This is a monthly free newsletter project that came from the Initiative Feedback for Conservators ✍️: a place to bring a little bit of professional advice to help on topics that I wish I knew more about at the start of my art conservation career. Topics discussed here are recurrent ones that I see over Zoom sessions! So I thought would be useful to discuss them here. It’s also not a perfect newsletter and doesn’t intend to, but rather a space to share. Read here past newsletters. And as always, some disclamers1
Today’s post will be a different one because is the last one (yes!), and I will touch on three subjects. See you at the end.
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A recap
This project was intended, like the last one, to be one year long as a complement to the Mentorship Zoom sessions that I do (and will continue so). I truly love doing it and feeling that really could be of help. Today I share here the feedback of some colleagues that have done it so far, in case some of you would like to join. You can reach them too if you’re more curious!
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Laura, paintings conservation student, Spain
— "For those interested: I had a meeting with Marta some days ago, and it was such an exciting and positive experience! She gave me so much feedback on my CV and network profile, and helped me see little but important details I hadn’t noticed. I was able to improve my CV a lot and give a clearer idea of my background and actual goals, and she also taught me about how to clarify concepts so that they are understood internationally. I didn’t have any determined goals or plan, yet she reassured me and gave me tips on how to start thinking about my future. Moreover she was really professional, also nice and sweet, so I encourage anybody that have doubts or feels they need some advice, try it! 😊".
Magdalena, paintings conservator, Poland
— "Passing forward an amazing initiative by Marta Estadella Colomé! Her feedback gave me more clarity, self-confidence and definitely helped me to improve my CV and motivation letter. Marta told me how to highlight my best skills and how to simplify and compress some other informations. I'm really grateful for all the time she spent to answer all of my questions!".
María, paintings conservator, Australia
— "Marta has always been so helpful! Since I have known her she has always had this vocational and special skill to listen and understand you. Even when you struggle to fully express yourself! All her sensitivity, international experience, and work in detail make her the perfect mentor 😊".
Lena, sculpture conservation student, France
— “I was searching for an internship abroad for the second semester of my conservation studies. After several unsuccessful attempts, I asked for help to Marta. She had generously help me to review my administrative documents, help me to plan a contact list and she even help me to call the concerned persons. Thanks to her help I could understand where my application was in the different administrative departments contacted. I could found an internship place after some weeks. Her help was precious. Do not hesitate to contact her!”.
Marie, metal conservator, Scotland
— “Giving feedback from a trustworthy colleague allows several things: text editing and clarity; the confirmation by an outside eye that what you show is what you want people to see; but above all, it allows you to gain self-confidence, to rely on the conviction of having done your best. And to inject dynamism into the application”..
Claudia, paintings conservator, Spain
— “She has been of great help to me both to focus my CV and to prepare my motivation letter. She has guided and taught me to show my work, knowing how to highlight what is most important, paying attention to every detail of the text and organizing my ideas that sometimes it is so difficult for me to capture!”..
Sohyla, conservation student, Egypt
— "Marta helped me so much with my current scientific research and for the search of my master's program. She gave me important information about many subjects that were helpful for me. Thank you Marta so much for clarifying many points for me and for your advice on helping me improve many skills".
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Something to think about
In a recent job position advertised at the MET, there was this paragraph and I could not be more happy to see that they put it in all their job offers. The reason? This is a great article to summarize it. I see it over and over in the mentorship sessions. So please read it because it is worth it.
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One more thing…
Below all the subjects that we touched this year. As a warm goodbye, I decided to do one giveaway of one free Mentorship session (45min-1h). The subject is up to your choice.
What do you have to do? comment below which post was more useful for you (must be more than the number 😆) and put a like to the post. And that’s it (although I am not against you sharing it to your SM 😂). The winner will be randomly chosen within a week of this post-publication.
#1 Feedback for conservators: Your Professional Social Media Presence and your Why
#2 A FREE digital tool for art conservators: Concepts®
#3 Feedback for conservators: How long should your CV be + the Movie Technique
#4 A FREE digital tool for art conservators: Figma®
#5 Feedback for conservators: The motivation letter and what should be really about (part 1) 📚
#6 A FREE digital tool for art conservators: The CRBMC Manuals
#7 Feedback for Conservators: The internship and the "5 MUST"
#8 A FREE digital tool for art conservators: iArtbook® by Clara Nabet
#9 Feedback for conservators: The Introductory Email
#10 A FREE digital tool for art conservators: Peter Mactaggart’s pigment ID using Polarised Light Microscopy resource
#11 Feedback for Conservators: The personal interview: 7 tips on how to nail it ✨ by Elisa Baronti Marchió
#12 A FREE digital tool for art conservators: Conservation Tips Instagram Account
#13 Feedback for conservators: Should you be in a professional conservation association?
#14 Feedback for conservators: The motivation letter and what should be really about (part 2)
#15 On money (part 1): feeling comfortable talking about it
#16 On money (part 2): salary negotiation
#17 On money (part 3): the Bible CV
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Thanks to María, Clara and Elisa for their collaboration and finally thank you all for being here. In any case, I hope these posts helped some of you to feel less lonely in this job field. We all need to help each other and celebrate our wins 💚.
Kind regards,
marta
This is my personal opinion, which means also that I could be wrong! You do you✨.
Please do not share extracts of this newsletter without my consent.
One of the posts that was most helpful to me was "The motivation letter and what it should be really about", part 2. Thanks for a great series of posts!