Building a Museum and Heritage Sector CV: What Employers Look For 📜

The museum and heritage sector values more than just formal qualifications — it looks for evidence of curiosity, collaboration, and care. Building a strong CV for this field means showing not only what you’ve done, but how you think, work, and engage with collections, stories, and people.

🏛️ Start with a clear professional summary

Your CV should open with a concise statement that captures your focus within the sector — for example, collections care, public engagement, or heritage research. Avoid generic openings and tailor it to reflect your specialism and aspirations.

This helps employers see your direction immediately, especially when they review dozens of applications.

🧰 Highlight relevant skills and standards

Museums often recruit based on demonstrated familiarity with key professional standards. Mention tools and frameworks such as:

• Spectrum 5.1 – for collections management

• ISAD(G) – for archival documentation

• DCMI Metadata – for digital cataloguing

• Preventive Conservation and object handling

Including these terms shows awareness of sector-wide best practice, even if your experience comes from volunteering or placement work.

💡 Evidence reflective, transferable experience

Many heritage professionals come from diverse academic backgrounds — history, archaeology, art, literature, or science. What matters is how you connect that background to museum practice.

If you’ve volunteered, completed placements, or supported exhibitions, include short bullet points showing measurable outcomes:

• Digitised 100+ artefacts following Spectrum 5.1 documentation standards

• Contributed research to a local history exhibition on textile heritage

This demonstrates reflective practice and impact — not just task completion.

🤝 Showcase collaboration and communication

Curatorial and heritage roles are highly team-based. Include examples of working collaboratively with curators, conservators, educators, or the public. Use verbs like supported, co-curated, liaised, or facilitated — they convey professionalism and initiative.

📄 Keep structure and formatting professional

Use a clear, ATS-friendly format — no text boxes or columns. Stick to traditional headings such as:

• Professional Summary

• Experience

• Education

• Key Skills

• Professional Development / Volunteering

I list my volunteering under Professional Development, because even though it isn’t paid work, it’s still valuable sector experience.

I write my CV in Microsoft Word, and always save a copy as a PDF to preserve formatting when applying to museums, trusts, and heritage organisations. I highly recommend uploading your most recent version to LinkedIn, Indeed, or your personal website, if you have one.

🌱 Show ongoing learning and engagement

Include professional memberships (e.g. Museums Association, ICON, The Heritage Alliance) or relevant online courses. Even short CPD activity — such as webinars on accessibility or conservation — shows initiative and a growth mindset.

✍️ Reflect your personality and motivation

Employers in the heritage sector value people who genuinely care about preservation, storytelling, and public connection. A short closing line or personal statement can make your application memorable:

Committed to making collections accessible, inclusive, and meaningful for diverse audiences.

🪶 The reality of building a heritage career

To be honest, the heritage sector is extremely hard to break into — especially since the Covid-19 pandemic. Many institutions don’t respond after applications, and feedback following rejection is rare. I’ve submitted countless applications over the years and haven’t yet secured an interview from them. Some so-called “entry-level” museum roles even list a Master’s degree as an essential requirement, which can feel discouraging.

However, it’s still worth reaching out to thank organisations for considering your application and to express interest in future opportunities. When possible, politely ask for feedback — even if you don’t receive it, the gesture shows professionalism and persistence.

I’ve been applying for roles within the GLAM sector (Galleries, Libraries, Archives, and Museums) for years and, so far, have only been accepted into volunteer positions — which is nothing to dismiss. My entire CV and experience are rooted in the sector, and I’ve been fortunate to hold nine volunteer roles (including two placements) across six organisations, logging an estimated 500+ hours of hands-on experience.

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✨ Learn more about my work and aspirations here: My Portfolio