Skills
Curator Skills & Tools
The technical skills, people skills and tools employers look for in curators, and how to build and show them.
What skills do curators need?
Curators need technical skills such as research, exhibition planning, and writing, plus people skills like storytelling and curiosity. They also use tools such as Collections databases and Research libraries.
Technical (hard) skills
- Research
- Exhibition planning
- Writing
- Collections care
- Provenance research
- Public speaking
People (soft) skills
- Storytelling
- Curiosity
- Relationship building
- Organization
Tools, equipment and technology
- Collections databases
- Research libraries
- Exhibit design software
- Presentation tools
- Cameras
- Spreadsheets
Skills in action: common tasks
These step-by-step guides show how curators put their skills to work:
- How to plan a museum exhibition
- How to research an object’s provenance
- How to write exhibit labels visitors read
How to show these skills on a resume
- Lead your skills section with the technical skills from the job posting, for example, “Research” and “Exhibition planning.”
- Prove soft skills with results: instead of listing “storytelling,” describe a situation where you used it.
- List credentials such as Master’s near the top, with the issuing organization and date.
- Use the employer’s vocabulary. Our curator glossary covers the terms hiring managers expect.
How to build these skills
Formal training, supervised practice and certification are the most direct routes. Our Curator training introduces each of these skills with plain-language lessons, procedures and a final knowledge check: a strong foundation before hands-on training or your first day.