Newsflash: Archivist–low stress job, only bachelor’s degree required, earn $40K
Really?
This is just a continuation of yesterday’s post asking for your opinions on issues related to salaries, benefits, and professional advancement. According to Yahoo News, Laurence Shatkin, Ph.D., author of “150 Best Low-Stress Jobs,” thinks a career in archives is recommended for people looking for low stress, and:
“People typically pursue a bachelor’s degree in history or library science prior to entering this field. According to BLS, in May 2006 the average earnings were $40,730.”
I won’t argue about the stress-level issue, but a bachelor’s degree in library science? Is that really offered any where? Interestingly, the career listed above “Archivist” is “Mathematician,” and for that position: “According to the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics, a Ph.D. in mathematics is usually the minimum requirement for entry into the field.” So, did the article also rely on the BLS in stating that the minimum requirement for entry into our field is a bachelor’s degree?
And, if you’re looking for a career change, you might want to consider forestry or conservation science–
“Least stressful aspects of the job, as pointed out by Shatkin, are the low level of competition, rarely dealing with unpleasant or angry people . . .”
Notice he doesn’t say that about archives!
But seriously, please go back and share your thoughts on the previous post about compensation, benefits, etc. The I&A Roundtable wants your suggestions and contributions. Now, more than ever . . .
Archival profession | Kate T. | 
September 23, 2008 6:19 am
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By jordon, September 23, 2008 @ 6:51 am
Haha, yeah, my boss sent me this. I had a good laugh, especially since right when he sent it I was getting stressed out about an upcoming project!
I think the designation has merit, though. This profession is what you make of it. The pressure some of us put on ourselves to excel is largely self-created. You can easily get your first job in Archives and stay there for the rest of your career–plenty of people do that. So the job definitely has the capacity to be low-stress, unlike other profession, like one of those where people where pinstripe suits to work and put in 80 hour weeks. Even the Dude would be popping Lexapro to deal with that.
By Gordon, September 23, 2008 @ 8:34 am
I don’t think Dr. Shatkin did a lot of homework for the “Archivists” section of his article. He needs to go back and re-read the BLS web site… “Employment as an archivist… usually requires graduate education and related work experience… Although archivists earn a variety of undergraduate degrees, a graduate degree in history or library science with courses in archival science is preferred by most employers.”
By Kate T., September 23, 2008 @ 12:17 pm
Gordon–thanks for verifying that. I thought BLS had probably gotten it right.
And, Jordon, we just watched “The Big Lebowski” over the weekend. Maybe you can make your fortune encouraging archivists to be less stressed by selling t-shirt and bumperstickers that say “The Archivist Abides” – what do you think?
By David Kemper, September 23, 2008 @ 12:40 pm
Yeah, I saw and read the Yahoo hotjobs’ career article about low stress jobs, which included–angels singing, the heavens opening–the Archives profession.
I am sure the entire Archivist population of the North America (or even the world) talked about this topic several times around the water cooler (since, after all, we have a lot of time on our hands and no one will die if the work does not get done on time).
After reading the article, I laughed out loud because I had never seen the Archivist profession in any of Yahoo’s hotjobs’ lists. Highest paying job list? Nope. Jobs of the future list? Nope. Then I scratched my head because I had experienced stress in the Archives, most of which was not self-created but rather due to the complex nature of the work. Then again, I believe I never performed your typical archival functions.
“While this occupation focuses on planning and overseeing the arrangement of exhibitions of collections, there’s a certain degree consistency and low stress levels.” Portions of my work included exhibitions and collections, but for the most part that was not the main focus.
“The predictability of their work.” I wish. Seriously, I wish I had predictable work, it would have saved me plenty of time and energy. No wonder my archivist colleagues always had time to plan parties and take coffee breaks.
Nevermind the education requirements, salary and benefits mumbo-jumbo. I cannot afford blood-pressure meds at this point.
It’s official, folks. It’s time for me to re-consider the archives profession. No more jack-of-all-trades in the archives for me. Now THAT was way too stressful!!
By jordon, September 23, 2008 @ 1:36 pm
it’s 4:30…i need a white russian.
By Laurence Shatkin, September 24, 2008 @ 6:23 am
I’m the author of the book “150 Best Low-Stress Jobs.” A lot of people feel their jobs are stressful, and it was impossible for me to interview people in over 900 occupations to gauge which ones are not high in stress. For an indication of stress levels, I relied on ratings made by the O*NET database of the U.S. Department of Labor. As for the other information regarding this occupation, you should be aware that the journalist evidently assigned information to Archivist that belonged to a different occupation. Here is the actual information about Archivists that appears in the book, all of it based on U.S. Department of Labor:
Education/Training Required: Master’s degree
Annual Earnings: $40,730
Growth: 14.4%
Annual Job Openings: 795
Self-Employed: 1.3%
Part-Time: 32.4%
Level of Stress Tolerance Needed: 48.0 (out of 100)
Most Stressful Aspects: None greater than average.
Least Stressful Aspects: Pace Determined by Speed of Equipment (1.0); Deal With Physically Aggressive People (3.5); Level of Competition (23.5); Frequency of Conflict Situations (24.3).
Appraise, edit, and direct safekeeping of permanent records and historically valuable documents. Participate in research activities based on archival materials. Create and maintain accessible, retrievable computer archives and databases, incorporating current advances in electric information storage technology. Organize archival records and develop classification systems to facilitate access to archival materials. Authenticate and appraise historical documents and archival materials. Provide reference services and assistance for users needing archival materials. Direct activities of workers who assist in arranging, cataloging, exhibiting, and maintaining collections of valuable materials. Prepare archival records, such as document descriptions, to allow easy access to information. Preserve records, documents, and objects by copying records to film, videotape, audiotape, disk, or computer formats as necessary. Establish and administer policy guidelines concerning public access and use of materials. Locate new materials and direct their acquisition and display. Research and record origins and historical significance of archival materials. Specialize in an area of history or technology, researching topics or items relevant to collections to determine what should be retained or acquired. Coordinate educational and public outreach programs such as tours, workshops, lectures, and classes. Select and edit documents for publication and display, applying knowledge of subject, literary expression, and presentation techniques.
Personality Type: Investigative. Investigative occupations frequently involve working with ideas and require an extensive amount of thinking. These occupations can involve searching for facts and figuring out problems mentally.
GOE—Interest Area: 05. Education and Training. Work Group: 05.05. Archival and Museum Services. Other Jobs in This Work Group: Audiovisual Collections Specialists; Curators; Museum Technicians and Conservators.
Skills—Programming: Writing computer programs for various purposes. Writing: Communicating effectively in writing as appropriate for audience needs. Reading Comprehension: Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work-related documents. Quality Control Analysis: Conducting tests and inspections of products, services, or processes to evaluate quality or performance. Operations Analysis: Analyzing needs and product requirements to create a design. Persuasion: Persuading others to change their minds or behavior.
Education and Training Programs: Art History, Criticism and Conservation; Cultural Resource Management and Policy Analysis; Historic Preservation and Conservation; Historic Preservation and Conservation, Other; Museology/Museum Studies; Public/Applied History and Archival Administration. Related Knowledge/Courses: Clerical Practices: Administrative and clerical procedures and systems such as word processing, managing files and records, stenography and transcription, designing forms, and other office procedures and terminology. History and Archeology: Historical events and their causes, indicators, and effects on civilizations and cultures. Computers and Electronics: Circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming. English Language: Structure and content of English language, including meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar. Administration and Management: Business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources. Customer and Personal Service: Principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.