Museums, Galleries and Archaeology

Have a look at Prospects and targetjobs to find out what roles in this sector involve and how to get into them. These are some of the job profiles available:  

• Archaeologist
• Archivist
• Exhibition designer
• Heritage manager
• Museum/gallery conservator
• Museum/gallery curator
• Museum/gallery exhibitions officer
• Museum education officer

• excellent written and verbal communication skills
• the ability to effectively tailor your communication to different audiences
• time management, planning and organisational skills
• research skills and attention to detail
• team working skills and a customer focused approach
• IT skills and an awareness of how technology is impacting the sector
• a genuine interest in and a commitment to the museum, heritage and galleries sector

Starting salaries for graduate jobs in this sector can vary depending on the position.

To get an idea of typical starting salaries use the following resources: 

• our Discover your Earning Potential Pathway offers access to The Pay Index. This shows you how salaries vary across different roles, industries and locations 
• job profiles, such as those listed on Prospects or targetjobs 
• vacancy sites such as Glassdoor and LinkedIn 

For information about how to negotiate a salary, visit Handling job offers.

• browse our Work Experience and Graduate Employment directories. See where our students and graduates have had work experience, or been employed 
• use LinkedIn’s Alumni tool to find out what Newcastle graduates are doing now. You could ask to connect with them, to gain advice and insights into their career. See Newcastle Alumni on LinkedIn to help you get started or watch our quick tutorial on Getting inspiration from others [3:13] 
• attend alumni events, such as Newcastle Develop, to hear directly from our graduates 
• sign up for mentoring support with Graduate Mentor and The 1 Hour Project. These aim to match students with industry professionals who can provide invaluable insights. Register to be connected for a one-hour meeting
• attend events such as recruitment events and  employer and sector insights. Hear about graduate jobs, placement schemes, build your network and ask questions 

Searching for reviews online can be a useful way to get an idea of what to expect from certain roles or employers. Reviews are written by employees with different opinions about what makes a good employer.  

Use the following review sites for inspiration and insight into the recruitment process: 

• RateMyPlacement - placement year reviews written by students.  
• The Job Crowd – graduate job reviews  
• Glassdoor – company reviews from employees  

Read career guides for this sector, such as:  

• Careers (icon.org.uk)
• Engage: Careers advice – roles in galleries and gallery education
• Archives and Records Association: Careers in archive conservation
• Archaeology Rocks – become an archaeologist

Use online magazines and journals to follow news from your industry. Reading about trends and developments is important for applications and interviews. 

Examples include: 

• Museum Crush - museum and galleries news and stories
• Museums Journal - news from the Museums Association
• British Archaeology and Current Archaeology - archaeological magazines

Attend events to hear directly from professionals in the industry. 

The British Council for Archaeology organises events, including conferences and lectures. 

See also our events page for recruitment events and employer & sector insights.

Join specific student societies such as the History Society.

Use social media to find industry insights 

Join sector-specific groups on LinkedIn to keep up to date. Posts often include news, events and opportunities. You can also find useful insights on careers on X and TikTok. Treat these with caution, as not all content may be accurate. 

Find out more about how to use social media for your career.

Consider joining a relevant professional body/industry network  

Professional bodies often: 

• run networking events  
• have specialist groups you could join 
• post vacancies on behalf of their members 
• have member directories, useful for speculative applications 

Key organisations include: 

Councils and government departments

• Arts Council England - supports the arts in England, including libraries and museums
• Department for Culture, Media and Sport - Government department with responsibility for museums and galleries
• Council for British Archaeology - UK body representing archaeology with news, opportunities, courses, events and societies
• National Museums Directors Council - represents the leaders of the UK's national collections and major regional museums

Heritage and archives

• Institute of Conservation (ICON)
• The National Archives - the national archives of England, Wales and the central UK government
• English Heritage - protects and promotes England's historic environment

Museums and galleries

• Museums Association
• MuseumsGalleries Scotland
• Association of Independent Museums
• Group for Education in Museums (GEM)
• Engage - represents gallery, art and education professionals
• Association of Art Historians - for historians and researchers working in education, galleries, museums and publishing

Antiquaries

• Society of Antiquaries London
• Society of Antiquaries - Newcastle upon Tyne
• Society of Antiquaries of Scotland

Archaeology

• Association for Industrial Archaeology

Heraldry and genealogy

• The Heraldry Society
• Society of Genealogists

Finding professional bodies worldwide 

GoinGlobal’s country guides include details of professional bodies. Find them under ‘Professional and Personal Networking’ on each individual country guide. 

Apply for advertised opportunities as early as possible.  

