senior educator

presenter

associate

camp counselor

sales associate

Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh

The most fun and interesting part of the work is meeting and getting to chat with a lot of diverse people. A people person should do well and enjoy any of the public contact positions here at Carnegie Museums. The culture is focused on the guest and taking good care of each one, helping or solving the immediate problem is paramount, and in general, playing your part to make things run smoothly, communication and cooperation are key aspects of doing that well. Management has been very supportive and does not do a lot of micro-management once you've shown you can handle things on your own. You will need to be able and think on your feet and be decisive, while still knowing when to call a manager in when necessary.   
The best part of my position, being part-time I have a great deal of input on what days and even what shifts I work which makes the job very flexible, but,  the hours scheduled can be a little unpredictable, which is fine for me. A great added benefit is free admission for you and your family to all the museums. Also, all the other employees are very easygoing and mostly fun to be around. I've not had a bad experience with a single fellow employee which is a big plus

I worked at Carnegie Museums for several years. I didn't particularly enjoy the job (the nature of the job wasn't for me, so that's not a commentary on the organization itself), but the culture is good, I liked everyone I worked with, and it was fulfilling working with people who actually enjoyed and believed in the cause they were working for.

I will say that while I was there, my department was restructured at least three separate times due to disagreements from the top about how to run the department (and because the President of the organization "left" after a disagreement with the board). This didn't lead to layoffs, but it did make for an incredibly confusing system of reporting and task management. Everyone took this confusion in stride, however, and though that confusion was frustrating it rarely limited my ability to do my job thanks to the great management coming from the rest of the department.

I built the start of my career within CMP, specifically at the art museum. While I treasure much of that time in hindsight, it was because of the amazing colleagues I got to work with (99% of which are no longer with CMP) and the physical location/ being surrounded by art. Sadly the leadership or excuse for leadership continues to fail the museum both for its employees and the community at large. It’s such a shame.
Through the years I had progressively toxic bosses and suffered the trauma directly and indirectly that came from senior leadership. Couple this with abysmal and inexcusable low pay and you’ve got yourself a recipe for disaster. 
I don’t miss the endless hours of wasted meetings that could have been an email, colleagues having nervous breakdowns, crying in their offices, or the completely abusive and out of touch comments by leadership on a daily basis. 
This place needs a major overhaul in how it functions on a day to day level. 

What is the best part of working at the company?
Working with incredible scholars and scientists in an absolutely inspiring location.

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
Clocking in and out and having no flexibility as a mother of an infant and young child.  Paid time off is in five minute increments, so no matter how much extra time you put in, if you were just five minutes late, they took that time from your PTO.  It was so stressful.

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
Stressful.  Other employees seemed bitter and unhappy.  There were a lot of layoffs and staff changes.   Everyone was worried.  

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
Sitting alone at my desk and then attending meetings where things were generally less than pleasant.

A well-informed, inclusive organization needs the input of individuals with varying lived experiences; and should be reflective of the community it claims to serve. It is not enough to speak of diversity in strategic plans and marketing materials. If the culture of an organization is not inclusive, diverse hires will not last. They must feel welcomed and be permitted to serve in positions of power (...anything above entry-level would be a start).
In summary, I share with you an excerpt from a summer 2015 Carnegie Magazine article highlighting the work of *former* Diversity Catalyst (who is a woman of color and no longer works for the museums): "The polished, upbeat, articulate museum professional..." Need I say more?
Link to the article is here: https://carnegiemuseums.org/carnegie-magazine/summer-2015/face-time-cecile-shellman/

A typical day at work: get berated like children by management at 9:15. Given little detail on what to expect during that day. Head to your front-line stations. Experience terrible harassment by coworkers, managers and customers. Drama and cliques abound. Poor, arrogant and inappropriate management that constantly miscommunicates. Be mocked for disabilities and lifestyle choices by managers. You're paid a pittance to live off and forced to endure terrible conditions indoors and outdoors. Make sure you lick the boots of every board member within breathing distance! Finally, get berated by management at least once again before clocking out. 

Provides basic knowledge of how museums and social institutions function, not meant to be a long-term gig. Get to see some cool art and dinos but the general day-to-day is not worth it.

The man that hired me was the director of operations. I was his personal assistant and I covered any position in the museum that he needed me to do. He knew I was intelligent and could do an array of different things. If I had any issue at all he would have it taken care of for me. I found out after I left how impressed with me he was and that he was upset that I had left. I really enjoyed working there and I enjoyed working for the person that hired me if I was paid more I would have stayed there for a very long time. I loved the environment and how beautiful it the museum was and my title as well as the job duties that I was assigned. 

Began working for the museums as a teenager. Absolutely loved educating the public. Work culture across the museums is phenomenal. Staff are enthusiastic about what they do at all levels. 

The hardest part of the job is what is known as "Group Season", where immense volumes of field trips occur daily. It can become very intense managing large numbers of visitors of varying ages, but the work culture greatly mitigates that in many ways. 

General pay and raise potential could have been a little better, but I never felt underpaid. The Carnegie Museums are a non-profit organization after all, anyways. Besides, if you're interested in working here, it's likely not for the money, but the mission. 

A typical day at work consists of breakfast preparation, stocking snacks and refreshments and preparing for lunch and clean up. While at this work I learned how to speak to tourists and people of other cultures. I also learned how to multitask. The management at the Museum wasn't too in touch with staff and the organization wasn't to my liking. My co-workers are an enjoyable group of individuals with a work ethic that helps to get the job done. The most difficult part of this job is the clean up and closing aspect due to the cash drops needing to be performed at the register. The most enjoyable part of working at Carnegie Museum is satisfying the visitors and getting to interact with people.

Like any retail job, working at the carnegie museum isn't the worst possible job. I would hear quite a lot from other employees pretty often how they didn't enjoy their management, didn't enjoy the pay, and "if you're not working yourself to death and stressed. Then they assume you're not working hard enough." As I've heard more than once by a colleague. The people in my age around around 20 were very sweet, and enjoyable to work with. I had a harder time with people older than me either because they were rude to me, customers, or other employees. Overall not the worst atmosphere I've ever encountered. But the pay absolutely is not worth it at only about 10/ hr.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Senior educator 11 salaries reported	$17.00 per hour
Presenter 4 salaries reported	$16.00 per hour
Associate 6 salaries reported	$16.67 per hour
Camp counselor 12 salaries reported	$16.00 per hour
Sales associate 6 salaries reported	$16.00 per hour

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