CAREER ADVICE

 Treasure Keepers 

Beautiful artwork, irreplaceable historical documents and informative exhibitions are just some of the treasures that museums in the Cedar Rapids community house.  Archivists, curators and other employees at museums are immersed in the culture of the particular museum in which they work.  They work amidst beautiful settings, surrounded by great and informative exhibits.    

Locally the African American Historical Museum and Cultural Center of Iowa, the Cedar Rapids Museum of Art, The History Center, the Marion Historical Museum/Granger House and the National Czech and Slovak Museum and Library offer a wide range of interests, each with very exciting careers.   The careers in museums require individuals who are able to prioritize the work that must be done because there are many deadlines and sometimes the lack of funding adds to the challenge of maintaining a first-class museum. 

Mr. Joseph McGill, Executive Director of the African American Historical Museum and Cultural Center of Iowa, believes “Anyone interested preserving history and culture should consider pursuing a career in museums.  They will find it rewarding not only for themselves, but for the general public that they serve.”   

Two prominent careers in museums are archivist and curator.  Both have a very broad range of responsibilities, some of which are planning, cataloguing, coordinating educational outreach, planning tours and lectures, and researching topics.  While archivists and curators may perform many similar duties, an archivist generally handles valuable records and documents.  Curators, on the other hand, generally handle objects such as sculptures, paintings and textiles.  

High school students who are interested in working in a museum setting will find that the skills needed by archivists and curators are many.  Students should study art, history, archaeology, science and library science.  Museum records are stored on a computer so it pays to be computer savvy.  Specialized skills include research, analytical, organizational and writing abilities.  After graduation, high school students should plan to attend college and earn at minimum a bachelor’s degree.  It is not uncommon that master’s or doctoral degrees are required. 

Museums may also have an education specialist, possibly called a public programs coordinator—these employees handle many of the duties of an archivist or curator. Other museum careers are registrars who are in charge of documenting the museum collections, and museum store managers who oversee an aspect of the museum that has growing importance.  Museums also employ development directors, business managers, public relations professional, fundraisers, museum technicians, archives technicians and facilities managers.  Most museums need to continuously find sources of funding.  This responsibility would be a primary responsibility of a museum’s development director or fundraiser. 

It would be extremely beneficial for any high school student with an interest in working in a museum to ask his or her counselor for help in arranging a job shadow experience or internship.  This behind-the-scenes look at museums would be helpful in making a career decision.  

According to the U.S. Government’s “Occupational Outlook Handbook,” employment opportunities in museums are expected to increase about as fast as the average for all occupations keeping in mind that nationwide there were about 23,000 archivists, curators, museum technicians and conservators in 1998.  So, while there is growth opportunity, those opportunities may be more limited than for some other careers.  Competition will be tough and graduates with highly specialized training such as master’s degrees in both library science and history, with emphasis in archives or records management and extensive computer skills, will have the best opportunities.  Earnings vary widely.  In 1998 the median income was $31,750. 

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