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Re: CA and Jobs



I remember a few years back when the CRM designation was not nearly as popular a requirement as it is today. One of the first times I ran into it was when headhunters began to take on the search for Records Managers. They understood little of what they were looking for and the CRM designation was a deal breaker on any initial interview. Once they were told you did not have it the interview was effectively over it. The need for headhunters to find Records Managers night have been associated with the rise within many organizations of the relative position of Records Managers. I wonder if the CA would be more relevant in the job search if individuals like headhunters were seeking the to fill the Archivist position. Maybe we need to find a way to elevate the relative position of Archivists within our organizations.

 

Just a thought or two,

 

Chris Flynn CA CRM

Records Officer

University of Idaho

cflynn@uidaho.edu

208/885-4408  

 

-----Original Message-----
From: UFTARCH1@AOL.COM [mailto:UFTARCH1@AOL.COM]
Sent: Tuesday, January 15, 2002 6:23 AM
To: ARCHIVES@LISTSERV.MUOHIO.EDU
Subject: Re: CA and Jobs

 

1/15/02

Dean--

      I had promised myself that I would let the CA discussion/thread go, I just had to respond to your CA and jobs message.  Thanks for your comment regarding hiring archivists.  While your point about the restraints on the job search process is a very good one--i.e. recruiting archivists through existing employment channels often prevents employers from specifying "CA only," that was not the point that I was trying to make.  My observation was simply that the CA designation is neither mentioned nor requested as a desirable qualification--not that it is listed as "CA only."

        If the designation is valued at all, wouldn't employers just promote it in their listings as desirable?  I am familiar with SAA job listings over the past 2 years because I have listed a position in my department and have reviewed similar positions nationwide.  As I have mentioned before, from the job listings I have reviewed in the past couple of years, nearly 99% of archival jobs listed both in SAA's Employment Bulletin or on the archives listserv do not mention or ask for CA as a desirable qualification.

       (p.s.The "Colin Powell does not have a Ph.d" analogy for a university president job search is really sobering reminder to our profession. We all know that the Archivist of the U.S. and the Librarian of Congress are usually political appointees and are not trained archivists or trained librarians.  I am only pointing this out because as many, many others have pointed out over the years--what does *that* say about our struggles for professionalism or status and prestige in both the archives and library professions if the most prestigious institutions in our respective fields do not require our educational qualifying credentials??)          
                                                             Lucinda

Lucinda Manning
UFT Archives & Records Center
United Federation of Teachers
260 Park Ave. South
NY, NY   10010
212-598-9213