How To Become An Archivist: What It Is and Career Path

What is an archivist and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

Quoted Expert

Nafeesa Muhammad Ph.D.

An archivist is an employee of a public or private organization that is qualified to manage archives. As an archivist, you are responsible for the management of information intended to preserve the best and make it easier for others to access or discover it.

An archivist is responsible for providing, cataloging, and managing valuable collections of historical information like maps, parchment, videos, and other information related to a specific area of interest. You may also be in charge of organizing public events, talks, and exhibitions. Archivists may also oversee the process of acquiring new items to add to the collection or archive.

For this position, you need to have an undergraduate degree in history, law, information management, and other related fields. This should be followed by a postgraduate diploma accredited by the ARA. An interest in history and archives is a basic requirement for this role. You should also be organized and methodological, highly IT literate, and demonstrate excellent administrative skills. The average annual income for this role is $50,026

What general advice would you give to an Archivist?

Nafeesa Muhammad Ph.D.

Professor of History, Spelman College

Know that the history profession can be lucrative, fulfilling, and challenging, sometimes simultaneously. Despite the national trend of students turning away from the humanities because of an emphasis on STEM fields and concerns over the applicability of a history degree, there are several unsung careers and positions for history, and more broadly humanities majors. Such professions, which include being an archivist, librarian, or historian for the CIA or FBI, open up many opportunities for historians with the research acumen to carry out complex historical projects.

ScoreArchivistUS Average

Salary

3.7

Avg. Salary $47,145

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability Level

4.2

Growth Rate 12%

Growth Rate 0.3%

Diversity

5.1

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 1.28%

Asian 5.12%

Black or African American 5.26%

Hispanic or Latino 7.32%

Unknown 4.36%

White 76.67%

Gender

female 56.87%

male 43.13%

Age - 43

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 43

Stress Level

4.2

Stress level is moderate

7.1 - high

Complexity Level

9.2

Complexity Level is advanced

7 - challenging

Work Life Balance

10.0

Work Life balance is excellent

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become an archivist

Explore archivist education requirements

Most common archivist degrees

Bachelor's

67.4 %

Master's

18.4 %

Associate

7.1 %

Start to develop specific archivist skills

Skills	Percentages
Archival Collections	14.70%
Online Database	11.05%
Archival Materials	8.21%
Reference Services	7.60%
Archival Research	4.04%

Complete relevant archivist training and internships

Accountants spend an average of Less than 1 month on post-employment, on-the-job training. New archivists learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as an archivist based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real archivist resumes.

Research archivist duties and responsibilities

Create EAD and DACS compliant finding aids for new and existing collections.
Update online database with metadata on newly accession materials and implement new physical arrangement system for archival collections.
Develop a custom RDF metadata model for archiving and cataloging multimedia digital artworks in the library's digital asset management system.
Enter website content, adding basic HTML coding.

Prepare your archivist resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your archivist resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on an archivist resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose From 10+ Customizable Archivist Resume templates

Build a professional Archivist resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your Archivist resume.

Apply for archivist jobs

Now it's time to start searching for an archivist job. Consider the tips below for a successful job search:

Browse job boards for relevant postings
Consult your professional network
Reach out to companies you're interested in working for directly
Watch out for job scams

How do archivists rate their job?

-/5

5 Stars

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1 Star

Archivist reviews

A zippia user wrote a review on Sep 2020

Cons

all the schooling and all the paper work involved