I think one of the most common pieces of advice for students who want to know how to increase their employability and experience is to volunteer. I'm curious to know how many of you are volunteering and how it's helped you so far. If you're not volunteering, why not? Are you too busy with other commitments or are you not able to find a placement? Has anyone gotten a job in archives without volunteering?
For myself I've had two volunteer placements of 6 months each. One lead to a job and the other didn't. They were both really valuable experiences but I think that I learned more in that 6 months at the placement which didn't lead to a job.
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Hi
I'm almost half way through my Masters of Information Studies at CSU and I've been volunteering for about twelve months as the Prahran Mechanics' Institute. I've found it really rewarding because although what I'm doing isn't always in line with everything I'm learning about archives, because it's such a small archive it really can't be, I have been part of the project to organise, collate, index and catalogue their archives before they move buildings almost from the start. This means that I've been able to actually have a bit of a say in what happens and I think its been invaluable experience in how a small archive/library works and how a project of this nature can be organised.
Hi Ellen,
That sounds really interesting! Volunteering in a small archive can be a great opportunity because everything is happening so close to you, even if you're not involved in a project you can still observe/discuss it and learn a lot that way.
That is absolutely what I'm finding. I get to do bits of everything which I find really rewarding.
No problem, as I said I'm actually really enjoying myself
I just wanted to add a link here to the ARA's reports on volunteering in archives here.
Although these reports use data from the UK and Ireland I'd imagine there are some similarities with Australia. They include a number of surveys of volunteers and the people who manage them, as well as case studies of volunteer programs.
Hi Robin, I volunteer with a community archive, both on the management committee member and collection management (archival) work. Having sat on numerous committees/boards for over a decade, I have found that it has probably been the committee work that has given me a broader skill base to draw from within a paid work environment than the archival work.
Many of the archival/library organisations that I have been involved with seem to have restrictive volunteer arrangements, as Claire mentions above - public liability, not undertaking work paid work do etc. The Public Records Office of Victoria seem to have one of the more well developed volunteer programs, with a dedicated paid volunteer coordinator and 150-200 volunteers, but they seem to be one of the exceptions.
I have tried to assist a number of the archivist/library student volunteers at the community archive I am involved with obtaining further employment as a referee, although these often seem to end up being more character references, than archival skills refs. Given the limited number of archival jobs, I suspect there would be limited pathways within organisations from volunteer to paid work.
Hi Nick,
Thanks for posting, that's really interesting that your experience on the board has been so useful for you.
It seems like there's quite a bit of variation in how organisations think about volunteers. Some places are very welcoming and others seem to consider volunteers a liability or just inconvenient. There also seem to be quite a few places that prefer retired people over students (I suppose they are seen as more committed and experienced).
I agree with you that pathways from volunteering to working within one organisation are probably pretty uncommon. I wonder how many people who volunteer in archives benefit from having it on their CV and end up working in an archive later on.
It now appears that I am going to have to spend time commuting for a volunteer position if I ever hope to gain valuable work experience in this field.
Hi Claire,
That's a shame the TAFE wasn't helpful when it came to volunteering. I hope you find something!
My course (the Grad Dip at Curtin) does include a placement but it's only 3 weeks long. It's probably difficult for them to find placements for everyone so I can understand why they don't offer more or why some places don't offer anything. But from the student perspective a short placement (or no placement like in your case) isn't enough.
Hi Robin,
Easy! A quick phone call to the church archives, and a brief in-person request to the university's Special Collections Officer. I was fortunate with the university, however, as from what I understand they have a limit on how many volunteers they can have and I filled the last spot. My PhD is on the New Settlers' League of Australia - a volunteer organisation! - and I am at James Cook University in Townsville.
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