So You Want to Work in a Museum?

by Tara Young

A One-Stop Guide to Museum Careers

People who love art, are fascinated by archaeology, or are history buffs may have considered the idea of working in a museum. But experience as a museum visitor reveals only the public-facing side of the museum, and not its complex, dynamic internal structure. So You Want to Work in A Museum? helps to demystify museums as institutions and to prepare prospective museum staff to explore the field further.

After reading this book, readers will be able

Genres: Museums, Art, Nonfiction, Self Help

192 pages, Hardcover

Published August 9, 2019

Reviews

[Caroline Cox Thomas · Rating 4 out of 5]

A short, digestible book about the realities of the often mystified museum field. Despite working in a museum, this book helped me consider my long term career goals. The book is structured by department with each chapter having a break down of different jobs, the pros/cons, and required skills and education to be successful at it. I found her descriptions fairly accurate to my coworkers and senior staff and appreciated her consideration of institution size affecting day to day duties. Later, she even breaks down common skills and how to develop them in student or everyday life. Right now, I am practicing communicative writing with this review, as suggested in the book. It also widely spoke about which jobs were transferable to less niche job markets. I enjoyed that the author spoke positively and passionately about museum work, but in an extremely realistic way. None of the information was particularly groundbreaking due to my experience to me, but I felt reinvigorated to forge my path, and visit more museums in my free time!

[Jane Ellen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I do in fact want to work in a Museum, so I really liked this! Haha

[Mija · Rating 4 out of 5]

I just had a few chapters that weren’t assigned in class to finish off, and I finally got around to it. It was really good and overall quite helpful to have such a broad overview of the field. It was nice and readable which was a huge plus as well.

[Megan Treacy · Rating 4 out of 5]

first audiobook i’ve listened to and she was giving robot

[Nicole Cross · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had to read this book as part of my Advanced Museum Studies class, and honestly both really helped me to figure out where within the museum studies field I wanted to focus my efforts. A helpful read if you are looking at going the Museum Studies route!

[nnoelles]

Informative book for anyone looking to work in a museum. However, wouldn't recommend for a causal read since this is basically a catalog of job descriptions.

[Zoe Wright · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very informative and honestly a great read. I learned a lot

[alex · Rating 5 out of 5]

Yes. I do want to work in a museum.

When I picked up this book, I was immediately drawn to its well-organized layout and how detailed it was. It made it incredibly easy to go through the chapters, allowing me to read and skim through sections that caught my attention.

The author's ability to emphasize the importance and uniqueness of each role in the Museum Studies field, allowed me to compare them to others. The author provides great insight into the potential outcomes of pursuing a career in Museum Studies, including salary expectations and the competition between certain roles.

I highly recommend this book to those who are interested in pursuing a career in Museum Studies.