Cornell alumna Dr. Alana Staiti (PhD’18, Science and Technology Studies) met with a group of Cornell graduate students to share her experience and practical knowledge translating her graduate work and academic career into high-level jobs in both museum curation and organized labor. Doctoral, masters, and postdoctoral attendees emanated from departments as varied as history, chemistry, information science, neurobiology and behavior, biomedical engineering as well as science and technology studies. They had equally varied career and job role interests from museum curation and collections, academic research institutes, conservation, community outreach, publishing, and graphic design. They all wondered how to blend their current degree focus, passions, previous and future experiences into satisfying future work, and how to direct their efforts efficiently while continuing their research.

Topics discussed included:

• the importance of networking, and what the most effective ways of approaching it are
• how to craft application materials in an age of computerized candidate screening
• labor unions as both potential employers and resources in one’s career
• how to identify the most important aspects of a job listing and incorporate them into your cover letter
• a list of online resources for job seekers interested in extra-academic careers

Staiti provided slides and a printed handout detailing key job listing websites and other resources. The event consisted primarily of Q&A based discussion through which Staiti was able to speak to the particular concerns and interests of the attendees.

Resources

Alana Staiti assembled this list of resources for the Cornell graduate students in attendance.

Museum Curation

American Alliance of Museums (AAM) Job HQ
Association of Academic Museums and Galleries (AAMG)-job postings
University of Delaware Muse Weekly– an email newsletter advertising a variety of U.S. museum jobs, internships and conferences
American Association for State and Local History (AASLH)-a job site for museums and cultural preservation
USAJobs.gov-includes federal jobs such as the Smithsonian-try keywords like social scientist, historian, curator, educator. Note filters on the right hand margin: under hiring path click ‘open to the public’
For location-specific museum/arts/culture roles, check for arts and culture organizations in the area, city or state agencies for history/art/culture

Organized Labor

Union Jobs Clearinghouse– a go-to site for job openings at unions and union-adjacent organizations
AFL-CIO Careers-job postings and information about organizer training opportunities. See also Strategic Corporate Research Summer School
Progressive Job Resources-a Google doc linking to job sites for progressive-oriented organizations
Jobs That Are Left-a Google group that posts job openings at unions, left-of-center political campaigns, progressive non-profits and climate campaigns

About Alana Staiti

Alana Staiti is the Research and Organizing Manager, Department for Professional Employees (DPE) at the AFL/CIO.

Alana Staiti joined DPE in April 2022. At DPE, Alana is responsible for working with union affiliates on strategic research and organizing initiatives, developing resources for member engagement, and conducting research on issues that impact professional workers.

Prior to joining DPE, Alana was a museum curator at the Smithsonian Institution, where she researched and wrote about digital culture and the history of technology. She has published articles and given presentations about 3-D digital actors, the video game industry, and early computer animation in the U.S.

From 2015 to 2017, Alana organized fellow graduate workers across Cornell University’s campus on behalf of Cornell Graduate Students United. Alana earned her PhD from Cornell in 2018, and she holds a masters in history and museum studies from the University of Delaware and bachelors in textiles and apparel design from Cornell University.