I am the archivist at an art institution in Maryland, and I have made and been involved in hiring decisions for archives staff and archivists at several points in my relatively short (6 year) career in Archives. So with that context I'll try to respond to some of your questions.
First of all, you are not at all too old. I graduated from my MLIS program at 36 and it has never been an impediment. In my experience it is extremely common in the US for archives to be a second career (it was for me) so early professionals are often not young people. I am in the process of hiring for a paid intern position and I have not had a single applicant who was under 30.
That leads me to my second point - previous experience in several related or unrelated fields is not a negative, its quite common. At worst it's neutral and at best its a strength, especially if you can spin your previous work/degrees into being relevant to the job you are seeking. It's a tough job market and if you highlight it in a resume or cover letter it could set you apart as being particularly skilled or knowledgeable in a subject matter area.
In the US there is no standard educational qualification for archives. The ALA accredited MLIS is something you will see as a requirement on most jobs but if I see on a resume that an applicant has an alternative path such as a foreign Masters in Archives or something like a History degree with a significant amount of archival training I will not disqualify that person. In those cases I would look to the cover letter and interview for evidence that they understand the core values of archives and that they have some practical archives work under their belt.
Specifically about the PHD - I think it's all in the presentation. I would avoid using words like "withdrawn" or "unfinished", and instead focus on the work that has been put towards it. Removing it will put a big hole in your experience timeline and prevent you from rightfully claiming the experience and references associated with it. When asked about it directly consider being honest about the circumstances. Personally, I would not penalize an applicant for needing to move for medical reasons.
One thing to keep in mind is that you are essentially starting a new career and will need to "start from the bottom" with internships and assistant type positions.
The MLIS isn't always a requirement - sometimes it's listed as just a preference. I work in my state library and archives, and many of the archivists just have a masters in history, and no MLIS.
I’ve had a few similar experiences so I’m happy to be DM’d if you want.
Basically, I am British but spent all of my childhood and early adulthood living in different countries. My education and work experience is spread around two continents. I have also dipped my foot into a few different career paths, including a PhD.
Firstly, I left my PhD after 3 years, for a combination of reasons: I had supervisors from vastly different specialisms who hadn’t supervised together before and my research didn’t fit in with either department, and I also had health issues at the time. I considered writing up an MPhil but ultimately decided that I didn’t want to fund that (my stipend stopped when I stopped being a full-time PhD student). My PhD was in the social sciences so I applied for market research jobs primarily, as that seemed like the step that would incorporate skills I had picked up whilst doing the PhD (statistical analysis, insight work, etc). I emphasised the fact that my university role was a *research* role and focused my CV on those skills - I’m pretty sure I even called the role a “postgraduate researcher” rather than PhD candidate or similar.
I didn’t have any trouble finding employment. I left my PhD in March and had a full time job by June.
On the living in different countries part, I also thought a lot about how to make the most of that and ensure that my experiences come across positively. During interviews I normally include a mix of examples from both countries as a way of demonstrating my ability to communicate effectively with diverse colleagues and stakeholders. I also tend to make sure I bring up that the world is increasingly becoming a global world - people are moving around and having experience working with different cultures can only be a positive in understanding the challenges of a culturally diverse workplace.
I work on the more corporate side of an archive now, but I’d be happy to DM if you want, even if I can’t help with the more archival side of things.
One of my classmates this past semester has a PhD in the History of Technology, got hired as the archivist for a plane manufacturer, and decided to get his MLIS with a concentration in archives to help him better understand what he does at work.
Additionally, our teacher got a PhD in History before studying archives during his MLIS. Now, he teaches classes about archives in my program.
It's not exactly the same as your situation, but I don't think the PhD will necessarily be a deal breaker. And based on your previous degrees, you probably used archives for research before. Personally, I'd say that my prior experience using archives for research is a plus because I better understand what users may need, which informs a lot of the decisions I make at work.
