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Museum docent skills for your resume and career

Updated January 8, 2025

1 min read

Quoted experts

Sally Shelton,

Lois Silverman Ph.D.

Below we've compiled a list of the most critical museum docent skills. We ranked the top skills for museum docents based on the percentage of resumes they appeared on. For example, 39.3% of museum docent resumes contained natural history as a skill. Continue reading to find out what skills a museum docent needs to be successful in the workplace.

12 museum docent skills for your resume and career

1. Natural History

Here's how museum docents use natural history:

Engage with zoo patrons to educate them on the natural history of the animals and their status in the wild.
Lecture programs on history, chess, astronomy, natural history, classical music, art.

2. Museum Gift Shop

Here's how museum docents use museum gift shop:

Completed standard practices associated with the museum Conducted tours, answer guest's questions, handle museum gift shop sales
Managed Museum Gift Shop, recorded shop inventory, led seasonal sales, and optimized merchandise layouts.

3. Museum Exhibits

Here's how museum docents use museum exhibits:

Educated visitors about museum exhibits and encouraged visitors to explore, interact, and learn.
Provide interpretated guided tours through museum exhibits.

4. Front Desk

Here's how museum docents use front desk:

Worked at the front desk with visitor intake as well as with the leading and running of tours through the house.
Administered historical presentations, facilitated museum showings Managed the front desk, arranged appointments with the director, sold merchandise

5. Public Speaking

Public Speaking or oration, as it is sometimes known, is the act of any one person speaking live in front of an audience. Although in the past the audience was only a physical one, nowadays oration might be done on an online video call, at a digital conference, at an online class, or elsewhere. The art of public speaking is very old, drawing its first established roots from Ancient Greece and likely from before, too. It is an important skill and asset in many industries.

Here's how museum docents use public speaking:

Sharpened public speaking and leadership abilities.
Related Skills: Pottery, public speaking, educating & efficiency.

6. Educational Programs

An educational program is a program primarily concerned with the provision of education, including but not limited to early childhood education, primary and secondary education, post-secondary education, special education, vocational training, career and technical education, education for adults, and any program managed by an educational agency or institution.

Here's how museum docents use educational programs:

Assisted in the development of educational programs and conducted special activities for students, adults and families.
Advance the educational mission of the museum by conducting tours and providing educational programs for the general public.

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7. Anthropology

Here's how museum docents use anthropology:

Conducted back-room tours in the department of anthropology for invited visitors.
Organize and catalog anthropology, mineral science and paleobiology collections.

8. Museum Tours

Here's how museum docents use museum tours:

Led museum tours with diverse groups of people, helped in exhibit maintenance, museum greeter
Prepared and led educational museum tours tailored to engage visitors of all ages.

9. Outreach Program

Here's how museum docents use outreach program:

Managed all aspects of an independent charity museum including development of community outreach programs and education programs for all age groups.
Developed elementary school curriculum for outreach program in accordance with Oklahoma Board of Education requirements for Visual Arts Standards and Benchmarks.

10. Museum Events

Here's how museum docents use museum events:

Answered questions regarding upcoming museum events and exhibits.
Facilitate family workshops and other museum events.

11. Museum Visitors

Here's how museum docents use museum visitors:

Guided museum visitors through all exhibits, including the nature room and live animal exhibits.
Assisted associated staff in organizing materials, programs and educational information for Museum visitors and the public-at-large.

12. Oversight

Having oversight of someone means to monitor a process or a situation. If someone has oversight of something, they are responsible for the completion of the project. Oversight is usually given to experts as they monitor their juniors or newbies as they go through a project.

Here's how museum docents use oversight:

Controlled exhibits that required oversight in the financial department.

What skills help Museum Docents find jobs?

Tell us what job you are looking for, we’ll show you what skills employers want.

What museum docent skills would you recommend for someone trying to advance their career?

Sally Shelton

Associate Professor of Practice and Associate Chair

If you have the opportunity prior to or just after graduation, take some time to become familiar with a museum beyond just visiting, whether that's through volunteering, doing a museum-based project as part of a class, or leading a program. Learning how museums work, and how much goes on behind the scenes, will help you decide what aspects of museum work you'd like to explore. What you see in exhibits and public programs is just the tip of the iceberg. You may discover that you want to work with collections and research, or that you have a talent for teaching and public outreach, or that you have the vision to design meaningful exhibits. Look at museums in your field of interest, but don't limit yourself to that. People working in museums come from many different backgrounds, fields of expertise, skills, and talents. Knowing something about how museums work and what they do can help you decide what further education and training you may want to pursue as part of getting into this field. One of the most important things to do at the beginning is to proactively build networks in the field. Joining professional associations gives you access to meetings, webinars, workshops, and other positive experiences that can help you keep up with evolving standards and best practices in the field. You also meet people at all ages and stages of life and experience, and there is much to share and learn on both sides. The size of the institution you work in does not matter nearly as much as the professionalism of it.

What type of skills will young museum docents need?

Lois Silverman Ph.D.

Professor of Museum Studies, Public Scholar of Museum Education, Indiana University - Purdue University Indianapolis

Like many fields, museums and other cultural organizations are wrestling with tough challenges wrought by the Covid-19 pandemic and the racialized violence in our country. Museum visitation is down, many institutions are laying off staff, and some will likely close for good. That said, museums are essential to the health and well-being of our communities and our society, especially in traumatic times like these.

Museums adapt to engage people in new and meaningful ways, from digital learning to essential community conversations. They need workers who are flexible, empathetic, civic-minded, and socially conscious. Although competition for jobs will likely increase in the years ahead, young graduates can sharpen their edge by honing their leadership, communication, and innovation skills, as well as their abilities to foster equity, accessibility, and inclusion.

Do you want to know more?

List of museum docent skills to add to your resume

The most important skills for a museum docent resume and required skills for a museum docent to have include:

Natural History
Museum Gift Shop
Museum Exhibits
Front Desk

Public Speaking
Educational Programs
Anthropology
Museum Tours

Outreach Program
Museum Events
Museum Visitors
Oversight

Updated January 8, 2025

Zippia Team

Editorial Staff

The Zippia Research Team has spent countless hours reviewing resumes, job postings, and government data to determine what goes into getting a job in each phase of life. Professional writers and data scientists comprise the Zippia Research Team.

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