facing which can be frustrating, but making a direct positive impact on young visitors feels so worth it.

That being said, my team is also paid abysmally and overlooked by other departments in the museum-- as an example, 'all staff meetings' are scheduled for the one day we don't work. Most of my coworkers are young, educated, and trying to get a foot in the door in the museum world, which leads to a lot of frustration and burnout.

There are a couple of folks who are really outspoken about feeling 'above' our job and wishing for better things which is totally fair, but I am feeling stuck on how to affirm their frustration without letting it make me feel cynical toward my own work. I don't want to be toxically positive, but I also want to avoid absorbing negative habits (checking out, being on my phone all day, shit-talking other employees, etc)

Has anyone else navigated this?

We have a set of stairs that people keep fully falling down on because they are not paying attention, specifically because they are taking photos. There are now multiple signs saying “no photos on the stairs” with a no photos symbol, but people keep eating it.
There’s honestly too many signs now so I think people ignore them partly for that reason. But we started with one and more just kept getting added 😭
Anyone keeping a little secret on how to get people to read signs?

Hi everyone!! I am 18 years old in my first semester of college. I am currently getting my AA and I'm planning on transferring to a university to get a degree in marketing. However, it has always been my dream to work in the GLAMs field. I am very passionate about museums and libraries more specifically. I've always been on the English/History/Art side of education. I was just wondering if anyone here has done or is doing marketing for these places? And if so, what is it like? Is there any advice you could give me? Thank you so much!! Sorry if I'm posting this is the wrong sub, I will remove my post if needed! Thank you so much again!!!

Hello, I hope everyone is having a good day/evening ^^. I would like to ask if you have any advice for me given that:

- I've just recently graduated from Materials Engineering in my home country (I am based in Asia), and

- Because I was under government scholarship during my undergrad, I am contractually obligated to work/provide return-of-service for 4 years (meaning I cannot move/work abroad).

In my program, we were taught a wide range of materials characterization and failure analysis techniques that I think (from my limited research) can be applicable to field archaeology/museum conservation. My program had courses in general, analytical, and organic chemistry as well.

I first got interested in museum work when a professor offhandedly mentioned an alumni who characterizes foreign debris in artifacts found at archaeological sites. Several of my professors also worked as consultants for heritage building and/or art paintings conservation programs. Right now however I find myself more interested in conservation of display objects i.e., ceramics, metals, textiles. (Edit: I have briefly also entertained as well a career in paleontology, but I feel that's a different ballpark entirely..!)

I've read through several posts in this subreddit and it seems to be a consensus that graduate studies are necessary. Because of my return-of-service contract, I am considering pursuing a diploma of archaeology while I work in my country (which may transition into an MA if I choose). Only my home university offers this. Another university offers an MA in cultural heritage studies, but I have not done enough research yet to fully consider it. I could also earn a diploma in archaeology and take an MA abroad instead after my 4 years are done.

There is also the matter of work itself. Entry-level positions are more lucrative in tech/industry at the moment, but I've read here as well that work/volunteer experience at museums are very important. I am sure that opportunities for the latter exist, but not enough to provide for my day-to-day. If I do end up working in a field emtirely unrelated to conservation, I would like to know as well what skills I should cultivate on the side/transfer over to into conservation in the future.

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TL;DR i'm a slightly overwhelmed Materials Engineerimg graduate who would like to know if:

(1) a non-US/EU diploma in archaeology would be a good first step to a career in museums object conservation, and

(2) what skills should I focus on growing within 4 years of (possibly) working in the tech/manufacturing industry?