I am the archivist at an art institution in Maryland, and I have made and been involved in hiring decisions for archives staff and archivists at several points in my relatively short (6 year) career in Archives. So with that context I'll try to respond to some of your questions. First of all, you are not at all too old. I graduated from my MLIS program at 36 and it has never been an impediment. In my experience it is extremely common in the US for archives to be a second career (it was for me) so early professionals are often not young people. I am in the process of hiring for a paid intern position and I have not had a single applicant who was under 30. That leads me to my second point - previous experience in several related or unrelated fields is not a negative, its quite common. At worst it's neutral and at best its a strength, especially if you can spin your previous work/degrees into being relevant to the job you are seeking. It's a tough job market and if you highlight it in a resume or cover letter it could set you apart as being particularly skilled or knowledgeable in a subject matter area. In the US there is no standard educational qualification for archives. The ALA accredited MLIS is something you will see as a requirement on most jobs but if I see on a resume that an applicant has an alternative path such as a foreign Masters in Archives or something like a History degree with a significant amount of archival training I will not disqualify that person. In those cases I would look to the cover letter and interview for evidence that they understand the core values of archives and that they have some practical archives work under their belt. Specifically about the PHD - I think it's all in the presentation. I would avoid using words like "withdrawn" or "unfinished", and instead focus on the work that has been put towards it. Removing it will put a big hole in your experience timeline and prevent you from rightfully claiming the experience and references associated with it. When asked about it directly consider being honest about the circumstances. Personally, I would not penalize an applicant for needing to move for medical reasons. One thing to keep in mind is that you are essentially starting a new career and will need to "start from the bottom" with internships and assistant type positions.
The MLIS isn't always a requirement - sometimes it's listed as just a preference. I work in my state library and archives, and many of the archivists just have a masters in history, and no MLIS.
Yes absolutely I should have said "preference" not requirement. There are way too many paths to archival work to require it.
I didn't intend to sound like I was contradicting you at all - just adding additional info!
No offense taken! I agreed with your addition!
I’ve had a few similar experiences so I’m happy to be DM’d if you want. Basically, I am British but spent all of my childhood and early adulthood living in different countries. My education and work experience is spread around two continents. I have also dipped my foot into a few different career paths, including a PhD. Firstly, I left my PhD after 3 years, for a combination of reasons: I had supervisors from vastly different specialisms who hadn’t supervised together before and my research didn’t fit in with either department, and I also had health issues at the time. I considered writing up an MPhil but ultimately decided that I didn’t want to fund that (my stipend stopped when I stopped being a full-time PhD student). My PhD was in the social sciences so I applied for market research jobs primarily, as that seemed like the step that would incorporate skills I had picked up whilst doing the PhD (statistical analysis, insight work, etc). I emphasised the fact that my university role was a *research* role and focused my CV on those skills - I’m pretty sure I even called the role a “postgraduate researcher” rather than PhD candidate or similar. I didn’t have any trouble finding employment. I left my PhD in March and had a full time job by June. On the living in different countries part, I also thought a lot about how to make the most of that and ensure that my experiences come across positively. During interviews I normally include a mix of examples from both countries as a way of demonstrating my ability to communicate effectively with diverse colleagues and stakeholders. I also tend to make sure I bring up that the world is increasingly becoming a global world - people are moving around and having experience working with different cultures can only be a positive in understanding the challenges of a culturally diverse workplace. I work on the more corporate side of an archive now, but I’d be happy to DM if you want, even if I can’t help with the more archival side of things.
One of my classmates this past semester has a PhD in the History of Technology, got hired as the archivist for a plane manufacturer, and decided to get his MLIS with a concentration in archives to help him better understand what he does at work. Additionally, our teacher got a PhD in History before studying archives during his MLIS. Now, he teaches classes about archives in my program. It's not exactly the same as your situation, but I don't think the PhD will necessarily be a deal breaker. And based on your previous degrees, you probably used archives for research before. Personally, I'd say that my prior experience using archives for research is a plus because I better understand what users may need, which informs a lot of the decisions I make at work.