What does a conservator do?
Conservator responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real conservator resumes:
- Create initial inventory of finances and physical items own by estate and submit to probate court.
- Analyze prehistoric and historic cultural artifacts, including data entry for cataloging.
- Design costumes and usher for mainstage productions.
- Perform archeological field excavations and laboratory analysis.
Conservator skills and personality traits
We calculated that 17% of Conservators are proficient in Social Security, Condition Reports, and Photographic Documentation. They’re also known for soft skills such as Computer skills, Customer-service skills, and Technical skills.
We break down the percentage of Conservators that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Social Security, 17%
Complete necessary paperwork for clients based on court, social security, and housing requirements.
- Condition Reports, 14%
Assisted on condition reports for exhibitions held by the National Library Board and Singapore Management University.
- Photographic Documentation, 12%
Prepared written and photographic documentation of tests.
- Condition Assessment, 12%
Contributed to condition assessment including photographic and written documentation.
- Conservation Lab, 11%
Led informational tours of the conservation lab for the general public, staff, and library visitors.
- Conservation Treatments, 10%
Documented and performed conservation treatment of painted and gilded decorative wooden panels from an 18th-century Damascus Room.
"social security," "condition reports," and "photographic documentation" are among the most common skills that conservators use at work. You can find even more conservator responsibilities below, including:
Customer-service skills. Many conservator duties rely on customer-service skills. "archivists, curators, museum technicians, and conservators work regularly with the general public," so a conservator will need this skill often in their role. This resume example is just one of many ways conservator responsibilities rely on customer-service skills: "provided appraisals and customer consultation on restoration procedures. "
Analytical skills. conservator responsibilities often require "analytical skills." The duties that rely on this skill are shown by the fact that "archivists, curators, museum technicians, and conservators must explore minutiae to determine the origin, history, and importance of the objects they work with." This resume example shows what conservators do with analytical skills on a typical day: "composed written and visual documentation, via digital photography, of objects for condition reports and museum database. "
The three companies that hire the most conservators are:
- Americorps8 conservators jobs
- ABM Industries2 conservators jobs
- University of Pennsylvania2 conservators jobs
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Compare different conservators
Conservator vs. Exhibit technician
A family worker's role is to provide an intervention with parents, children, and young persons to help improve outcomes for families and children. The job they do includes working with parents to help strengthen family relationships and their ability to provide support and be community involved closely. They implement a program that helps parents recognize a child's needs, encouraging child self-esteem development, and positive behavior. Moreover, other duties include giving referrals to other community services as required and to assess family progress.
While similarities exist, there are also some differences between conservators and exhibit technician. For instance, conservator responsibilities require skills such as "social security," "condition reports," "photographic documentation," and "condition assessment." Whereas a exhibit technician is skilled in "exhibit design," "prototyping," "exhibit maintenance," and "interactive exhibits." This is part of what separates the two careers.
Exhibit technicians tend to reach lower levels of education than conservators. In fact, exhibit technicians are 10.5% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 2.0% less likely to have a Doctoral Degree.Conservator vs. Museum technician
In addition to the difference in salary, there are some other key differences worth noting. For example, conservator responsibilities are more likely to require skills like "social security," "photographic documentation," "conservation lab," and "conservation treatments." Meanwhile, a museum technician has duties that require skills in areas such as "collections database," "museum collection," "artifact," and "nps." These differences highlight just how different the day-to-day in each role looks.
Museum technicians earn similar levels of education than conservators in general. They're 3.8% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 2.0% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Conservator vs. Family worker
Some important key differences between the two careers include a few of the skills necessary to fulfill the responsibilities of each. Some examples from conservator resumes include skills like "social security," "condition reports," "photographic documentation," and "condition assessment," whereas a family worker is more likely to list skills in "social work," "foster care," "child care," and "substance abuse. "
Family workers typically earn similar educational levels compared to conservators. Specifically, they're 1.5% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 1.5% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Conservator vs. Museum docent
Even though a few skill sets overlap between conservators and museum docents, there are some differences that are important to note. For one, a conservator might have more use for skills like "social security," "condition reports," "photographic documentation," and "condition assessment." Meanwhile, some responsibilities of museum docents require skills like "natural history," "museum gift shop," "museum exhibits," and "front desk. "
The average resume of museum docents showed that they earn lower levels of education compared to conservators. So much so that theyacirc;euro;trade;re 8.6% less likely to earn a Master's Degree and less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree by 1.4%.Types of conservator
Updated January 8, 2025
