interpreter

program facilitator

program assistant

program supervisor

facilities maintenance technician

Minnesota Historical Society

(This review is for a specific small team within the Education Wing. The team is disconnected from rest of the Institution so this review is not on the Institution as a whole.)

Office environment is toxic and sterile due to the aura exhibited by supervisor and management. There was a silence which blanketed the office which was deafening. If you and a team-member wanted to collaborate (this position has a high need for collaboration), you would need to take the talk out of office or out of building. Staff morale was low and suffered heavily while working in the office. It was popular to work offsite to avoid this environment. 

Supervision was also poor as they were extremely reactive to the on goings of the team rather than being proactive. This was due to management being hyper-focused on their own work and projects and having no idea where their team was at. Any feedback that was provided was reactive and would come days, sometimes weeks, after an occurrence. When feedback would eventually be provided, microaggressions and micromanagement are the popular methods used to attempt to control the team-member. My supervisor once told me in a review that I "don't have to ask questions, this isn't an interview." 

There is a high turnover-rate within the team which caused a distinct lack of team bonding. Management also expressed that due to the high turn-over rate, they would not trust new employees with training for fear of people leaving and having to retrain people.

This organization has the distinction of being the oldest institution in the state of Minnesota (since 1849) as well as having some of the most talented colleagues I've ever had the pleasure of working alongside. The benefits (medical and dental) are incredible and there is a 6% match of 401k contributions. And of course, working with the public and teaching them about history is incredibly rewarding.

HOWEVER.

This organization does a terrible job of engaging employees and fostering a sense of unity among them. Anytime someone speaks up and advocates for improvement, they are instantly ostracized and shut down, considered to be "against the mission of MNHS." Moving around in the organization, let alone moving up, is not rewarded. Ambition is not rewarded, length of tenure is. Skills are not recognized, you are simply a cog in a machine. Management is too busy giving themselves raises and firing essential program and facilities staff to bother actually paying their underlings a livable wage. The unionization of part of the workforce helped some, but even with the raises they were able to force the organization to make, the pay is still below average. 

Intern with the Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund.
Learned about and assisted with the strategic planning related to the Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund, its work and its disbursement.
Study various issues pertaining to the fund, e.g. how funds are currently being used or future potential partners.
Work with stakeholders invested in the future of the fund (current and potential grantees).
Conduct research on administrative process and procedures
Work actively with files relating to fund investments and potential projects.
Develop a record retention system and schedule
Help collect and analyze data from investments in preparation for reports.
Increased awareness about public administration in a large institution
Awareness of the partners and grantees of the Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund supplied by the State of Minnesota.
Experience in working with a large public fund and its disbursement
Familiarity with and ability to utilize information to make strategic decisions for the future.
Program planning, implementation, and evaluation skills
Practical, i.e. can claim on a resume, experience with non-profit administration.
Experience working on fund management with seasoned professionals.
Confidence in interacting with stakeholders and the public as well as within the office environment

As a Tour Guide you need a knowledge of Minnesota history and the ability to tell a story. On some tours you are under time constraints due to the fact you are coordinating your tour with other guides. There are other positions where the time constraints are more lax. Working with the public is very enjoyable. Downsides are some of the long time employees are very standoffish and prickly. More so than your average place of employment. (Though many were very nice). The Minnesota Historical Society also has a very heavy, hyper-politically correct atmosphere. Management would be the last people you’d invite to fun party or sitting next to on a long bus ride. 

Would rather bring in other people than hire within and will make you train your superior, management is strictly set in their ways and hesitant to let part time staff help influence programming, controlling environment, questionable hiring choices (would rather hire a non-college grad than someone who majored in history because they don't want people to use the job as a foot in the door in the museum industry), non-communicative work environment, no diversity in the staff or programming, unfriendly HR, have to pay for parking and they don't tell you that in your interview

For a large portion of the school year I would drive to the school once or twice a week and spend a class period helping the students write and develop an essay according to certain criteria, and build that essay into a display project that could compete on the regional and state levels. Once competition time came I helped with both the regional and state competitions by helping set up/tear down, judging, and operation of the competitions. The hardest part of the job was all of the travel time, but the most enjoyable part was seeing my students advance to state - one of them even won their division!

Interpreters are treated poorly and expected to work either 10 hour weeks (off-peark) or work 7 days a week (summer hours). The company encourages interpreters to work multiple sites.  You will not survive working one or two sites. To work achieve full time hours you must work 3 sites. This means from April to September/October you will work with no days off.  Your hours will vary from 35 to 40 per week. The sites do not talk to each other on scheduling if they share staff. As an interpreter it is your job not to be double scheduled.  I do not recommend working here if you want to have a life outside of work.

What is the best part of working at the company?
Interesting surrounding to work in.

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
The MHS is woke to the point of suffocation. Any bit of history that is fun or interesting goes there to die.

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
Some good co-workers, also some weird cliques of long time employees.

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
Worked part time. Basicall did the same thing, lead tours for the entire shift.

The Minnesota Historical Society's internship program is a great opportunity to work in a diverse range of fields, expand your network and gain great experience. The director of the program tends to micromanage, assigning extraneous busywork that is not related to the individual internships. This is frustrating but can be worked with as long as you poses a little patience.

Most of the jobs were seasonal. Quite a bit is expected and if one enjoys reading and studying this is an excellent job if you don't need security.  The position encouraged learning new skills. You should be comfortable performing and talking to people from many walks of life and diversity 

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Interpreter 10 salaries reported	$20.73 per hour
Program facilitator 9 salaries reported	$20.87 per hour
Program assistant 5 salaries reported	$24.11 per hour
Program supervisor 11 salaries reported	$65,461 per year
Facilities maintenance technician 5 salaries reported	$23.83 per hour

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