Dream job available.

The British Museum is seeking a keeper of coins and medals.

 

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Wow. I know that museums are notorious for paying their curatorial employees as little as possible, but that salary for someone with the qualifications they seek, not least "international recognition as a scholar"? (And yes, I know the pound to dollar exchange rate. It's still low.) I guess people are supposed to be so grateful for working there that it's lucky the museum doesn't expect the hire to pay them. Plus, they're offering "Interest free loans for . . . bicycles." That should make up for the low salary.

 

Sure. The British Museum may gladly hand over their coins and medals to me. I'll keep them.

 

Salaries in the UK are lower than in the US for many fields. This salary is approximately the same as an Associate Professor would receive. So, believe it or not, it is somewhat competitive within the UK. It is worth considering that free university education and health care are also basically non-salary benefits. Jobs that have to compete for international talent, like in tech fields, can pay more like in the US. A museum that survives off donations and the public dole, not so much.

 

Lots of leadership and scholarly experience required for a low salary. I guess either trust fund inheritors or those with wealthy spouses should apply. I suppose it's like the adjunct professor moniker in the US. Connection to a well known university but without any of the benefits enjoyed by those on the tenure track.

 

From what I've read here at CoinTalk, there are probably some folks who would be qualified for a position like this. Not sure if you can count this forum as providing "international recognition," but what would you have to lose?

Never seen a job ad dangling a bicycle loan as a benefit before, though.

 

As the thread title implies, it's a 'dream job'. Folks don't go into academia for the money. If this article on academic salaries in the UK is accurate, the pay actually looks competitive.
https://www.discoverphds.com/advice/after/lecturer-and-professor-salaries

 

Nothing shocking to my european eye, I guess, and encouraging people to use a bicycle rather than a car, in today London is really wise : driving that city is a nightmare !!

Q

 

And do not forget the « Discounts at British Museum shops »…if you get the job…

 

They can't afford to give someone a bicycle? Instead they offer to loan the money to buy one?

 

66k is pretty good here.

For reference, a registered nurse with a decade of experience makes about half of that.

 

https://www.investopedia.com/ask/answers/100214/what-cost-living-difference-between-us-and-uk.asp
I found the above comparison interesting. Of course when it talks about the US it uses numbers for New York. I assume DonnaML pays more for things there than I do here in central Virginia. The part of all this that bothers me most is that the position at the salary listed requires supervising a team of clerks who I can only assume receive rather lower level wages. My only personal point of comparisons leave the impression that some goods like Canon cameras are listed at the same number of UK pounds as they are in US dollars. Gasoline? Obviously the person they are seeking will not be taking the position based on the compensation package. To qualify for the job as listed, a person would probably be nearing retirement age so it might be appealing as the cherry on top of a numismatic career.

 

In our Western civilization, academics never made much money...

In Goethe's Faust, Dr Faust makes a lucid assessment of his life and career:

I've studied, alas, philosophy,
Law and medicine, recto and verso
And how I regret it, theology also
Oh, God, how hard I've slaved away,
With what result? Poor fool that I am,
I'm no whit wiser than when I began!
I've got a Master of Arts degree
On top of that a P.h.D.,
For ten long years, around and about,
Upstairs, downstairs, in and out,
I've led my students by the nose
To what conclusion? That nobody knows,
Or can ever know, the tiniest crumb!
Which is why I feel completely undone.

Of course I'm cleverer than these stuffed shirts,
These Doctors, Masters, Jurists, Priests
I'm not bothered by a doubt or a scruple
I'm not afraid of Hell or the Devil — But the consequence is, my mirth's all gone;
No longer can I fool myself
I'm able to teach men
How to be better, love true worth;
I've got no money or property,
Worldly honors or celebrity
A dog wouldn't put up with this life!
Which is why I've turned to magic ...

 

That's not a bad amount a year to me despite all the education you need. Most people I know in my life barely make $35,000 - $50,000 a year & that's with degrees too. And they're working themselves to death, including a best friend of mine who is scared to leave the jobs after 22 years but makes $32,000 in a major oil company office.

 

In medieval Europe the intellectuals were mostly priests and monks, all people who must take vows of poverty. Teachers, professors, scholars are the priests of our times, supposed to be driven by passion, not greed. This is why their wages are often relatively moderate.
The question one has to ask her/himself is: what do I want to do with my life? Getting rich? Having power? Being happy? It is possible of course to be rich and happy, but the two are disconnected for there are also people who are poor and happy, or rich and unhappy.

 

I'm retiring soon. Perhaps now is the time to slide into my dream job
I don't really meet any of the qualifications though...

 

That's true, and just part of it. I'm happy to be corrected by someone with greater knowledge, but I suspect many apartments in London would be considered a hovel in the US. A one-bedroom apartment in London and a one-bedroom apartment in a suburb of Dallas, TX are not at all comparable though I'm sure the cost of living index treats them as such.

 

Getting back to the job though, does anyone here have experience working in a museum? I'm curious ... many "dream jobs" turn out to be less dreamy when you actually start working there. For example, I could see this position being mainly about fundraising, administrative matters, performance reviews for curatorial staff, etc., and never actually handling coins. But I may be way off. Anyone know?

 

Fascinating opportunity......interesting how it includes use of words:

Membership of one of the Civil Service Pension schemes. (my highlighting)

Also throwing "entitlement" out there.

I suspect it's a comparable offer. Having lived in Europe for 3 years during my lifetime (albeit, many years ago), it is different over there...not suggesting good or bad, just different.

 

Doubt you watch HGTV & their "House Hunters International", they show Euro countries often, even Britain, and it's amusing to watch Americans complain about how small things are, or the washing machine/dryer combo in the kitchen itself. But the costs are vast for what you get.

But most Americans are conditioned more space = better.

I just roll my eyes in disgust when I see celebrities building 30,000 square feet homes. I'm in 1200 square feet & it's more than enough for me.