Since I’m going to have a non-profit for you tomorrow, let’s start celebrating the Fourth of July today. Now, I know that you probably have fireworks, the beach, hot dogs, and hamburgers on your mind, but let’s take a minute to appreciate the Declaration of Independence. It’s the best “I Quit” letter in the history of the world. It’s like that letter that you wrote to your parents when you were 14 and decided that you were moving out, except it isn’t completely nonsensical. The Declaration of Independence has a lot to do with why this country is so great, so I hope that you’ll take a minute to give it a read today. And where do you go if you want to read the Declaration of Independence? The National Archives, of course! You can see the original document in all its glory, or you can check out a more readable version. If you’re not familiar with what the National Archives is, basically they “are the nation’s record keeper.” They preserve and keep forever 1%-3% of our government’s documents for both legal and historical reasons.

Declare Your Independence with a New Job

One Day, One Job has its own archives, but it’s nothing compared to what the National Archives has (duh!). The National Archives serves many constituencies, as there are all kinds of uses for historical documents. These include: the General Public, Genealogists/Family Historians, Veterans and their Families, Educators and Students, Researchers, Records Managers, Preservation and Archives Professionals, Information Security Specialists, Federal Employees, Members of Congress, Press/Journalists, and more I’m sure. You could spend hours learning about the National Archives and what they have preserved, so I’m going to leave that research up to you.

What I do have for you is an inside look at what kind of jobs they have available. You can start learning about what it’s like to work at the National Archives by visiting their Careers page, and from there you can check out their Jobs page. Here’s where it gets a bit confusing because there are a lot of options. You want to select Jobs for the General Public or Federal Career Intern Program. The former takes you to the USAJOBS.gov site where you can see all of their job listings. Right now the best option is Archives Technician, but there might be some other options for you. The latter isn’t actually an internship program; it’s an entry level hiring program. It doesn’t have any openings right now, but it’s worth keeping an eye on because it looks great.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

• Archives.gov
• Jobs at the National Archives
• About the National Archives
• History of the National Archives

Have you ever visited the National Archives?

Memorial Day is one of my favorite holidays—not only because it signifies the start of summer, but also because I love small town patriotism. My hometown always has a fantastic parade that is often accompanied by a fighter jet fly over. Now, today’s employer may not immediately make you think of Memorial Day like last year’s did (it was Weber-Stephen, the manufacturer of my favorite charcoal grills), but you’ll realize pretty quickly why the National Park Service is a great choice for today. Not only are some of the parks that they manage great places to celebrate the Memorial Day weekend outdoors, but they’re also responsible for quite a few memorials including The Marine Corps War Memorial, The Vietnam Veterans Memorial, The Korean War Veterans Memorial, and The World War II Memorial. Memorial Day is really about our fallen heroes, and the National Park Service is constantly working to honor them by maintaining and managing our memorials.

Celebrate Memorial Day All Year Long

If you love Memorial Day as much as I do, then a job with the National Park Service might be something worth thinking about. Whether you love the outdoors and want to be at Yosemite, love history and want to be at Lincoln’s Boyhood Home, or love our country and want to be at one of the memorials, you’ll have plenty of options. The NPS is constantly working to preserve “unimpaired the natural and cultural resources and values of the national park system for the enjoyment, education, and inspiration of this and future generations.” So, how do you land a job with them? You can start at the NPS Jobs page (it has some awesome photos from the 70s), but that will dump you into USAJobs.gov—use this link so that you only see jobs posted from the NPS. There are 163 jobs posted right now, and many of them are entry level, so we’re not going to wade through all of them for you, but you should know that the NPS typically hires in the following areas: Administration, Health and Safety, Archeology, History, Architecture, Human Resources, Biological Sciences, Landscape Architecture, Community Planning, Maintenance and Facility Management, Concessions, Natural Resources, Contracting, Park Police, Cultural Resources, Park Ranger (Protection), Engineering, Park Ranger (Interpretation), Financial Management, Park Site Interpretation, Firefighting, Physical Sciences, and Fire Management. That should help you direct your search on the USAJobs.gov site a little better. Applying for government jobs can be tricky, so be sure to pay very close attention to the details before you send in your application.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

• NPS.gov
• Jobs at the National Park Service
• About the National Park Service
• History of the National Park Service

What’s your favorite National Park/

Back when I was in high school (yes, part of that was in the 90s), I thought that I was really savvy when it came to using the Web to do better in my English classes. I found online, public-domain versions of many of the books that I was reading. The best part was that these were searchable, so if I needed to find a quote or a specific passage, all I had to do was remember a key word or two. It was fantastic. A lot has changed since then, and I don’t even know the extent of what academic resources are available online now. What I do know is that it’s not fair that today’s students have access to sites like Shmoop, when I couldn’t even dream of something like it. What is Shmoop? It’s hard for me to describe briefly, so maybe you should take the Tour de Shmoop.

