How to hire a museum educator

How to hire a museum educator, step by step

Here's a step-by-step museum educator hiring guide:

• Step 1: Identify your hiring needs
• Step 2: Create an ideal candidate profile
• Step 3: Make a budget
• Step 4: Write a museum educator job description
• Step 5: Post your job
• Step 6: Interview candidates
• Step 7: Send a job offer and onboard your new museum educator
• Step 8: Go through the hiring process checklist

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1. Identify your hiring needs

   The museum educator hiring process starts by determining what type of worker you actually need. Certain roles might require a full-time employee, whereas part-time workers or contractors can do others.

   Determine employee vs contractor status

   Is the person you're thinking of hiring a US citizen or green card holder?

   Yes

   No

   A museum educator's background is also an important factor in determining whether they'll be a good fit for the position. For example, museum educators from different industries or fields will have radically different experiences and will bring different viewpoints to the role. You also need to consider the candidate's previous level of experience to make sure they'll be comfortable with the job's level of seniority.

   This list shows salaries for various types of museum educators.

   Type of Museum Educator	Description	Hourly rate
   Museum Educator	Archivists appraise, process, catalog, and preserve permanent records and historically valuable documents. Curators oversee collections of artwork and historic items, and may conduct public service activities for an institution... Show more	$12-29
   Archivist	An archivist is an information professional who assesses the value of information and then stores them in such a way that people can access the information and make sense of it. Archivists are required to have a great understanding of the historical context of the records, such as the relationship of a record to other records and why it was created in the first place... Show more	$11-45
   Environmental Educator	An Environmental Educator engages youth, teachers, and the public in raising the awareness of environmental issues. They work with elementary or high schools, nature reserves, or nonprofit organizations.	$13-32

   Show more

2. Create an ideal candidate profile

   Common skills:

   • Educational Programs
   • Art History
   • K-12
   • Public Programs
   • Outreach Program
   • Public Speaking
   • Museum Programs
   • Museum Education
   • Museum Visitors
   • Museum Exhibits
   • Museum Collection
   • Front Desk
   • Family Programs
   • Public Schools

   Check all skills

   Responsibilities:

   • Manage revolving caseload of students with IEP team including initials, transfer placements, manifestation determinations.
   • Train and supervise employees and volunteers in collections protocols, cataloging, preparation, housekeeping, lab and field work.
   • Analyze prehistoric and historic cultural artifacts, including data entry for cataloging.
   • Develop digital materials, documents, PowerPoint presentations, lectures, and laboratory activities daily.
   • Design PowerPoint presentations enhancing educational environment.
   • Design PowerPoint presentations enhancing educational environment.

3. Make a budget

   Including a salary range in your museum educator job description is a great way to entice the best and brightest candidates. A museum educator salary can vary based on several factors:

   • Location. For example, museum educators' average salary in idaho is 42% less than in rhode island.
   • Seniority. Entry-level museum educators earn 57% less than senior-level museum educators.
   • Certifications. A museum educator with a few certifications under their belt will likely demand a higher salary.
   • Company. Working for a prestigious company or an exciting start-up can make a huge difference in a museum educator's salary.

   Average museum educator salary

   $40,399yearly

   $19.42 hourly rate

   ---

   Entry-level museum educator salary

   $26,000 yearly salary

   Updated December 19, 2025

4. Writing a museum educator job description

   A job description for a museum educator role includes a summary of the job's main responsibilities, required skills, and preferred background experience. Including a salary range can also go a long way in attracting more candidates to apply, and showing the first name of the hiring manager can also make applicants more comfortable. As an example, here's a museum educator job description:

   Museum educator job description example

   *A Part Time Educator (29hrs per week)* is sought for delivering on and off-site and virtual programs that make use of the Museum's collection to engage K-12 students, families and adults, including individuals with cognitive, sensory, physical, emotional and behavioral disabilities. A regular schedule can be established in conversation with Educational Team Leads but candidates must be able to commit to one regular 6 or 8-hour weekend day as part of weekly schedule. Responsibilities include:
   * Delivery of programs for families, teachers and other specialized events
   * Program delivery for general education, inclusion, ICT and self-contained special education classes, adult groups and other group bookings in person or delivered virtually
   * Program preparation, break-down and light administrative assistance as needed
   
   *$25 per hour. 29 hours per week.
   
