Onboarding plan
Historian Onboarding Plan (30-60-90 Days)
A practical, printable plan to take a new historian from first day to full productivity.
Historian onboarding at a glance
Week one covers orientation, safety and shadowing. Days 1–30 build vocabulary and supervised practice on core procedures; days 31–60 move to independent work with competency sign-offs; days 61–90 focus on full productivity, cross-training and a credential plan.
Before day one
- Confirm start date, schedule, pay and supervisor in writing
- Verify required credentials: Master’s in history, Ph.D. (as applicable)
- Prepare equipment and access: archival databases; digital archives; recording equipment; word processors
- Assign a buddy or preceptor
- Enroll the new hire in Historian training so foundations are covered before or during week one
Week one: orient and protect
- Workplace tour, emergency procedures and incident reporting
- Handle documents carefully
- Get oral history consent
- Protect sensitive records
- Follow site safety
- Shadow an experienced historian through a full shift
- Training modules 1–3: role foundations, a day on the job and essential vocabulary (15 terms)
Days 1–30: learn
Goal: perform core tasks safely under supervision.
- Supervised practice: conduct an oral history interview
- Supervised practice: write museum exhibit text
- Supervised practice: prepare a national register nomination
- Training modules 4–7: duties, step-by-step tasks, tools and safety
- 30-day check-in: confidence, questions and early wins
Days 31–60: contribute
Goal: handle a regular workload independently.
- Research archives: independently
- Conduct oral histories: independently
- Write reports: independently
- Develop exhibits: independently
- Competency sign-offs completed (see checklist below)
- Training final knowledge check and certificate of completion
- 60-day check-in
Days 61–90: own
Goal: full productivity and a growth plan.
- Meet productivity and quality targets for the role
- Begin cross-training on a secondary task
- Agree on a credential goal (for example, Master’s in history)
- Discuss the career path: Research Assistant → Historian → Senior Historian
- 90-day review
Competency checklist
| Skill or task | Trained | Observed | Signed off |
|---|---|---|---|
| Conduct an Oral History Interview | |||
| Write Museum Exhibit Text | |||
| Prepare a National Register Nomination | |||
| Historical research | |||
| Archival methods | |||
| Writing | |||
| Oral history |
How to measure onboarding success
- Time to independent work on instruments or projects
- Documentation or data corrections required
- Rework, out-of-spec results or failed audits
- 90-day retention
How Historian training maps to this plan
- Introduction to the Historian Role
- A Day on the Job
- Essential Historian Vocabulary
- Core Duties and Responsibilities
- Common Tasks, Step by Step
- Tools, Equipment and Technology
- Safety, Compliance and Professional Standards
- Skills Employers Look For
- Launching Your Historian Career
- Final Knowledge Check