North East organisations

• Career Conversations - Museums Association
• Volunteering (NUSU) - offer student volunteering projects within the heritage and cultural sector
• Tyne and Wear Museums and Archives - voluntary opportunities
• Museums Northumberland - opportunities for volunteers
• Vindolanda - excavations volunteer opportunity
• Beamish - voluntary opportunities
• Ouseburn Trust - voluntary opportunities

UK organisations

• targetjobs - search employers by sector, eg software engineering or technology
• Professional body websites sometimes include member directories, which are helpful for finding employers.
• Museum Jobs - Leicester University's job site for heritage and museums management includes job listings for internships and part-time work
• ICON: Internships - conservation internships
• English Heritage - voluntary opportunities
• National Trust - voluntary and work experience opportunities
• Volunteer Opportunities - Cumbria Museum Consortium (cumbriamuseums.org.uk)
• V&A - internships and volunteering
• Archives and Records Association: Placement opportunities – finding work experience in archives and conservation

The Careers Service runs flexible term-time and summer internships with local employers and on campus. NCL internships are aimed at all students, from any stage

Search for these under Vacancies on MyCareer. Type in ‘NCL internship’ into the text search box. 

You can find these advertised throughout the academic year. Full-time summer opportunities are advertised from around March.

Access GoinGlobal for internships in over 120 global locations, updated daily. Search for opportunities in the local language, as well as in English. You can also use their country guides to find:  

• additional vacancy websites  
• CV, application and interview advice  
• advice on living and working in different countries and cities around the world

If you’re looking for inspiration, try searching our NU Work Experience Directory. You can see where our students have had internships and placements in the last five years. To see all results in a search category, keep the search field blank.

The resources in this section advertise both graduate jobs and graduate schemes. See our graduate jobs page to understand the difference between them.

For graduate schemes, apply as early as possible.

Graduate schemes are less likely in museums and galleries. Instead, graduate jobs are more likely. Graduate jobs tend to be immediate start positions which can be available all year round. You are more likely to apply for these towards the end of your studies.

Use our resources to get started: 

• MyCareer - search for graduate schemes and graduate jobs in the North East, UK and overseas. Register/log in to access vacancies and sign up for personalised email alerts  
• Graduate Jobs – lists graduate vacancy sites

Museums and galleries

• Museum Jobs - Leicester University's job site for heritage and museum management
• Museum Jobs - Careers in the Cultural Sector
• Museums Association - vacancies in areas of heritage and museum work
• National Museum Directors’ Council: Jobs
• Global Museum - news and jobs
• Group for Education in Museums (GEM) - jobs in education in museums and galleries
• Arts Hub
• National Trust
• English Heritage

Archaeology

• Archives & Records Association: Jobs - member subscription required
• British Archaeological Jobs and Resources
• Chartered Institute for Archaeologists (CIfA): online adverts

Public sector and higher education vacancies

• Jobs.ac.uk - search for jobs in museum/curatorial work
• Times Higher Education - for vacancies within higher education
• North East Jobs - advertises local museum vacancies
• Jobs Go Public - public sector and not-for-profit jobs including museums and galleries

See International jobs for details of overseas vacancy sites. 

Access GoinGlobal for job adverts in over 120 global locations, updated daily. Search for opportunities in the local language, as well as in English. You can also use their country guides to find:  

• additional vacancy websites  
• CV, application and interview advice   
• advice on living and working in different countries and cities around the world 

Start by identifying organisations you are interested in. Our guide to finding organisations below can help. Then use the following steps to approach them speculatively about possible opportunities: 

1. Identify a contact name to address your cover letter to. Call or email to find out who handles recruitment within the organisation. Or, find a key contact in the department you want to work in. 
2. Send them a tailored CV and cover letter. Express your enthusiasm for the sector. Show that you have researched the company. 
3. Follow up your speculative application with a phone call, or email, around a week later. This shows you are serious and motivated.
4. If your application was unsuccessful, ask for feedback or advice, and keep trying! 

You can use this approach at any point in the year. We recommend that you: 

• start your research as early as possible to gather relevant contacts
• contact organisations around three months before you want the opportunity to begin 

• find organisations on MyCareer. Select ‘search' then 'organisations’ 
• use the business directories and databases on our Researching employers page 
• search for companies on LinkedIn. The Find Alumni tool shows you where Newcastle graduates are currently working
• browse our Work Experience and Graduate Employment directories. See where our students and graduates have had work experience, or been employed

UK organisations

• Find organisations on MyCareer - click on ‘search organisations’ under the Vacancies tab
• Historic UK - list of museums and galleries in the UK
• Art Fund - search for galleries, museums and historic places in the UK
• National Archives: ARCHON directory - search for record repositories including organisations with collections of manuscripts
• Council for British Archaeology: Fieldwork - list of excavations taking place across the UK
• UK Art Guide | Gallery & Exhibition Listings | GalleriesNow – see exhibitions happening across the UK

Worldwide organisations

Search GoinGlobal's employer directory for company information in 196 countries. Their country guides list professional bodies around the world.

GoinGlobal's country guides include details of recruitment agencies in specific countries. They are listed under the following headings:  

• staffing agencies and temporary help firms  
• executive recruiters and search firms  

Recruitment agencies may not operate in the same way in different countries. In the UK agencies are free for job seekers, but this may not be the case elsewhere.

Explore the terms and conditions of an agency before signing up to use them.