   *
   Qualifications:
   
   * A minimum of a bachelor's degree in education, science, history, museum studies or a related field.
   * Understanding of object-and inquiry-based teaching practices.
   * Comfortable teaching interdisciplinary history and science programs to varied audiences.
   * understanding of differentiating lessons to meet specific academic and social-emotional learning goals
   * Confidence with Windows Office suite, Google suite and basic digital communication tools such as Google Meet, Zoom and MS Teams
   * Equivalent of one year related experience working with varied populations in an educational setting a plus
   * Knowledge of best practices for Multilingual Learners and disability specific instructional strategies a plus
   * Multilingual or bi-lingual a plus
   
   A successful candidate:
   
   * Must be able to teach multi-generational groups in a variety of settings with ease and confidence
   * Have excellent communication and organizational abilities.
   * Be able to work collaboratively and flexibly with colleagues and off-site partners
   * Be able to commit to working one weekend day as part of their regular schedule
   
   We offer a competitive salary and the opportunity to be a part of a very rewarding time in the Museum's history!
   Intrepid realizes that it is rare an applicant meets 100% of the qualifications for a given role. If much of this job description describes you, then we encouraged you to apply.
   
   Intrepid Museum is an Equal Opportunity Employer committed to the goal of building a culturally diverse staff and strongly encourages applications from minority candidates.
   
   Job Type: Part-time
   
   Pay: Up to $25.00 per hour

   Copy this example

   

5. Post your job

   There are various strategies that you can use to find the right museum educator for your business:

   • Consider promoting from within or recruiting from your existing workforce.
   • Ask for referrals from friends, family members, and current employees.
   • Attend job fairs at local colleges to find candidates who meet your education requirements.
   • Use social media platforms like LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter to reach potential job candidates.

   Post your job online:

   • Post your museum educator job on Zippia to find and recruit museum educator candidates who meet your exact specifications.
   • Use field-specific websites.
   • Post a job on free websites.

6. Interview candidates

   To successfully recruit museum educators, your first interview needs to engage with candidates to learn about their interest in the role and experience in the field. You can go into more detail about the company, the role, and the responsibilities during follow-up interviews.

   It's also good to ask about candidates' unique skills and talents to see if they match your ideal candidate profile. If you think a candidate is good enough for the next step, you can move on to the technical interview.

   The right interview questions can help you assess a candidate's hard skills, behavioral intelligence, and soft skills.

7. Send a job offer and onboard your new museum educator

   Once you've found the museum educator candidate you'd like to hire, it's time to write an offer letter. This should include an explicit job offer that includes the salary and the details of any other perks. Qualified candidates might be looking at multiple positions, so your offer must be competitive if you like the candidate. Also, be prepared for a negotiation stage, as candidates may way want to tweak the details of your initial offer. Once you've settled on these details, you can draft a contract to formalize your agreement.

   You should also follow up with applicants who don't get the job with an email letting them know that you've filled the position.

   After that, you can create an onboarding schedule for a new museum educator. Human Resources and the hiring manager should complete Employee Action Forms. Human Resources should also ensure that onboarding paperwork is completed, including I-9s, benefits enrollment, federal and state tax forms, etc., and that new employee files are created.

8. Go through the hiring process checklist

   • Determine employee type (full-time, part-time, contractor, etc.)
   • Submit a job requisition form to the HR department
   • Define job responsibilities and requirements
   • Establish budget and timeline
   • Determine hiring decision makers for the role
   • Write job description
   • Post job on job boards, company website, etc.
   • Promote the job internally
   • Process applications through applicant tracking system
   • Review resumes and cover letters
   • Shortlist candidates for screening
   • Hold phone/virtual interview screening with first round of candidates
   • Conduct in-person interviews with top candidates from first round
   • Score candidates based on weighted criteria (e.g., experience, education, background, cultural fit, skill set, etc.)
   • Conduct background checks on top candidates
   • Check references of top candidates
   • Consult with HR and hiring decision makers on job offer specifics
   • Extend offer to top candidate(s)
   • Receive formal job offer acceptance and signed employment contract
   • Inform other candidates that the position has been filled
   • Set and communicate onboarding schedule to new hire(s)
   • Complete new hire paperwork (i9, benefits enrollment, tax forms, etc.)

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