Getty Grad Internships

[AgentDaleCooper]

Did anyone apply for the Getty Grad Internship program this year? If so, have you heard back? Or if you've done it previously, when did you get a response?

(The website says finalists will be contacted in March, and I know it's still very early March, but the wait is making me super anxious)

[kilenee]

I applied to their public programs internship and was interviewed 2 weeks ago. From what the interviewer said, the decisions were to be made and announced within 2 weeks from the date of the interview (which makes it last friday) but I haven't heard anything back yet.. 

 

 

[Sophish]

I applied to the development position but haven't heard back yet. March is drawing to an end and I'm assuming it's not looking good..

[Sophish]

I applied to their public programs internship and was interviewed 2 weeks ago. From what the interviewer said, the decisions were to be made and announced within 2 weeks from the date of the interview (which makes it last friday) but I haven't heard anything back yet..

I wonder if their timing might be off a bit. The website says interviewees will be contacted in March, but you got yours in February? Maybe they just don't always stick to the schedule.. It seems odd that they would interview people without notifying them of the results.

[AgentDaleCooper]

I applied to the development position but haven't heard back yet. March is drawing to an end and I'm assuming it's not looking good..

 

I'm in the same boat (except I applied to collection research), so I've pretty much come to this conclusion too!

 

Good luck kilenee!

Edited March 23, 2015 by AgentDaleCooper

[Sophish]

 

I'm in the same boat (except I applied to collection research), so I've pretty much come to this conclusion too!

 

Good luck kilenee!

 

I contacted the foundation recently and they informed me the decisions are still yet to be made and are coming out in the next few weeks/early April. No idea if this is a real update or something they just throw at people trying to follow up.. Have you heard anything? 

[H.A.S.]

I heard back this morning. Apparently I was a "top finalist" in the department to which I applied but was not selected. Better luck to you all!

[nush]

Hi guys,

I received a rejection yesterday and I was very surprised that I wasn't even called for an interview. Anyway ... I was just wondering if most of you who were called for an interview have a lot of professional experience or are more academic-focused? I'm trying to understand the whole process a bit more.

Also, i'm really curious what kind of questions they asked you at the interview, would be interesting to know their focus.

[AgentDaleCooper]

I got my rejection yesterday too. I'm interested in the same things as nush - anyone who got an interview, please chime in!

[H.A.S.]

Hi nush and Cooper! I had a lengthy interview with a Getty curator in early February--around one hour long. I have met and spoken with the curator in question several times, first when they lectured at my school last year, again at a conference in the Midwest this fall, and yet again during our interview. They are a friend of my advisor, who, while we were all at this conference together, took them to see an exhibit that I had worked on last summer at a nearby museum (which, fortunately, was very relavant to the relevant Getty internship in question!). So I think the personal connections really helped me enter into the interview round. I also told them when I met them in the fall that I would be applying to the internship and they encouraged me to do so and expressed that they were glad that they would have a face for the name! Again, I got very lucky with the personal connection.

 

To give you some of my background, I am finishing my master's this semester in the Midwest. I have a pretty good background in museum work and have held positions at 4 different museums (3 art museums--one mid-size, with a national reputation; two smaller university museums; 1 history museum), with approximately 2-2.5 years of experience combined. I have held public outreach positions, curatorial research positions, and have also worked in interpretation. I also recently got to curate a prints rotation on my own, so that really helped bolster my credientials. In terms of academic work, I have given several conference presentations and published an article last year, as well as a short article in my current museum's journal this winter. I serve as a president of my department's graduate student association and have an ongoing leadership role in a humanitarian disaster relief training organization, too. I have a 4.0 GPA, though I'm not sure how much they care about grades and such. It seemed like they were more interested in my experience for this particular position. But who even knows... Although not all of my experience has been in the curatorial field, I think it has all helped make me a well-rounded person and I tried to express that in my application materials. For instance, I mentioned that I had experience working as both a team member and leader-- I could work well with others but also could do just fine on my own.

 

The questions I received were mostly about my past museum work, as well as about the content of my master's thesis and of my conference presentations. I can't think of any particular questions, it was more like "So, why don't you start by telling me about your master's thesis. How did you arrive at the topic? How are you approaching it? Are you looking to take it further?" When they asked me about a particular conference paper I gave, they asked me if I would ever plan on publishing my findings. Honestly, the person I interviewed with is a very friendly and easygoing person so it went more like a relaxed conversation than a tense interview. We have similar personalities, so I think that helped. They never asked me "So, why do you want to work at the Getty?"--that's pretty obvious in the first place. It was more of what my past work has been and how I could apply that to a position in the department.

