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Museum Technicians and Conservators

Under the title Museum Technicians and Conservators, workers restore, maintain, or prepare objects in museum collections for storage, research, or exhibit. O*NET rates it as extensive preparation, which usually means graduate school and often five years or more of related experience. It leans on reading comprehension, active listening, and speaking. One core duty is to determine whether objects need repair and choose the safest and most effective method of repair. With a code of RCI, this is mostly a job for people drawn to hands-on work with tools, machines or the physical world. Conventional interests also help, rated 4.6 out of 7. If you want hands-on work with tools, machines or the physical world, keep it on your list. If you need leading, persuading and making business decisions, it may feel thin.

What they do

Restore, maintain, or prepare objects in museum collections for storage, research, or exhibit. May work with specimens such as fossils, skeletal parts, or botanicals; or artifacts, textiles, or art. May identify and record objects or install and arrange them in exhibits. Includes book or document conservators.

Main tasks

  • Determine whether objects need repair and choose the safest and most effective method of repair.
  • Specialize in particular materials or types of object, such as documents and books, paintings, decorative arts, textiles, metals, or architectural materials.
  • Recommend preservation procedures, such as control of temperature and humidity, to curatorial and building staff.
  • Install, arrange, assemble, and prepare artifacts for exhibition, ensuring the artifacts' safety, reporting their status and condition, and identifying and correcting any problems with the set up.
  • Study object documentation or conduct standard chemical and physical tests to ascertain the object's age, composition, original appearance, need for treatment or restoration, and appropriate preservation method.
  • Clean objects, such as paper, textiles, wood, metal, glass, rock, pottery, and furniture, using cleansers, solvents, soap solutions, and polishes.

Skills

  • Reading Comprehension
  • Active Listening
  • Speaking
  • Writing
  • Monitoring
  • Critical Thinking

Who this career fits

May suit you if

  • You like ending the day with a physical result you can point to.
  • You like clear rules and getting the details right.
  • You are prepared for graduate-level study and a long training path.
  • You are comfortable relying on reading comprehension and active listening.

May not suit you if

  • You would rather stay away from physical, hands-on tasks.
  • You want to lead people or run the business side. Enterprising rates 1.5 out of 7 here.
  • You want to be working in the field within the next few years.

Interest profile

O*NET rates each occupation from 1 to 7 on six interest types. The code RCI takes the three highest, and Realistic comes first here.

Preparation

Extensive preparation. Many jobs here need graduate study, and people often spend five years or more building specialist experience.

Also called

  • Conservation Technician (Conservation Tech)
  • Conservator
  • Exhibit Technician (Exhibit Tech)
  • Museum Registrar
  • Museum Technician (Museum Tech)

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This page includes information from the O*NET 31.0 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license. O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA.