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Curator Career Guide

Are you someone who is passionate about history? Do you love museums? Are you organized and a great communicator? If you answered yes, then look no further. A career as a curator may be just the one for you!

A curator is someone who is in charge of things that are in an exhibit. They are tasked with the important responsibility of collecting, preserving, restoring, and educating visitors about the collections they oversee. To become a curator, you will need a bachelors degree and a masters degree. In some circumstances, a doctorate degree is even required!

Museums are packed with treasures of all kinds — and if you’re a curator, you get to assemble, catalogue, present and display entire collections of them.

Martha Reed

Curator Career Ratings

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Contribution

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Job Profiles

Real-Life Curator Job Profiles

Below is a list of links to anonymous job profiles of REAL PEOPLE who have filled out our survey and offered to share their insights with our users about their job in the Curator field.
ID Job Title Gender Age Earnings City & State Date
33128 Curator Female 36 $30,000 amherst, NY 01/01/2010

Overview

What a Curator actually does

A curator is defined as a person who is in charge of things that are in an exhibit. Most commonly, curators are responsible for the collections that are housed in art galleries, museums, and libraries. They are tasked with the important responsibility of collecting, preserving, restoring, and educating visitors about the collections they oversee.

The actual duties of a curator vary at different locations. At smaller institutions, curators can sometimes be the only ones responsible for a collection. This means they make all of the decisions on what to add to the exhibit, handle historical research, and take care of the pieces. At larger organizations, the curator is typically part of a more substantial team. There are other individuals who document the pieces and take care of them, so the curator can focus more on researching and collecting. Additionally, there may even be multiple curators who specialize in various areas.

However, regardless of where they work the typical duties of a curator include:

  • Acquiring, storing and exhibiting collections
  • Performing administrative tasks and helping manage their institutions research projects
  • Selecting the theme and design of exhibits
  • Designing, organizing, and conducting tours and workshops for the public
  • Attending meetings and events to promote their institution
  • Cleaning museum objects such as ancient tools, coins, and statues
  • Directing and supervising curatorial, technical, and student staff
  • Planning and conducting special research projects

Why they are needed

Curators are involved in nearly all facets of a museums function – from administration to staffing, from preservation and communication to study. They get to decide what budget is allocated and, based on this budget, what work is selected. Once the work is carefully chosen, curators will also get to decide how and where it is displayed and hung. Essentially, curators are needed to tell the story of many historical events.

Pros and cons of a career as a Curator:

Pros:

  • Curators get to see a project through from start to finish, which is incredibly satisfying
  • Curators get to work independently and often get control over their decisions
  • For those interested in museums and artifacts, it is a very interesting career
  • Curators can receive a competitive salary

Cons:

  • It is a hard career to enter as extensive skill, knowledge and experience is required
  • Career stability relies on grants, fundraising or donations
  • There is often strong competition for jobs
  • Curators may often work long hours

Employability

Job market

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the overall employment of curators is projected to grow 13% from 2019 to 2029, which is much faster than the average for all occupations. The employment growth is expected because continued public interest in museums and other cultural centers is likely to lead to increased demand for curators.

However, as it is a small occupation, this fast growth will only result in about 1,800 jobs over the next 10 years. As a result, aspiring curators are likely to face fierce competition for jobs. To have the best opportunities, creators should seek to gain specialized training, a master’s degree, an internship or volunteer experience.

Career paths

In small museums, curator positions may be available to applicants with a bachelor’s degree. However, to have the best job opportunities curators will need a master’s degree in art history, history, archaeology, or museum studies. Furthermore, because curators have administrative and managerial responsibilities, courses in business administration, public relations, marketing, and fundraising are recommended.

Curators in smaller museums/institutions may have limited opportunities for promotion and career progression. They typically advance by transferring to a larger institution that has supervisory positions. In larger museums, curators can progress to more advanced positions, but a doctoral degree may be beneficial in these circumstances.

Example Job Titles for Curator

Below is a list of common job titles in the Curator field. Click the links below for more information about these job titles, or view the next section for actual real-life job profiles.

Benefits & Conditions

Income and benefits

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the median annual wage for curators in the United States was $54,570 in May 2019. The lowest 10 percent earned less than $28,330 and the highest 10 percent earned more than $87,760. Educational services was the top paying industry, with a median annual wage of $55,460. This was followed b the government ($50,840) and then museums, historical sites and similar institutions ($46,550).

Autonomy and Flexibility

Right from the get go, curators have a lot of autonomy. They are responsible for making decisions regarding the museums budget, the sourcing of objects and the display of objects. Often, curators are also in charge of museum staff and have control over staffing decisions.

However, the autonomy of a curator is variable depending on whether they work for small or large institutions. For example, those who work for small institutions are likely to have more control over their decisions. Whereas those who work for larger institutions are likely to work as part of a team and will have to make group decisions.