 

 

Anyways, this was super long. But I hope this gives you some of a sense of my credientials and of how the interview went. I suspect it will be different for everyone. I do know that in my case it was at least partially successful because they did email me personally before I got my official rejection to let me know that I was "among the top finalists" in a "strong field." Which, of course, only made me feel slightly better with the rejection in the first place. I suppose I'll just keep doing what I'm doing and see what comes of it.

 

if you have any other questions about my background or experience, just let me know.

Edited April 23, 2015 by H.A.S.

[destruction_pancake]

Hey all,

I anyone else waiting on pins and needles for a response from the Getty about the 2016/2017 internship? 

I received an email from the Exhibitions department saying that candidates would be contacted within the next couple of weeks for interviews.... it's been a month. I'm hoping this is just a symptom of their infamous glacial pace, but at this point I'd be happy to just know whether or not I'm in the running anymore-- the wait is maddening!

 

 

[Marie4262]

Hey there,

Last week, I was contacted by both of the departments I applied to... I interviewed last Thursday (2/11), and they said I would hear back in a few weeks because the names have to be submitted to the Foundation before they can be released to the accepted applicants (?). I'm not sure if this means I should be expecting a yes or a no. One department seemed very upbeat about this, and the other framed it a bit more loosely, saying that they have "a healthy pool of candidates" and that I'll hear from them soon.

[hart_hippo]

Has anyone else heard back for 2016/2017? 

[destruction_pancake]

Hi Marie,

Sounds promising! Best of luck to you :).

I spoke to someone in the grants admin office and they said all applicants would know one way or the other in April...but that's about as detailed a piece of information as I could wrangle out of them.

[Marie4262]

Oh man, April feels so far away! Have you had an interview with the Exhibitions department? 

I've replayed the conversation so many times, and I can't tell if my first choice internship interviewer was just incredibly kind, or serious that I would hear back in a few weeks. They said they were making their selections that same day (2/11), but that their choices would go to the Getty Foundation first, which took some time to sort out. I feel as though April is quite a bit more than a few weeks....

 

[destruction_pancake]

Nope, at this point I've given up hope, the person who last contacted me said they would reach out "in the next few weeks" for phone interviews, and that was January 19th, sooooo..... I just want to have a definitive answer- ha! 

Which departments did you interview with? 

[Marie4262]

Ha! Maybe a few weeks really means a month or two. I wasn't contacted before being asked for an interview-- they gave me 24 hours notice via email. I interviewed for both Education positions. One of them really is my dream job, which is why I'm curious as to how this all shakes out.

[chrsm]

Hi all,

I had an excellent conversation on 02/10 with the manager of the Vocabulary Program. While the manager stressed that I would most likely not receive the Foundation's decision until April at the earliest, she also pointed out that she'd reach out again if she "heard anything."

Apparently, she's heard something... because we're touching base tomorrow evening. I really hope it's good news...

[Marie4262]

Same thing happened to me, maybe? I received a voicemail from one of my interviewers, asking me to call bask ASAP to discuss a few things. (I'm in a different time zone, so I'm calling tomorrow). I'm hoping it's good!  Best of luck to you, too! 

[chrsm]

_{Has anyone else confirmed anything? As for me, I am indeed heading to the Vocabulary Program! Last Tuesday the dept mgr confirmed that I've been "provisionally" accepted--I just have to forward official transcripts from my various institutions to the Foundation (which I have since our conversation). Hope to see you in September!}

[Steve G.]

Hello! I was interviewed by the Drawings department around Februray 10 as well. I thought it went well, although they didn't ask many questions, but I haven't heard back since so I'm not very optimistic :/

[Marie4262]

Hi all, I never updated this, so my apologies! I accepted the School Programs Internship a few weeks ago. Looking forward to meeting y'all!

[trapstone]

Hi, everyone! I am an Italian grad student specializing in Medieval Art History  and am thinking of applying to the program this year, notably to the manuscript department. I have a couple of questions to ask and I was wondering if someone could kindly help me out...

After reading your posts I kind of formed the idea that every department handles the selection process differently: how was your experience with that?

Secondly, as a foreign applicant, the system of the letters of recommendation is quite new to me: how much do they weigh on the evaluation of the candidate?

Thanks a lot for your time, I hope you have a nice day!

Edited November 17, 2016 by trapstone

[chloedejonge]

Has anyone from thsi year's applicant heard anything?

[MBNoah]

Hi,

I applied to the Getty Grad Internships this past semester. I haven't heard anything back yet, but today my application status went from Pending to Pending External Review. I don't really understand what that means. At this point, I just want to know if I am still in the running.