The Cultural Heritage Forum In Short

The Cultural Heritage Forum was held on the 15^th November, as part of the Museums and Cultural Heritage Week. Although the five speakers were working in various heritage related fields and at different stages of their career, there were clear commonalities to their career journeys and consequently their recommendations to future graduates. Many of the panellists reflected on how they found themselves in their current career not through planning each step along the journey, but by proactively following their interests. Their collective story went something like this:

They noticed what areas of their studies (e.g. medieval over ancient archaeology) and/or aspects of their earlier work experiences (e.g. educating others) they enjoyed most and sought out opportunities to increase their knowledge in these areas. They remarked that working in smaller institutions can sometimes provide more meaningful and broader experiences than working in the larger more prestigious institutions. Although aspects of such entry-level work may have been less exciting or somewhat repetitive at times, they found these experiences offered more than simply knowledge or skills to be used as collateral for the next job. These early experiences opened up opportunities which they would not have known about otherwise. They attended events through these jobs, joined special interest networks, met people in the sector, were inspired by what they saw and heard, and built up a network of connections which later proved invaluable.

This was not a passive approach by any means, each of the speakers emphasised the importance of a proactive approach to take advantage of all opportunities. One of the panellists even managed to persuade their employer to pay for further study. It was also highlighted how one could use one’s masters dissertation, placements, or similar to make connections. There appeared to be consensus that one must seek out opportunities to build one’s range of skills and knowledge, contacting potential employers and explaining what one can offer them. Employment opportunities in this field are less likely to be advertised and approaching employers directly not only demonstrates one’s interest and commitment to the sector, but also saves them time and money when it comes to the recruitment process.

It was remarked how graduates may sometimes underestimate the value of their transferable skills (soft skills gained from academia, extra-curricular activities, or part-time work), or their unique experiences (e.g. language skills, or specialist knowledge regarding London). For many panellists it was how they expressed the unique combination of their experiences which made them stand out from the crowd and were particularly valuable to a specific project. This was not something which could have been anticipated and planned for, but was attained through following their interests, building connections, and being open to and proactively seeking opportunities.

It was acknowledged that setting out on a career in the heritage sector can require a lot of commitment, but a positive closing remark was made regarding those at graduate level. If one imagines a triangle where the pinnacle is being in a very specialist / niche role, as a graduate one is at the base of the triangle and has wider array of options to obtain experience (and indeed explore and test out potential careers).

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You can listen to Working in the Arts panel discussion from Wednesday 16th November here – https://soundcloud.com/ucl-careers/working-in-the-arts-ucl-careers-themed-week-wednesday-16th-november