Careers Services and Testimonials

Sotheby's Institute of Art is dedicated to the career development of its students both during their studies and after they graduate. The expertise of our academic faculty and extensive alumni network enables us to offer a unique career service geared towards the placement and mentoring of art history graduates in preparation for a successful career in the art world.

Career Services available to MA and One-semester students:
One-to-one sessions with a professional careers advisor
Online internship and job bulletin service
CV templates and covering letters tailored for the international art world available to download
Career Talks from art world professionals with relevance to all programmes
Featured Career Talks in 2008 included: Sotheby's, UBS Art Banking, AXA-Art Insurance, The British Museum, The Guggenheim, contemporary galleries Gagosian and Haunch of Venison
CV building and interview technique workshops are conducted by fine arts recruitment specialists

Internships
Sotheby's Institute of Art encourages the students to participate in internships and assists with placement at Sotheby's worldwide, international auction houses, galleries, museums, arts publications and other arts related organisations.

Partnerships
Sotheby's: students are given the option of applying for highly sought after internships at Sotheby's auction house on Bond Street, Sotheby's New York and Sotheby's Singapore and other Sotheby's worldwide offices. Sotheby's reserves an allotted number of internships exclusively for Sotheby's Institute of Art students each year.

The British Museum: Sotheby's Institute of Art is the first arts education institution to set up a regular internship with the British Museum through the Volunteer Placement Office placing on average four students per year in either the curatorial or directorate departments.

SPACE Studios: Students are given the opportunity to develop SPACE's archive resource at The Triangle.
www.spacestudios.org.uk

Alumni Association
Studying at Sotheby's Institute of Art means that you automatically become part of an ever expanding network of top art world professionals.

Former students remain connected to the Institute through their passion and involvement in the arts in a professional capacity. With our online services alumni are now able to seek employment and recruit through Sotheby's Institute of Art. Alumni also contribute by hosting careers talks and providing advice as career mentors.

For more information on the services offered to current students and alumni please go to www.sothebysinstitute.com/alumni.html

Testimonials

"Having studied in London, I can say the experience is worth it, even weighing up the expenses in London. London is the gateway to emerging markets and to the States. The personal challenge is unmatched and I feel I really grew as a person."
Jen Leutner
MA Contemporary Art, London, 2007

"The programme has been absolutely brilliant. It’s been intensive and it’s very hands-on because of the way we learn. We go to visit special collections out of season when no-one is there which gives you a first-hand view of an art object. You’re taught by experts who are respected by the art world and show you the commercial side. It’s really prepared me for a career in the art world."
Jessica Lavooy
MA Fine and Decorative Art, London, 2007

"I love it. I like the teachers, I think the teachers are the best thing about the programme. They do writing and publishing, curating. Everyone is impressed with them."
Nathalie Popovic
MA Contemporary Art, London, 2007

"Coming from the states and being here has opened my eyes to art – I’ve seen so many things I wouldn’t see at home. We see the art all the time in situ and the course is not just purely academic. We meet curators, critics, magazine editors."
Caitlin Green
MA Contemporary Art, London, 2007

"The course has been really good and so different to studying pure art history because we look at art from a monetary value and market perspective. It’s interesting to learn about how to apply business studies to an arts environment."
Pamela Dewys
MA Art Business, London, 2007

"The way the course involved us in study visits was very smart as it shows us how the market is. We went to fairs to see the real art world and met very good guest lecturers from the industry. We could see them working in the real market and had chance to talk to them."
Valentina Becchetti
MA Art Business, London, 2007

"The course gave me access to the private collections and collectors abroad and contact to more variety than back home in Asia as so much Asian Art was exported to westerners including some very rare pieces. London is great, the museums are free, and it’s great to have so much contact with art objects."
Ji-hyun Lee
MA East Asian Art, London, 2007

"I learned a lot about the real history of contemporary art. London is a cultural city. What is important about this programme is that we go to Germany and to the Netherlands to see the art. The emphasis is on seeing the real physical environments that are unfamiliar and unusual as opposed to back home. I can say I’ve been to Dusseldorf and to Cologne to see this key work in person. The professors here are fantastic, the level of interaction and the small classes are great, I developed a rapport very quickly."
Melvin Marshall
MA Contemporary Art, London, 2007

"I like living in London and having access to all the contemporary art resources, art galleries, plethora of galleries, museums, Institutes."
James Reeves
MA Contemporary Art, London 2007

"The MA Photography course has exceeded all my expectations. The course is demanding and standards are high but for me the best thing about the course is the chance to learn from and spend time with academics, industry figures and students who are all passionate about photography."
Davina Lee
MA Photography, London 2007

"It’s an excellent investment for anyone who is serious about photography - great conversations, high standards and opportunities to see photographs you wouldn’t normally get a chance to see."
Jean Roberts
MA Photography, London 2007

"As a long-time New Yorker and museum and cultural institution professional, my decision to come to London to study with the Sotheby’s Institute of Art MA East Asian Programme is a decision I will never regret. The Progamme has surpassed my expectations in all areas. The concentration of world famous scholars, collections, seminars, public programmes, galleries, library and study collections in London is nonpareil in the world of East Asian Art."
John McCann
MA East Asian Art, London 2006
Asian Art Consultant

