How to Become a Museum Director
What is a Museum Director
There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a Museum Director. For example, did you know that they make an average of $40.96 an hour? That's $85,189 a year!
Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 9% and produce 3,300 job opportunities across the U.S.
What Does a Museum Director Do
There are certain skills that many Museum Directors have in order to accomplish their responsibilities. By taking a look through resumes, we were able to narrow down the most common skills for a person in this position. We discovered that a lot of resumes listed Analytical skills, Computer skills and Customer-service skills.
How To Become a Museum Director
If you're interested in becoming a Museum Director, one of the first things to consider is how much education you need. We've determined that 68.2% of Museum Directors have a bachelor's degree. In terms of higher education levels, we found that 17.3% of Museum Directors have master's degrees. Even though most Museum Directors have a college degree, it's possible to become one with only a high school degree or GED.
Choosing the right major is always an important step when researching how to become a Museum Director. When we researched the most common majors for a Museum Director, we found that they most commonly earn Bachelor's Degree degrees or Master's Degree degrees. Other degrees that we often see on Museum Director resumes include Associate Degree degrees or Doctoral Degree degrees.
You may find that experience in other jobs will help you become a Museum Director. In fact, many Museum Director jobs require experience in a role such as Internship. Meanwhile, many Museum Directors also have previous career experience in roles such as Director or Volunteer.
What is the right job for my career path?
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And if you’re looking for a job, here are the five top employers hiring now:
Museum Director Career Paths
In addition to switching up your job search, it might prove helpful to look at a career path for your specific job. Now, what's a career path you ask? Well, it's practically a map that shows how you might advance from one job title to another. Our career paths are especially detailed with salary changes. So, for example, if you started out with the role of Executive Director you might progress to a role such as Chief Executive Officer eventually. Later on in your career, you could end up with the title Chief Executive Officer.
Museum Director Jobs You Might Like
What is the right job for my career path?
Tell us your goals and we'll match you with the rights job to get there.
Average Salary for a Museum Director
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Find the best Museum Director job for you
Museum Director Jobs You Might Like
- High Paying Museum Director Jobs - $174K and Up
- Entry Level Museum Director Jobs
- Part Time Museum Director Jobs
- Actively Hiring
- No Degree Museum Director Jobs
Top Colleges for Museum Directors
1. Harvard University
Cambridge, MA • Private
2. Georgetown University
Washington, DC • Private
3. University of Michigan - Ann Arbor
Ann Arbor, MI • Private
4. Brown University
Providence, RI • Private
5. Johns Hopkins University
Baltimore, MD • Private
6. Tufts University
Medford, MA • Private
7. Stanford University
Stanford, CA • Private
8. University of Florida
Gainesville, FL • Private
9. Duke University
Durham, NC • Private
10. University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, PA • Private
Find the best Museum Director job for you
Museum Director Jobs You Might Like
- High Paying Museum Director Jobs - $174K and Up
- Entry Level Museum Director Jobs
- Part Time Museum Director Jobs
- Actively Hiring
- No Degree Museum Director Jobs
Online Courses For Museum Director That You May Like
Teachers, don't miss this special opportunity to learn with four Smithsonian museums from home! Register for this 14-week course and join an online community of educators for an immersive exploration of teaching with museum objects and works of art. Museum educators will explore connections among their collections and model teaching strategies that participants can implement with their students, whether online or in the classroom. Participants will discover how to teach with museum resources to...
Learn the Fundamentals of Financial Planning and Position Your Career for Success!...
Learn how to create and use budgets effectively in company large or small...
Top Skills For a Museum Director
The skills section on your resume can be almost as important as the experience section, so you want it to be an accurate portrayal of what you can do. Luckily, we've found all of the skills you'll need so even if you don't have these skills yet, you know what you need to work on. Out of all the resumes we looked through, 17.5% of Museum Directors listed Professional Staff on their resume, but soft skills such as Analytical skills and Computer skills are important as well.
Best States For a Museum Director
Some places are better than others when it comes to starting a career as a Museum Director. The best states for people in this position are Connecticut, Rhode Island, West Virginia, and Delaware. Museum Directors make the most in Connecticut with an average salary of $102,246. Whereas in Rhode Island and West Virginia, they would average $102,006 and $100,639, respectively. While Museum Directors would only make an average of $98,320 in Delaware, you would still make more there than in the rest of the country. We determined these as the best states based on job availability and pay. By finding the median salary, cost of living, and using the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Location Quotient, we narrowed down our list of states to these four.
1. West Virginia
$100,639
Avg. Salary
2. District of Columbia
$112,702
Avg. Salary
3. Delaware
$98,320
Avg. Salary