Locations and commute

According to Zippia, the best states to be a curator, based on number of jobs available and average annual salary, are:

  1. Rhode Island, where the average annual salary was $58,272
  2. Washington, where the average annual salary was $65,562
  3. Connecticut, where the average annual salary was $57,910
  4. Alaska, where the average annual salary was $72,911
  5. District of Columbia, where the average annual salary was $59,794

According to Zippia, the worst states to be a museum curator are Alabama, South Carolina, Tennessee, Florida and North Carolina.

Work environment

The largest employers of curators in the United States was museums, historical sites and similar institutions, which employed 40% of all curators. 19% of curators are employed by the government and 17% by educational services.

The exact work environment of a curator will vary depending on the size of the institution they work for. Curators may spend a lot of time at their desk, where they are sourcing objects and discussing budgets. Or, they may spend a lot of their time with the public, where they can provide educational services and assistant.

Career Satisfaction

Common Matching Personality Types

Which personalities tend to succeed and thrive in Curator careers? Based on our research, there is a relatively strong positive correlation between the following personality types and Curator career satisfaction. This doesn’t mean that there aren’t many exceptions, of course, but if you fit into one of the following personality types then we suggest you give strong consideration to a career in Curator.

16 Types (Myers-Briggs)

  • None

Big Five (OCEAN)

  • None

DISC

Enneagram

  • None

Holland Codes (RIASEC)

Personality types

Curators tend to be confident and natural leaders. They like to influence, educate and inspire others through historical education. They are also likely to be highly conscientious and conventional as creators need to be able to be organized, structured and detail-oriented.

Accomplishment and mastery

Curators have to do two degrees in order to have the best employment opportunities. Therefore, when curators land their first job they are likely to feel very accomplished. Their skill mastery will also increase throughout their career as they gather more experience and knowledge.

Meaning and contribution

Curators help us to captivate history and understand the past a little better. Their work has excellent meaning and contribution to society as it educates and inspire all types of people.

Life fit

Most curators will work full time hours. If a curator works for a large institution, they may have to travel to evaluate potential additions to the collections, to conduct research or to organize exhibits. As a result, some creators may find the career offers a difficult life fit.

Who will thrive in this career?

Curators must be interested in history in order to thrive. They should have the desire to understand the past and the desire to educate and inspire others. A thriving curator will also be investigative, logical and analytical. They should be able to work as part of a team, and be able to instruct and lead others.

Who will struggle in this career?

If you are not organized, logical or analytical then you may struggle as a curator. Similarly, if you are not able to make decisions then you may struggle as a curator, who is responsible for lots of decisions regarding the sourcing of artifacts. Finally, those who are not creative and do not have an interest in history will struggle as a curator.

Requirements

Quick Glance

Skills

Degrees

Certifications

Skills and talents

As well as the right educational requirements, curators will need skills such as:

  • Customer service skills, as curators will work with the general public to educate and teach them
  • Communication skills, as curators may have to work as part of a team and will therefore need to be able to work well with others
  • Analytical skills, as curators must explore minutiae to determine the origin, history and importance of the objects they work with
  • Attention to detail, as curators must be able to focus on specifics because they use and develop complex databases related to the materials they store and access
  • Organizational skills, as curators must be able to store records and documents in a way that they can easily retrieve, and that others can easily retrieve them

Education

As a minimum, curators will need a bachelor’s degree. However, to have the best job opportunities, curators will need a master’s degree in art history, history, archaeology, or museum studies.

Certifications

There are no specific certifications or licenses needed to become a curator in the United States.

How to Become

Summary

A curator is someone who is in charge of things that are in an exhibit. Most commonly, curators are responsible for the collections that are housed in art galleries, museums, and libraries. They are tasked with the important responsibility of collecting, preserving, restoring, and educating visitors about the collections they oversee.

Immediate action

If becoming a curator appeals to you, then you may want to start looking for voluntary work experience placements or internships. A background in history is also beneficial, so high school students should aim to take courses in history. Courses in english, as well as extra curricular activities, will also help high school students get accepted onto postsecondary programs.

Education and learning

Curators will need a bachelor’s degree as a minimum. However, to have the best job opportunities, curators will need a master’s degree in art history, history, archaeology, or museum studies.

Skill development

Curators will learn the vast majority of the skills they need through their education. However, curators may continue to develop their skills by taking further training courses to advance their knowledge of certain topics.

FAQs

Ask a Question

Have a question about Curator careers? If so, our mentors would love to help! Just click on a mentor’s profile below and then fill out the “Ask a Question” form on that page. Your question will then be emailed to the mentor, who can then email you a reply.

ID Job Title Gender Age Earnings City & State Date
33128 Curator Female 36 $30,000 amherst, NY 01/01/2010

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