To Shmoop or Not to Shmoop?

If you took the tour, you saw that Shmoop is like a really awesome online tutor. It won’t do the work for you, but it will make learning, writing, and understanding a lot easier. It’s too bad that you’re almost done with school, so Shmoop won’t do you much good; however, if you’re the kind of student who didn’t need Shmoop because your outlines were so comprehensive and your analysis was so on point, then you can do good for Shmoop. They need really smart people to help them improve their service and move out of beta. If you look at the listing of jobs at Shmoop, you’ll see that these aren’t the typical opportunities that you’ll see from a Silicon Valley startup. Ok, they have the standard openings for PHP and/or Python Rock Stars (in Sunnyvale, CA) to help them build the software side of their product, but they also need brilliant English, Literature, and History majors to help them build the content side. They also need Editors and Spanish language translators. These positions can be full or part-time, you can do them wherever you want (location flexible), and the hours will be at your discretion. Does it get better than that? Who would have thought that English and History majors could score jobs at a Silicon Valley startup?

Not sold yet? Here’s what Shmoop has to say about themselves: “We move quickly. We debate passionately. We obsess over grammar. We quiz each other on literature and history. We chow on Specialty’s cookies. We dream of better ways to make learning fun and relevant.” If you think Shmoop is a game changing educational tool and you want to be a part of it, then send a resume and cover letter to jobs@shmoop.com.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

• Shmoop.com
• Jobs at Shmoop
• About Shmoop
• Shmoop’s Management Team
• Shmoop Literature
• Shmoop US History
• Shmoop Poetry

How much higher do you think your GPA would have been if Shmoop had been around when you were in high school?

I am the black sheep of my family. My mom is a graphic designer, my dad is an architect, and my sister is a painter (although she doesn’t want to be labeled). I have no artistic talent whatsoever, and I barely have the ability to appreciate good art. That means that I’m probably not the best person to tell you about the The Museum of Modern Art, but they do have some great entry-level job opportunities, so I’m going to tell you about them anyway.

What Is Modern Art?

Founded in 1929, MoMA is dedicated to being the foremost museum of modern art in the world. What is modern art? We’ll use MoMA’s own words from their website to tell you that.

To achieve its goals The Museum of Modern Art recognizes:

That modern and contemporary art originated in the exploration of the ideals and interests generated in the new artistic traditions that began in the late nineteenth century and continue today.

That modern and contemporary art transcend national boundaries and involve all forms of visual expression, including painting and sculpture, drawings, prints and illustrated books, photography, architecture and design, and film and video, as well as new forms yet to be developed or understood, that reflect and explore the artistic issues of the era.

That these forms of visual expression are an open-ended series of arguments and counter arguments that can be explored through exhibitions and installations and are reflected in the Museum’s varied collection.

That it is essential to affirm the importance of contemporary art and artists if the Museum is to honor the ideals with which it was founded and to remain vital and engaged with the present.
That this commitment to contemporary art enlivens and informs our evolving understanding of the traditions of modern art.

That to remain at the forefront of its field, the Museum must have an outstanding professional staff and must periodically reevaluate itself, responding to new ideas and initiatives with insight, imagination, and intelligence. The process of reevaluation is mandated by the Museum’s tradition, which encourages openness and a willingness to evolve and change.

In sum, The Museum of Modern Art seeks to create a dialogue between the established and the experimental, the past and the present, in an environment that is responsive to the issues of modern and contemporary art, while being accessible to a public that ranges from scholars to young children.

How Do I Get a Job at The Modern Museum of Art?

One would have to imagine that getting a job at an institution as prestigious as MoMA is pretty difficult. They have some fantastic job opportunities that are well suited for new college grads, so you’ll need to find one that you’re a perfect fit for and blow them away with an outstanding cover letter. If your knowledge of art is less extensive than mine, then you should probably forget about it. MoMA is currently looking to hire for the following positions: Administrative Assistant – Media; Cataloguer (15 month project) – Prints and Illustrated Books; Coordinator, Community and Access Programs – Education; Coordinator, Education Administration – Education; Curatorial Assistant – Painting and Sculpture; and Education History Research Fellow (1 year project) – Education. You can find full descriptions and requirements for each of these opportunities on MoMA’s Jobs page.

To apply for a job at MoMA, you should send a cover letter and resume to jobs@moma.org with the position title in the subject line of your e-mail. You should also include salary requirements (we hate when companies/organizations ask for this – it’s unreasonable). The Museum of Modern Art is located in New York City, and so are all of their entry-level jobs.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

• MoMA.org
• Jobs at The Museum of Modern Art
• About MoMA
• MoMA’s History
• Visiting The Museum of Modern Art
• MoMA’s Collection

Have you ever visited MoMA?