Education & Library
Museum Technicians and Conservators
Also called: Conservation Technician (Conservation Tech), Conservator, Exhibit Technician (Exhibit Tech), Museum Registrar
US median pay
$51,440
per year, 2025
Job growth 2025–35
+3.6%
about average or slower
Openings a year (US)
1,600
14,000 employed
Typical entry education
Bachelor's degree
Preparation 5/5 · Extensive preparation
What this job is
Restore, maintain, or prepare objects in museum collections for storage, research, or exhibit. May work with specimens such as fossils, skeletal parts, or botanicals; or artifacts, textiles, or art. May identify and record objects or install and arrange them in exhibits. Includes book or document conservators.
What they do day to day
- Determine whether objects need repair and choose the safest and most effective method of repair.
- Specialize in particular materials or types of object, such as documents and books, paintings, decorative arts, textiles, metals, or architectural materials.
- Recommend preservation procedures, such as control of temperature and humidity, to curatorial and building staff.
- Install, arrange, assemble, and prepare artifacts for exhibition, ensuring the artifacts' safety, reporting their status and condition, and identifying and correcting any problems with the set up.
- Study object documentation or conduct standard chemical and physical tests to ascertain the object's age, composition, original appearance, need for treatment or restoration, and appropriate preservation method.
- Clean objects, such as paper, textiles, wood, metal, glass, rock, pottery, and furniture, using cleansers, solvents, soap solutions, and polishes.
- Repair, restore, and reassemble artifacts, designing and fabricating missing or broken parts, to restore them to their original appearance and prevent deterioration.
- Perform tests and examinations to establish storage and conservation requirements, policies, and procedures.
- Prepare reports on the operation of conservation laboratories, documenting the condition of artifacts, treatment options, and the methods of preservation and repair used.
- Direct and supervise curatorial, technical, and student staff in the handling, mounting, care, and storage of art objects.
Skills and knowledge that matter most
Skills
- Judgment and Decision Making3.2/5
- Complex Problem Solving3.2/5
- Social Perceptiveness3.0/5
- Instructing3.0/5
- Coordination3.0/5
- Time Management2.9/5
- Service Orientation2.8/5
- Quality Control Analysis2.8/5
Knowledge
- Chemistry4.5/5
- Fine Arts4.4/5
- History and Archeology4.2/5
- English Language3.6/5
- Education and Training3.3/5
- Administrative3.0/5
Importance rated by people working in the job (1 = not important, 5 = extremely important).
Education and preparation
Preparation level 5 of 5 — Extensive preparation. Usually a graduate degree (master's, PhD, MD, JD) and extensive experience.
Typical entry education (BLS): Bachelor's degree.
Who this job suits
Mostly Realistic
Hands-on work with tools, machines, plants or animals
Conventional
Organising data, details and procedures
Investigative
Ideas, research and solving problems
Based on the Holland (RIASEC) interest profile for this occupation.