museum careers

AAM: American Association of Museums

People ask a lot of staff members what kind of job opportunities there are in museums. The short answer is: there are lots of different kinds of museum jobs, with one caveat, which is this: you should probably be willing to relocate. A minority of museum professionals work in their hometowns, though LRMA is an exception. Job opportunities are not thick on the ground, but they are out there.

A longer answer:

Museums range from the tiny (one staff member) to the enormous (the thousands of employees at the Smithsonian museums). Topics range from teapots to art, archeology, coffee, neon signs, history, science, archeology, medicine, timber, labor, tenements, and so on. Each museum, regardless of focus, has four primary functions: collection, preservation, education, and exhibition. Museum employees can include conservators, curators, directors, business managers, fund raisers, development officers, grant officers, exhibition designers and fabricators, IT staff, educators, docents, and more. Whatever your skill and interest, you can probably find a niche in the museum profession. A good place to start looking for information is the website of the American Association of Museums, which website I have linked above.