Metropolitan Museum of Art Reviews

Pros

Hours studying the world’s best art

Cons

Abysmal communication and lack of transparency

Pros

Access to the galleries outside public hours; lots of vacation time that most people take advantage of; strong work-life balance; generally nice people; retirement matching

Cons

Digital Department lacks vision and leadership, or it depends on who you speak to because you'll keep getting different or unclear answers. They've been a service department to the rest of the museum for so long and are now trying to "lead digital". That sounds good until you realize the rest of the museum and leadership want the department to continue to be a service department. This creates a lot of tension and politics. This also creates too many projects being worked on at once. Some are Director-mandated. Some are for managers to boost their careers, recognition, or justify empire building. Some are because rich people gave the museum money. Unfortunately, and not uncommon, most managers are very inexperienced and spend most time in meetings and don't take the time to develop and provide constructive feedback to their subordinates. There's an illusion of inclusivity and good intentions, but too many politics and talking behind people's backs. People get labeled as "problems" by managers instead of looking for opportunities to help people grow. Lots of command and control, but hypocritical messaging that people need to take initiative. Expectations are never clear or change based on who's in the room. Failure is never an option. That's too bad because that's where you can learn.

Pros

I look back on my time at the Met fondly. It was inspiring and invigorating coming to work every day knowing that you were going to be collaborating with some of the finest curatorial and museum workers in the world at one of the finest cultural organizations in the world. Because of my role, I was able to liaise with colleagues across departments. It was wonderful. I learned so much!

Cons

It's not a secret that the organization has made some missteps in its high-level administration and strategy. That is worrisome as a relatively low-level employee.

Pros

Dedicated peers, exciting and ever-changing atmosphere, great health insurance, time-off accumulated quickly

Cons

Some old mindsets among senior staff, but fortunately not executive staff, that at times felt limiting for what the institution strived for