Meredith More

Name: Meredith More
Club 21 Employer: Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow
Degree Subject: History/History of Art
Year of Graduation: 2011

I am interested in working for museums, galleries or in the heritage sector after I graduate.  As this field is very competitive I decided to enhance my CV and prospects by applying for a placement.

I applied for a placement at the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow, even though I was wary of the words ‘Physicians’ and ‘Surgeons’. I thought I might end up dusting old surgical instruments or filing medical journals, but instead, because of the nature of my degree, the Royal College offered me a project relating to their art collection. I would strongly advise students who are looking for work experience not to rule out opportunities because they don’t seem immediately relevant to your interests. You may, like me, be offered the opportunity to complete a project which suits you exactly and in a very unlikely place!

During my placement I worked alongside another student and we undertook our project together. Although the Archivist at the College oversaw our work and gave us guidance, we were given a lot of freedom and responsibility, and were trusted to complete tasks ourselves. I really enjoyed working as part of a team, and had the opportunity to learn a lot about IT from my colleague, as she was doing a course in Media and Informatics.

We researched the College’s artwork, sought information and copyright details from artists and museums, transferred our research onto their website and delivered a presentation to the senior members of the College. The whole experience was extremely rewarding and barely felt like work at all. I really enjoyed researching the artwork and seeing the results on the website. (http://www.rcpsg.ac.uk/FellowsandMembers/ArchiveServices/Pages/pictures.aspx)

We were made to feel like the work we were doing was very valuable to the College and although the presentation was quite daunting, we got excellent feedback afterwards.

My placement was voluntary for one term during my second year of study. I found that I could easily balance my time around studying, working and everything else. The Royal College also understood that I had other commitments and were very flexible about hours of work. In the end I went in two mornings a week because that fitted in with my timetable.

I would recommend a work placement to all Faculty of Arts students because I gained excellent experience researching, working with others, producing websites, giving presentations and contacting people and institutions for information. Also, I now have something really valuable to put on my CV and the possibility of a reference from the supervising Archivist. The most worthwhile aspect of the placement, however, was realising that as I enjoyed it so much, this type of work is definitely for me. I gained so much from my work experience with Club 21; it really exceeded my expectations.