Working in the heritage sector

Good experience Improve your CV Increase your employability Give you some credibility Increase your network Can be easy to get

Difficult to get employed without a Master’s degree

Importance of internships for some Master’s

Depending on the career chosen, difficult not to undertake a PhD

Diversity of functions: curatorial work with collections, exhibition manager, marketing work, communication, education, working with the public, interpretive officer…

Diversity of museums: some very small and run primarily with volunteers; others of international renown.

Get in through internship Start with part-time job , e.g. Weekend

Museum assistant Network Apply for job (some advertised in

Museums Journal f.i)

E.g. English heritage or National Trust Identity places of national or international

significance Work on management of nationally or

internationally significant properties: draft management and conservation plan; tourism strategies; marketing management plan

Work on the conservation of heritage through preventive and remedial conservation

Easy to get a clerical job, then work your way up (EH advertises posts internally first)

Temp (EH used to work a lot with temporary employees )

Apply for jobs

A fair amount of jobs within national government, ministers, DCMS…

Prepare legislation and policy documents

Background documents to meetings Prepare reports of implementation of

legislation Prepare speeches…

Different, according to each government. In France, f.i. exams to get in

A lot of temporary posts, easier to obtain, but difficult to convert into permanent posts

A lot of temporary posts abroad in the heritage and cultural field (in embassies, cultural centres). Just apply for them

Myriad of organisations (UNESCO, World Bank, European Commission, ICCROM)

Training of heritage professionals Draft policy documents Draft reports Implement conservation, management

and development projects (primarily in developing countries)

Very competitive. No permanent job at UNESCO currently

Internship Consulting work (a lot of consulting

opportunities with the World Bank or UNDP, but need to be highly qualified)

Work in a team for international organisations

Apply for job

Postdoc After a PhD Lecturer in heritage or museums; less

posts than there used to be

s.labadi@kent.ac.uk