Elizabeth Carter
- Studied: MA in History of Art (2011, Wentworth College)
- Current Position: Reading and Learning Advisor, York City Library Service; Digitisation Assistant, University of York
What have you been doing since you graduated?
"Like many students I have had a varied range of work experiences after I finished my Masters degree. The list so far includes working as a Supervisor in a lovely historic house and hotel located here in York, volunteering on a photograph project for the National Railway Museum, and cataloguing newspaper articles in the York City Archives. There really was not a clear ‘next step’ after university so I simply applied for positions which interested me and that I felt I could contribute something to. This included a fair share of volunteering which I would recommend to everyone, not least because you get the inside scoop on any jobs coming up. I also found that if you can do something unpaid and enjoy it, then that is a pretty good litmus test for whether you would enjoy working in that area full time.
At present I split my time between two roles. The first is as a Reading and Learning Advisor for the York city library service which is a fancy way of saying that I am a library assistant. Because the library service includes a local history and archives service I get to use my research skills and passion for heritage as well as talking about books all day.
The second position is as a Digitisation Assistant at the University of York. The Digitisation Assistant role covers quite a broad range of tasks but often I spend my time writing descriptions of images for the Digital Library website and keeping an eagle eye out for materials that would make interesting digitisation projects. At the moment I am working on a small sample of Victorian scrapbooks from Special Collections and finding that I often rely on my History of Art background to write material for the project."
What transferable skills do you feel you gained from your degree?
- ability to produce methodical research
- strong writing skills
- communication and people skills
- project and time management
- high level of IT competency
And perhaps most importantly self confidence!
What advice would you give to current students?
"My advice is get involved in the area that interests you before you graduate. Even a magazine subscription to a relevant periodical or signing up to a mailing list is going to make you more informed than someone who has only ever gone to lectures and completed course work. Knowing that little bit more about the field that excites you is also going to significantly improve your chances at interviews and make it easier to network. It is one thing saying that you would like to do x, y and z but prospective employers want proof.
The other things that I wish I had been told was not to listen to people who tell that that 'you will never get a job'. True, the job market has changed considerably over the past decades but that is not to say that there are not opportunities out there, especially if you apply a little lateral thinking. Sometimes you just need to go after acquiring a certain skill rather than chasing job titles. For example, if you really need project management experience, it does not matter where you get it! I know several friends who have applied this principle and are now are in jobs they really enjoy (even if it took a couple of years)."
