security officer

line cook

facilities associate

fellow

student intern

Virginia Museum of Fine Arts



For all of this organization's elitist pseudo intellectualism, they operate on the same business model as big-box retail. For those who are not upstairs in the land of the tall doors with administrative positions, it doesn't matter if you're a no-talent know-nothing, or if you really care about the preservation and presentation of art, everyone gets treated the same and paid the same $10.00 an hour, with the old Wal-Mart "churn'em and burn'em" employment philosophy. Ridiculously low wages, inadequate training, no realistic chance of a raise or promotion , held back in a part-time position when you'd like to be contributing more, no overtime, and no benefits. One would think that an art museum would have enough enlightened administrators on the staff to know that the low morale and disappointment that goes along with such a situation trickles down to the galleries, where the artwork is and the patrons are. In the long run, nobody benefits from it except those who wish to follow the example set by Kmart or Circuit City.

Advice to Management

Give those who want to move up some opportunities to do so, and provide some incentives other than free ice cream once a week.

I thought when I began working at the VMFA, that I had finally found a place to call home. I shortly realized what a mess it is behind the scenes. They rave about growth opportunities but do not fairly execute. I was originally hired as an Event Supervisor and eventually applied for a Sales Coordinator job once it became available. However this Coordinating job was PT (all the others are FT). There was little to no forethought in the hiring of this role. I was even told that the role never worked out successfully before. I went through nine months of “training”, which involved me doing monotonous tasks, three floors from my manager. I continued going in because I needed the money, but even at $21/hour, I wasn’t getting enough hours to be worth it. Especially when I am struggling to find work for 4-5 hours a day. I finally decided to leave even though I had made some great connections with my coworkers. I would say there are definitely a few roses in the thorn bush but overall… not the place to grow. 

What is the best part of working at the company?
Very chill and low pressure most of the time. I really do enjoy working here.

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
Constant understaffing. Pay is not competitive to similar jobs. Constant frustration with not being listened to by management.

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
Coworkers are great but there's a lot if incompetence in middle and upper management. There's also a weird social hierarchy here, because our upper management works in the same building and we see them daily in passing. Their attitudes really make it clear how little they think of us.

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
The weird thing about the Visitor Experience Specialist is it's a hybrid position, so you basically have two jobs with separate managers and uniforms. So half of my work days I come in and stand in an art gallery for 4-8 hours, occasionally giving directions to the bathroom or the faberge eggs, and the other days I come in and take tickets at the exhibit entrances.

It's an awful job. They make it sound like so much more than it is, and like you have opportunity to advance and get raises. Associates that have been here for five years make just about the same as new employees. We are expected to stand in one room for eight hours, not talk to other employees, and are constantly watched on camera. Ridiculous expectations for a job that makes less than a walmart cashier, you get written up/spoken to for EVERYTHING. Unbelievable amount of pressure, other departments look down on you like you're garbage, other employees gossip and start drama constantly, guests are rude and don't like to comply. You will be made to work after hours events and then again early in the morning, as well as outside your availability. There is no upward mobility whatsoever unless you apply to a different department. Very high turnover rate.

Typical day at work – Ensure accountability of all personnel and tools, verify correctness of work load and pending work orders, ensure parts accountability. 

What you learned – How your personnel preformed, how I can help them perform better, what I can do to make production a more proficient and  beneficial work place. 

Management – Through on the job training, one on one mentorship, and classroom training.

Your Co-workers – Encourage input that may better the company, and it’s employees. Be involved if only to help. Inform higher authority if necessary. 

Hardest part of job – Not seeing a mission (job) accomplished. 

Most enjoyable part of the job – Seeing every mission (job) accomplished, safely and by the applicable maintenance instruction manuals.

Working as a security associate (really a gallery associate) is low stress, not hard to excel at, and your coworkers are great. Management is flexible. The public is generally kind and cooperative, because they’re having a good time. 

You’ll make dirt money, and there is no opportunity for full time. Like any other job at this level, you will get your schedule 3-4 days before the week starts, so even working 28 hours it’s tough to plan because you don’t know which 28. The reward system described in training is not actually used. 

If you can take the downsides it’s a great job. You’ll also get a ton of steps in, over 10 miles on an eight hour easily. It’s not hard to have a second job, because management is realistic and will respect your availability. 

I have loved my time at VMFA, however, pay increases have not commiserated with inflation, so the struggle has been between enjoying my job and being able to pay my bills. They seem to put much more emphasis on pay raises for upper management, including a 10% increase for the top 1% in the past few years.

The museum is beautiful and I truly love sharing it with my clients. I really love introducing new people to the museum. I am very enthusiastic about our offerings! 

The hardest part of the job has been all of the red tape involved in trying to improve the offerings I have to sell to our guest.

Sometimes we would be there for 10 hours and other times we could be there 14 hours, it was all dependent on the flight schedule. The pace there was pretty high when flights were dependent on our work. We always ensure that work is conducted as thoroughly and safely as possible, but to me it just seemed I was there much more than I was at home with my family. There is a lot of good things as well though the people that I met were amazing. I guess because we are all going through the same thing that is why we all bonded so well.

In a period of three years, the leadership of the Communications team has changed three times. Executive leadership is outdated, ego driven and unable to articulate what success looks like. Each Museum executive works in a silo and protects themselves at the expense of their teams. Nice place to visit, but never work here. Best in class talent is made to feel inferior. If you want to ruin your health then work here.

On a daily basis my tea and I would provide excellent customer service to guests as well as administrative support for the department. I would answer phone and e-mail inquiries as well as register patrons for classes and programs held within the museum. Multitasking was essential to being able to perform self guided tasks effectively. I enjoyed working with like-minded individuals who appreciated each other and were all team players.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Security officer 12 salaries reported	$14.51 per hour
Line cook 16 salaries reported	$17.00 per hour
Facilities associate 5 salaries reported	$15.00 per hour
Fellow 2 salaries reported	$45,000 per year
Student intern 1 salary reported	$18.00 per hour

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