ruru107

Hmm, rising_star, that is a thought. It would hopefully get things moving along!

I wish I could do that, but he's out of the country. We were just going to discuss the paper through emails.

Hello all! I've been waiting about 5 weeks to hear back from my advisor with comments on a 35 pg. draft of my master's thesis. I'm starting to think he forgot... I was going to wait one more week and then send him an email asking if he had any thoughts so far (also as a subtle reminder in case he forgot). How would you word such an email? If he really hasn't forgotten, but just hasn't had time yet, I don't want to come off as a nag. Thanks for your help!

Background: I'm not actually enrolled at the university, as all my other requirements for graduation have been met, and I even already walked in commencement. I just need my master's thesis approved to officially graduate. For the past year, on my own time, I've been finishing the latest draft of my thesis. My advisor and I are both horrible at keeping in touch, and we haven't contacted each other this entire time. I just heard from a former classmate that she recently left the university to teach at a different university out of state. She didn't tell me about this at all, and now I don't know what to do about my thesis. I think this draft is my last, so I probably wouldn't have needed to meet with her too much anyway, but I don't know who should read this draft and approve it, or even who to contact about it. It doesn't help that I feel embarrassed and ashamed/awkward about taking so long on this draft and not being in contact with her. Should I email her at her new university email? I feel like that's a little presumptuous since she's not even getting paid to read/ comment on my paper anymore. Should I email my second reader? Should I email the administrative assistant/office manager for the department? I just don't know what's appropriate in this situation. Also, if anyone has a recommendation on how to word the email itself, that would be awesome. I want to include an apology and explain myself, but not sound like I'm making excuses or being immature. (The reason my draft has taken so long, if you're wondering, is a mixture of working a tiring full-time job and some irrational anxiety I developed about working on my thesis.) Thank you for your help.

That's a good rule of thumb! Thank you! Part of the problem is that I'm writing about several installation works, and there isn't just one picture of each like with a painting, but lots of different details and from different viewpoints, and I feel like my images could get out of hand really quickly.

How many images should be included in art history papers? It's never been directly addressed in my education. I'm writing a paper that's about 30 pages, and I'm not sure how many images to include...I could include TONS, and maybe that's okay, but maybe I need to know when/how to limit them. What do you think is an appropriate amount for a paper this size? (I'm not publishing it, so that's not an issue here.) What is your criteria for including/not including an image? (I'm pretty far along in my graduate career, so I'm a little embarrassed that this is something I'm just now considering but hopefully it can help somebody else out, too.)

Food/Beverage: pizza with bacon and a variety of cheeses (fontina, gorgonzola, etc.), Sour Patch Kids, flavored hard cider Internet: YouTube, Reddit, Tumblr Movies: Studio Ghibli

I decided to play it safe and submit the resume. I used my cover letter as a way to bring up other relevant experience and go into a little more detail, which is what the cover letter is for, right?

The flexibility of the CV has allowed me to include things that are usually omitted from a resume, but that give a better representation of my qualifications (school projects, etc.). The length of the CV also allows me to more clearly describe what I have done in the past. My resume is full of unrelated jobs (clerical, food, retail)--which I will remove for these applications since they are unrelated to my career goals--but when I take them out, my resume looks sadly empty. The job I'm applying for asks for a resume, but I feel that a resume alone is too short and exclusive to accurately represent my experience. Would it be bad form to submit a CV instead of a resume? Do you think that would get my application thrown out?

Linkup.com is another large search site.

Are you looking for something general, or area-specific? I've been reading Getting What You Came For by Robert Peters (some suggestions are outdated, and it's directed more at PhD's in science, but it was still beneficial) and The Craft of Research (helps you analyze your topic and strengthen your argument).

ArtHistoryandMuseum: I don't mean to take this topic in a different direction, but about the internships... I've had 3 internships (2 undergrad, 1 grad) and some volunteering. My experience from this is 2-2.5 years total. When a job requires 2 years experience minimum, do you think my experience is what they're looking for? Are they looking for 2 years as an intern, or 2 years as a professional employee? I really want to start applying for full-time (or even part-time) museum jobs, but if internships "count" as less experience than permanent employment, I'm afraid I'll have to keep interning for a while. What do you think? GreenePony: Thanks for your input! I'm not surprised that the larger institutions would take longer. So many more administrative hoops.

I'm also interested in this. My relationship with my advisor isn't bad, but there are professors and professionals in my field that I have spent more time with and who are more enthusiastically supportive than my advisor. But I also see how someone might find it strange if my advisor is not listed as a reference.

Thank you, you have some very practical solutions. I do have a mentor-type at a museum nearby who would probably be happy to talk about job applications with me. I think I'll leave it up to the recommenders and their schedule to decide if they have the time to write customized letters. Not all of the applications require letters, so the issue might be moot.

Hello all, I'm graduating in May with a master's, looking for a position in a museum, preferably art or local history/material culture/anthropology. I have two questions: 1) When should I start applying for jobs? In a perfect world, I would have a job ready to start shortly after graduating, which makes me want to start applying sooner rather than later. On the other hand, I don't want to apply too early, because some institutions may be looking to hire someone before I graduate. Google told me the best time would be between mid-January and mid-March. Is there a golden time frame to start sending out applications? 2) Some job postings I am interested in require three letters of recommendation. With the large number of jobs I will be applying for, I don't want to ask the same three people for letters over and over. Is it "proper" to have general form letters that I use for every application that requires them? Am I less likely to be hired if my letters aren't tailored to the specific job (keep in mind that all the jobs will be similar)? If this is "proper," how should I approach and ask my recommenders to write their letters in this way? Thanks everyone! You're amazing!