Are you interested in helping people understand more about the past and how it affects the present and the future? If this sounds like you, then you might want to think about working in a museum, gallery or archive.

There are more than 1,800 museums across the UK. Some are home to large and internationally important collections, like the Natural History Museum, while others focus on a particular interest, such as cartoons, or a specific region, like the Museum of Cornwall.

People who work in museums and galleries do many different types of jobs, both working with the public and behind the scenes. You may have come across some museum jobs already, like a tour guide or shop assistant. Others may be less familiar, such as being a curator or conservator.

This guide will help you get a sense of some of the jobs you could do in a museum and what the next steps might be if you want to pursue a career in heritage.

Museum Jobs

Museum or Gallery Curator

A Curator manages collections of art or museum artefacts. A collection could include anything from paintings worth millions of pounds to everyday objects like cups and saucers.

Things curators do include:

  • buying or borrowing the items in a museum
  • deciding on what objects to exhibit and what stories they tell
  • researching museum objects
  • giving talks about the collections to the public.

This senior role demands a great deal of knowledge about the exhibited items along with high levels of responsibility and leadership. Many curators start their career as an Exhibitions Assistant helping with the preparation of exhibitions and events.

Learning and Participation Managers

Working in museum learning and participation is a really varied job that involves lots of contact with people. Museum Learning and Participation Managers want to make visitors of all ages and backgrounds feel welcome in museums and able to engage with the collections.

Learning and Participation Managers need to be aware of the needs of different groups of people, have excellent communication skills and be flexible and responsive to the people they work with. Some will specialise in working with particular groups of people, like school children, families or older people, while others will work with all visitors.

Some of the things Learning and Participation Managers might do include:

  • designing workshops for schools that help young people learn more about subjects like history, geography or art
  • creating activities for families such as craft sessions or trails that explore the collections
  • supporting people with poor mental health to visit their museum to increase their sense of wellbeing.

Front of House Managers

Front of House Managers and their teams are crucial to museums, helping all visitors to have safe, comfortable and enjoyable visits. People who work Front of House need to be flexible, good at problem solving, calm under pressure and have excellent communication and interpersonal skills. Many museum Front of House teams include volunteers as well as paid members of staff.

Some things Front of House Managers might have to do include:

  • overseeing ticket sales
  • ensuring that facilities such as toilets and cloakrooms are well maintained
  • be responsible for ensuring the safety of visitors, taking the lead in emergencies
  • managing a wide range of visitor enquiries and complaints.

Conservation or Restoration Technician

Conservation and Restoration Technicians have practical, hands-on roles. They restore, maintain or prepare objects for display, storage or research. Conversation and Restoration Technicians are usually specialists in working with a particular material, such as fossils, textiles, art or books, because each requires in-depth technical knowledge and skills.

These are sometimes STEM based careers, requiring a high level of knowledge about material properties or the biological and chemical factors that determine their treatment.

There are also routes into these careers through the study of fine art or archaeology, and through specialist training in craft and conservation practices, such as those used by a stone mason (someone who carves stone to be part of buildings or monuments) through an apprenticeship.

Museum or Gallery Technician

This a very practical and varied role. A gallery technician works alongside conservators, curators, art handlers (people who transport and prepare artworks for display) and exhibition designers to build, repair and maintain exhibition spaces, and to support the installation of exhibitions.

Things Gallery Technicians might do include:

  • installing or de-installing exhibitions including making mounts and displays for objects
  • packing pictures or objects to be transported (often to other countries) and moving fragile objects
  • maintaining and monitoring exhibition spaces (for example ensuring they stay a certain temperature).

Technicians need a wide range of skills such as IT, carpentry and joinery, electrical work, engineering, technical theatre or shop fitting. There are many different ways to get the training and skills you need for this role, including apprenticeships.

Marketing and Communications Manager

Museums and exhibitions want to attract as many visitors as they can. The role of museum Marketing and Communications Managers is to promote the museum to a wide range of people.

These expert communicators love to find ways of getting a message across clearly and efficiently to lots of different audiences. They use different channels like social media, advertising and news articles to encourage people to attend. They may also help to improve the visitor experience through exhibition displays and learning materials.

Skills you might need to succeed as a Marketing and Communications Manager include excellent written communication skills, good knowledge of social media, skills in editing pictures, audio and film, and a good eye for a story.

Other roles in Museums and Galleries

There are many other roles in museums and galleries. These include:

  • Security Guards who look after the visitors and items on display
  • Gardeners who look after museum grounds
  • Commercial art gallery managers who sell art and promote artists
  • Art Festival Directors who lead touring exhibitions and events
  • Fundraisers who help museums to pay for their collections and public facing programmes.

Many museum and gallery roles will require the ability to work with lots of different people, communicate well, be creative, do detailed research, pay close attention to detail and use problem-solving skills, along with the ability to work both independently and as part of a team.

If you are wondering which museum jobs may suit you, take our Museum Careers Quiz!

How to start a career in museums and galleries

The museum sector is working hard to make museums jobs more accessible. There are a growing number of museum apprenticeships available, but traditional qualifications like university degrees are currently still important.

However museums are also looking for people who are enthusiastic, passionate about helping people engage with their collections and who have picked up skills along the way from education and practical experience.

Here are our top tips to kickstart your career:

  • Keep studying a wide range of subjects at school including art, design, humanities and modern languages.
  • Universities and employers are keen on students who have a range of skills and interests so don’t close down your options, even if you don’t think a career in museums is right for you.
  • Take part in a Kids in Museums Takeover Day or Digital Takeover Day.
  • Get involved with your local museum as a young volunteer, young producer or member of a Youth Panel. You can look for these opportunities on our Youth Group Directory.
  • Take part in museums, art and design inspired activities across the UK with the V&A Museum’s young people and schools programmes.
  • Join a National Saturday Club.
    National Saturday Clubs give members experience of working with media and practices that are used across the creative sector. Through regular masterclasses with art and design professionals, some of which are hosted by museums and galleries, you can learn about the diverse educational and job opportunities that can lead to exciting and creative careers.
  • Join a local Makerspace.
    There is a growing number of maker spaces across the UK where you can have a go at all kinds of design and making activities, both traditional and digital. You find one near you through the UK Hackspace website.
  • Keep visiting exhibitions and find out what you most enjoy about museums! Staff are usually happy for you to get in touch, or there are a variety of methods museums use to collect feedback on their displays and activities. Try giving your thoughts on something you have seen and make your voice heard.

Ready for your next step?

There is a wide range of art and design, history of art, curating and history courses available across the UK, which you should research carefully to be sure that you are studying the things that you will need for the career that you want.

There are Apprenticeships in Cultural Learning, Cultural and Heritage Venue Operations and advanced apprenticeships for Museums Technicians. You can search for creative apprenticeships on the National College Creative Industries website.

You can find out more about pay, conditions and career progression in the sector from the Museums Association website.

Fair Museum Jobs are an organisation that highlight good and bad practice in museum job recruitment. Read their Manifesto for useful guidelines on what makes a museum job application fair and inclusive.

You might find it useful to access help and support in the next steps in your career through a mentoring network such as Arts Emergency.

If you want to take a look at some current vacancies to get an idea of what roles are out there, here are some websites that advertise museum jobs:

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