Museum assistant
Help people enjoy visiting a museum. Keep valuable exhibits safe from accidents or damage.
Also known as: museum attendant
About the job
What it's like
You would help people enjoy and get the most out of visiting a museum. You’d be responsible for keeping valuable exhibits safe from accidents or deliberate damage.
You’d look after the visitors, answer their questions and help them find their way around the building.
You would:
Patrol the building to monitor security and make sure the exhibits are in good order
Talk to visitors and help them with their enquiries
Help curators and other senior staff to move and change displays and exhibitions
It’s a responsible job where you need to be aware of security issues. The items on display could be unique and very valuable. You’d need to be able to concentrate for long periods of time and react quickly in an emergency.
In some smaller museums with fewer staff, you might also:
Issue entrance tickets
Serve customers in the museum shop
Do administration
Clean the building
It would be important to be interested in museums, galleries and the heritage sector.
Hours
Environment
Explore more information about this job
Here are some useful links to learn more about this career:
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Top skills
Skills are things you're good at. Whether you know what yours are or not, everyone has them!
It's useful to learn which ones are important in a job so you know the areas you need to brush up on. It can also help you work out if you're suited to a career.
Top specialised skills
These are the top specialised skills that have been found in job vacancies across Scotland. From February 2024 to February 2025.
- site security
- security systems
- museum collections management
- curation
- loans
Meta skills
Here are some of the meta skills you'll need to do this job.
- time management
- filtering
- concentrating
- attention to detail
- respecting
- researching
- problem solving
- verbal communication
- listening
- positive attitude
Your skills are important
Our unique skillsets are what make us stand out from the crowd. Learn about each skill in depth and discover what employers look for in your applications and interviews.
Getting in
Explore each section to find more information about getting into this career.
Colleges and universities will list subjects you'll need for entry to a course. Some useful subjects include:
Classical Studies
English and Communication
History
Skills for Work: Hospitality
Social Subjects
Though there are no formal qualifications to enter this job most employers expect qualifications at SCQF level 4/5 or above.
Qualifications that demonstrate customer service skills and knowledge/experience of museums and galleries and their services.
Voluntary work experience in a museum or gallery.You can often get part-time or seasonal work.
Being quite fit, as you spend a lot of time standing and there might be some heavy lifting.
Depending on where you work you may need to be approved for membership of the Protecting Vulnerable Groups (PVG) Scheme run by Disclosure Scotland.
Find the right course for you
Browse courses in Scotland related to 'Museum assistant'
