Our Top 10 for Job Seekers

Be strategic. Know what type of job you want and what you want to learn. (If you're not learning, you'll be bored quickly.) If you've really thought about what you need as opposed to what you want, you may find that the assistant to the big-time director may be a better learning experience than being the lowly member of a 10-person department. With each job advertisement, ask yourself what you might learn. Pit that against what you know.
Know where you can live and where you can't. If moving to a town of 3,000 that's three hours from the nearest small city makes you feel secretly nauseous, don't apply. Conversely, if you're someone who needs the great outdoors, don't focus on urban museums. Seems lame, but sometimes our desire for a job overrides our best instincts and we end up employed, but sad because we're not really in the place we want to be.
Make a budget. Use the MIT living wage calculator and Time Magazine's gender gap wage quiz to see how your industry and age group are affected. Yes, we understand that many museum positions don't have much wiggle room when it comes to salaries, but saying no is a form of negotiation. Is it better to stay with your parents or be unemployed for an extra month or two or to struggle to get blood from a stone because you can't pay student loans on what you're making in a job that makes you miserable?
Know yourself. Take stock. After 18 plus years of school, internships, part-time and full-time employment, who are you? What matters to you? Routine? Risk? Stability?Creativity?
Interview a lot. Think of it like dating. In fact, interview for a position you're not that enthusiastic about. Knowing you don't care passionately takes the edge off and practice is practice. If you have friends or mentors who will rehearse an interview with you, take it. Treat Skype as if you're interviewing in person. You are.
Don't just ask about the position, ask about the department and organization you'll be working with and for. How do they make decisions? How do they come to consensus? How often do they meet as a group? How many exhibitions, programs, projects do they do in a given year? If someone comes up with a good idea, how long does it take before implementation?
Read the organization's value statements, HR policies, and mission. Do they mesh with your own values? Is the mission something you can support?
Use your network. Who do you know who knows someone at the organization you're interested in? Can they help? Can they offer insight into any of the questions in number six?
Are you someone bound by geography? Are you the trailing spouse or partner? If so, are you looking at all the edges of the museum field, other arts organizations or complementary fields like development, communications or arts education?
If you get an offer, don't say yes unless you're completely and totally sure. Say thank you. Think. Talk with friends, mentors, professors if you're still in school. Will the money work? Is there something else you need that's not money? An extra week of vacation because your parents are sick? Call back and ask. You're in the sweet spot. If they say no, what will that tell you? Will you take the job anyway? Do you have other options? And last, remember, this isn't just about getting an organization to want you although admittedly it feels like it. Ultimately, the best matches happen not because you "got hired", but because you not only found a livable salary and benefits, but equally important, you found a place that promises community, creativity and challenge that may ultimately make you a better (happier) person. We all want that. Do you have a top 10? Share it with us here at leadershipmatters. Joan H. Baldwin