How To Become A Processing Archivist: What It Is and Career Path

What is a processing archivist and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

2 min read

There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a processing archivist. For example, did you know that they make an average of $24.24 an hour? That's $50,427 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 12% and produce 4,200 job opportunities across the U.S.

ScoreProcessing ArchivistUS Average

Salary

3.9

Avg. Salary $50,427

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability Level

4.2

Growth Rate 12%

Growth Rate 0.3%

Diversity

4.9

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 1.24%

Asian 3.52%

Black or African American 4.19%

Hispanic or Latino 5.23%

Unknown 4.28%

White 81.54%

Gender

female 53.19%

male 46.81%

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

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Key steps to become a processing archivist

Explore processing archivist education requirements

Most common processing archivist degrees

Bachelor's

63.8 %

Master's

31.9 %

Associate

4.3 %

Start to develop specific processing archivist skills

Skills	Percentages
DACS	37.39%
Reference Services	31.12%
Marc	14.53%
Cataloging	12.06%
Research Value	4.91%

Complete relevant processing archivist training and internships

Accountants spend an average of Less than 1 month on post-employment, on-the-job training. New processing 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 a processing archivist based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real processing archivist resumes.

Research processing archivist duties and responsibilities

Compose the bulk of the finding aid for the collection, in compliance with DACS rules.
Create correspondences/completed FDA forms/maintain submission calendars/review submission documents.
Create correspondences/completed FDA forms/maintain submission calendars/review submission documents.

Prepare your processing archivist resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your processing 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 a processing 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 Processing Archivist Resume templates

Build a professional Processing 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 Processing Archivist resume.

Apply for processing archivist jobs

Now it's time to start searching for a processing 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 processing archivists rate their job?