Skills
Historian Skills & Tools
The technical skills, people skills and tools employers look for in historians, and how to build and show them.
What skills do historians need?
Historians need technical skills such as historical research, archival methods, and writing, plus people skills like curiosity and storytelling. They also use tools such as Archival databases and Digital archives.
Technical (hard) skills
- Historical research
- Archival methods
- Writing
- Oral history
- Exhibit development
- Historic preservation
People (soft) skills
- Curiosity
- Storytelling
- Attention to detail
- Communication
Tools, equipment and technology
- Archival databases
- Digital archives
- Recording equipment
- Word processors
- Citation managers
- Exhibit software
Skills in action: common tasks
These step-by-step guides show how historians put their skills to work:
- How to conduct an oral history interview
- How to write museum exhibit text
- How to prepare a national register nomination
How to show these skills on a resume
- Lead your skills section with the technical skills from the job posting, for example, “Historical research” and “Archival methods.”
- Prove soft skills with results: instead of listing “curiosity,” describe a situation where you used it.
- List credentials such as Master’s in history near the top, with the issuing organization and date.
- Use the employer’s vocabulary. Our historian glossary covers the terms hiring managers expect.
How to build these skills
Formal training, supervised practice and certification are the most direct routes. Our Historian 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.