"As an American student who is dealing with the difficulty of weakness of the dollar to the pound, the course still makes good economic sense due to the superior intellectual environment, and the intensely focused nature of the course."
John McCann
MA East Asian Art, London 2006
Asian Art Consultant

"The Programme does an excellent job of both preparing one to write at a high academic level, and gain a level of visual knowledge and connoisseurship to prepare for many careers in the field. Class work is augmented by study tours of some of the worlds greatest collections, and special viewings at the British Museum, Victoria and Albert Museum, the Ashmolean Museum at Oxford, the Burghley House collection, as well as having Paris' Guimet and Cernuschi collections, the Berlin and Dresden Collections close at hand."
John McCann
MA East Asian Art, London 2006
Asian Art Consultant

"While at Sotheby's Institute of Art I have done two internships, one as an Event Assistant at the London Art Fair for four months, the other working at Derek Johns Ltd, a renowned Old Master Dealer in St James for two months. I applied for both internships through the Sotheby's Institute of Art Career Services online. These opportunities have provided me with valuable experience and it's been useful and motivating applying what I've learnt on the MA in Art Business in a working environment. Also, both internships have given me numerous contacts that will remain a part of my professional network after graduating."
William Flatmo
MA Art Business, London 2007

"During the first few weeks of class, one of the tutors announced available internships for a new contemporary art fair happening in London. I volunteered and enjoyed myself so much that I said I wanted to stay on to help. A year later, I'm their fair manager, broadening both my personal and professional contacts. If it hadn't been for my Sotheby's contact with the fair director, I would not have had such a stellar opportunity to break into the art world."
Crosby Brook
MA Contemporary Art, London 2005
Zoo Art Fair Manager, London

"The MA programme for Fine and Decorative Art is really quite the finest available. Unlike the more traditional art studies it has a more intense practical approach – much needed in understanding art. My dissertation research was supported by an active internship experience in the Chinese department at Sotheby’s auction house, and blended with everyday exposure to London art life. Such a combination has quickly proved invaluable to me, resulting in exciting further academic studies and an important position with the largest international database of looted and stolen art. Everything I learned on the programme – I put into everyday use."
Jacob Khokhlov
MA Fine & Decorative Art, London 2005
PhD Student, The Queen’s College, Oxford
Consultant, Swift-Find Limited, London

"The Master’s in Art Business gave me the knowledge, skills and focus to move from the legal profession to the international art market. A key element of the programme was my exposure to leading art market professionals and an international group of peers, which have provided me with a truly invaluable network. ".
Josh Pullan
MA Art Business, London 2005
Graduate Trainee, Sotheby’s London

"It was very important for me to work with original objects to understand their authenticity. I wanted to be taught by experts who were leaders in their fields. Not only did I make many good friends at the Institute from all over the world, but now I also have a network in the international art world."
Isabella Croy
MA Fine & Decorative Art, London 2003
Museum Consultant and Exhibition Planner
Asenbaum Fine Arts, Vienna, Austria

"The programme is the equivalent of a business school for the arts. Not only do you get an incredible wealth of specialised knowledge, but you are able to develop professional contacts and relationships all over the world."
Sarah Poitevent
MA Fine and Decorative Art, London 2005
Assistant Director, Corcoran College of Art and Design
The Smithsonian Associates Masters Program in the History of Decorative Arts, Washington DC, USA

"The environment provided by Sotheby's Institute of Art in terms of its international body of students and teaching staff who are passionate about their work and research, combined with unparalleled access to works of art, afforded an education that has allowed me to enter the industry very well prepared. The rigorous programme, with its trips abroad and numerous museum visits, has instilled skills that are readily applicable in commercial art and that I would not have gained elsewhere. Most importantly, we were taught to look and think about art – connoisseurship skills that cannot be gleaned from textbooks. "
Jen Lyn Low
MA East Asian Art, London 2004
Associate Specialist in Chinese Works of Art, Christie's New York

"The programme was academically strong in art history and had the advantages of a museum studies degree. You had access to curators, gallery specialist and professional lecturers. In a traditional art history course, you would do most of your studies in the classroom. But at the Institute, you learn in the classroom and in front of the art. It was unlike anything that I had ever experienced."
Joanna Marsh
MA in Contemporary Art, London 2000
Acting Curator of Contemporary Art, Wadsworth Atheneum Museum, Hartford, Connecticut, USA

"The programme was excellent. The hands-on approach to learning and the balance between coursework and collection visits prepared me for my current job at Sotheby's working with 19th century furniture and decorative objects. I was very impressed with the quality of teaching and by how much we were able to cover in-depth in only one year."
Darin Bloomquist
MA Fine & Decorative Art, London 2002
Cataloguer, Objects & Vertu Department, Sotheby's London

"Sotheby's object-based training reinforced my desire to pursue a career in the museum world. The program is more than a series of slide lectures in a darkened room. Handling sessions, visits to galleries, auction houses, and museum exhibitions, exposed us to the wider art world. London became our classroom."
Abbie N. Sprague
MA Fine & Decorative Art, London 1998
Department of American and British Paintings, National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC