20 tasks, each one witnessed by the sources that watched the job — and behind every one, a prompt you can use tonight.
You’ll split time between lab work and office tasks. Mornings often mean photographing objects with Adobe Photoshop for records, cleaning artifacts with approved solvents, or doing small repairs in the conservation bench.
Afternoons usually include entering collection data into Microsoft Excel or a collections database, writing short conservation notes in Microsoft Word, checking storage environmental logs, and answering questions in Microsoft Outlook. You may also supervise volunteers or prep items for an upcoming exhibit.
Expect to use Microsoft Excel for inventory, condition reporting, and simple cost estimates; Microsoft Word for conservation reports and paperwork; and Microsoft Outlook for scheduling, courier bookings, and volunteer coordination.
Adobe Photoshop is used to edit and archive photos of objects. Larger organizations may also use Autodesk AutoCAD for designing mounts or storage furniture; smaller places might outsource that work.
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reports about 12,310 employed and a median wage of $51,440 per year for this occupation. The lowest tenth earn about $33,780 and the top tenth about $87,530, per BLS 2025 data.
Local pay varies with institution type: small historical societies tend toward the low end; major museums, universities, or federal jobs approach the higher range.
You don’t always need a conservation degree to start. Many entry routes include an associate’s or bachelor’s in history, museum studies, or library science plus hands-on volunteer or internship experience doing cleaning, photographing, and data entry.
Learn basic object care, safe use of common solvents, and Excel and Photoshop. Volunteering at a museum, taking a short conservation workshop, and documenting projects in a portfolio will show employers you can handle daily tasks.
A conservator is the trained specialist who performs complex repairs and treatments; they often have a graduate degree. An archival assistant does routine care, monitoring, photographing, simple repairs, and data entry, and flags serious treatments for a conservator.
A collections manager focuses on accessioning, long-term storage planning, and sometimes budgeting. Archival assistants do hands-on object work and help implement the manager’s policies, including assigning registration numbers and monitoring environmental conditions.
You can use AI to draft labels, summarize condition notes, or auto-tag images, but always check everything against the physical object. AI can misidentify materials or invent data; verify measurements, accession numbers, and treatment decisions yourself.
Keep sensitive data off public AI services. Use AI on internal copies of photos and then update Microsoft Word or your collections database with corrected, human-reviewed information.
Core hands-on skills are safe cleaning with approved solvents, basic repairs and fabrication of small parts, careful photography for documentation, and measuring and monitoring storage environments. Knowing how to use Photoshop and Excel is expected.
Prove skills with a simple portfolio: before-and-after photos of cleaned or repaired items, sample condition reports in Word, a short Excel inventory spreadsheet, and references from internships or volunteer supervisors.