MUSINGS: FIVE JOB TITLES YOU MAY NOT HAVE CONSIDERED WITH YOUR MMSt DEGREE

ALUMNI CHECK-IN

BY: EMILY WELSH

Welcome to this season's final edition of Alumni Check-In! I wanted to take this opportunity to highlight five of our alumni whose job titles represent positions which may be unique or often overlooked by those considering what they may like to do with their own MMSt degrees. Where can our degree take us?

FIVE JOB TITLES YOU MAY NOT HAVE CONSIDERED

1. Registrar and Project Organizer, Archaeological Excavation

Alum: Kapua Iao
MMSt: 2010
Employer: Gournia Excavation Project

Since 2010, Kapua has worked as Registrar and Project Organizer for the Gournia Excavation Project. The Gournia Excavation Project by the University at Buffalo in New York studies the Late Bronze Age Minoan site present at Gournia, Crete. Kapua's responsibilities include organizing the project's personnel, budget and resources; creating collections procedures (accessioning, cataloging, handling); supervising and instructing summer collections volunteers; building and maintaining the databases; and acting as liaison to scholars and the public.

2. Heritage Information Analyst

Alum: Heather Dunn
MMSt: 1995
Employer: Canadian Heritage Information Network

Since 1996, Heather has worked with the Canadian Heritage Information Network under the title of Heritage Information Analyst. In this role, Heather has had the opportunity to work on a variety of interesting projects including working as co-editor on the Nomenclature 4.0 Museum Classification System and leading national working groups assessing, developing and implementing documentation standards for museum collections. Heather's work with metadata, taxonomies and open data projects is contributing to the interchange of museum information.

3. Development Officer, Annual Giving

Alum: Meaghan Duffy
MMSt: 2009
Employer: Toronto Symphony Orchestra

Since 2017, Meaghan has been employed in the Development & Donor Relations Department at the Toronto Symphony Orchestra. Previously, Meaghan worked as Development and Marketing Administrative Assistant & Direct Response Coordinator at the Canadian Cancer Society.

It is important to remember that with your MMSt degree you are not bound to careers in strictly defined heritage organizations! Your skills are valuable to many organizations and you should follow your heart to where you best fit in!

Remember to think outside of the box and always follow your heart. Source.

4. Service Design Lead

Alum: Stephanie Nemcsok
MMSt: 2008
Employer: Calgary Public Library

Since 2016, Stephanie has been employed as one of the Calgary Public Library's Service Design Leads. The Calgary Public Library describes their responsibilities as follows:

"Service Design Leads design, develop and evaluate a range of system-wide Library programs and services in the following key areas: civic and digital literacy, early literacy, and services for Indigenous communities, newcomers, children, teens, and readers."

If you would like to learn more about this job's role in the shifting vision of the library, you can check out this expired job posting.

5. President and CEO

Alum: Shelley Falconer
MMSt: 1994
Employer: Art Gallery of Hamilton

Shelley has been the President and CEO of the Art Gallery of Hamilton since November 2014. After graduating from the MMSt program in 1994, Shelley's career has moved through a variety of positions including Director of Exhibitions and Programs at the McMichael Canadian Art Collection, Adjunct Faculty at the University of Toronto, and CEO of Cultural Asset Management Group.

Don't limit yourself in your hopes and dreams for your career after receiving a MMSt degree! If upper management is your dream, or if you have another dream position, aim for it and set yourself up for success. Never stop believing!

"Don't let your dreams be dreams." Source.

If you are interested in learning more about where the MMSt degree has taken our alumni, check out this interactive map which pinpoints alumni we have discovered around the globe.