How To Become A Museum Guide: What It Is and Career Path

What is a museum guide and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

2 min read

Quoted Expert

Sally Shelton

There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a museum guide. For example, did you know that they make an average of $12.94 an hour? That's $26,914 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 12% and produce 4,200 job opportunities across the U.S.

What general advice would you give to a Museum Guide?

Sally Shelton

Associate Professor of Practice and Associate Chair

The world of museums, libraries, galleries, and archives is wide-ranging and rapidly evolving. 21st-century skills are very much needed as we find new ways to manage our science, history, and heritage resources, in terms of both object care and information management. In addition, we are more aware than ever before of the complex issues surrounding objects removed from their country or culture of origin, and of the need for museums to be proactive and responsible in dealing with these issues. For example, to mention a few, provenance research and repatriation expertise have never been more important than they are now. Digital heritage issues and born-digital materials need a different and rapidly changing level of care and management, in ways that are different from the care and management of tangible materials. At the same time, tangible objects and records also need care, and there is no substitute for hard-copy records. Museums are also strengthening their roles as keepers of intangible heritage: the documentation of the cultures and contexts that give objects their significance and meaning. So the 21st-century museum professional needs to be attuned to community and cultural concerns just as much as they are to physical and digital management of resources. Finally, funding will most likely always be a concern for the survival of our institutions. Keeping them relevant, valuable, and important to their communities and audiences without compromising their core values will always be the balance that we need to find. Grantwriting, creating marketable programs, and finding other sources of funding should be dynamic parts of managing the institution.

ScoreMuseum GuideUS Average

Salary

2.1

Avg. Salary $26,914

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability Level

6.3

Growth Rate 12%

Growth Rate 0.3%

Diversity

1.1

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.67%

Asian 9.88%

Black or African American 6.46%

Hispanic or Latino 10.34%

Unknown 5.35%

White 67.29%

Gender

female 62.58%

male 37.42%

Age - 28

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 - 28

Stress Level

6.3

Stress level is manageable

7.1 - high

Complexity Level

6.1

Complexity Level is intermediate

7 - challenging

Work Life Balance

7.3

Work Life balance is good

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a museum guide

Explore museum guide education requirements

Most common museum guide degrees

Bachelor's

73.0 %

Associate

9.8 %

High School Diploma

6.9 %

Start to develop specific museum guide skills

Skills	Percentages
Gift Shop	12.80%
Museum Visitors	11.81%
Front Desk	11.19%
Informational Tours	9.26%
Museum Guests	8.50%

Complete relevant museum guide training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 1-3 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New museum guides 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 a museum guide based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real museum guide resumes.

Research museum guide duties and responsibilities

Manage the canoe landing including guests, workers, and canoe traffic in a way that all run smoothly and safely.
Patrol assign area, conduct bag inspection at access post.
Facilitate a therapeutic outdoor adventure experience for teenagers struggling with a variety of behavioral, mental health and substance abuse challenges.
Monitor checkout stations to ensure that they have adequate cash available and that they are staffed appropriately.

Prepare your museum guide resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your museum guide 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 a museum guide resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose From 10+ Customizable Museum Guide Resume templates

Build a professional Museum Guide 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 Museum Guide resume.

Apply for museum guide jobs

Now it's time to start searching for a museum guide 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 museum guides rate their job?