This example is for museum professionals, curators, exhibition curators and museum educators at state, local and private museums, and for history, art history, archaeology and museum studies graduates looking for their first museum job.
The museum director wants to know which collections you look after, which exhibitions you have prepared, how you keep records and whether you raise money for projects. We show you how to describe this on your CV.
All the details in this example are fictional. Treat it as a model of layout and wording, and replace the content with your own experience.
Agata Sikora
Curator
Lublin·+48 123 456 789·agata.sikora@example.com
Professional profile
Curator with 11 years of experience at a regional museum, responsible for an old art department of about 3,500 objects. I keep the inventory and records of the collection in a museum system, prepare permanent and temporary exhibitions, catalogues and loans. I have co-created 4 projects funded by grant programmes and coordinated the digitisation of the collection.
Work experience
Curator, head of the old art department
01.2020 - present
Regional museum, Lublin
Caring for a collection of about 3,500 objects and keeping the accession registers.
Curating 5 temporary exhibitions and a new permanent display.
Loans of objects to museums in Poland and abroad, contracts and condition reports.
Coordinating the digitisation of 1,200 objects in a grant project.
Catalogue texts, publications and public lectures.
Assistant curator
09.2014 - 12.2019
Regional museum, Lublin
Inventory and research on objects.
Educational activities and guided tours for groups.
Helping to organise exhibitions.
Education
Master's degree, art history
2009 - 2014
John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin
Postgraduate studies, museum studies
2016 - 2017
University of Warsaw
Skills
Collection care and inventory
Museum documentation systems
Exhibition curating
Loans and condition reports
Collection digitisation
Grant applications
Training
Project management in culture training, 2021
Preventive conservation training, 2019
Languages
English: B2
German: B1
Additional information
Author of 3 exhibition catalogues
I hereby consent to the processing of my personal data for the purposes necessary to carry out the recruitment process, in accordance with Regulation (EU) 2016/679 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 April 2016 (GDPR).
How to write a museum curator CV
Professional summary
Write which museum you work at, which collections you look after and your post. Add the exhibitions, catalogues and projects you have prepared, because they show your record best. If you raise grants or coordinate digitisation, say so in your summary.
Archaeology graduate with a placement at a district museum. I helped with the inventory of finds and the preparation of a temporary exhibition and ran museum lessons for schools. I am looking for work as an assistant in the archaeology department.
Experience: duties and achievements
Describe collections, their size, exhibitions, publications, loans and projects. Show numbers: objects, exhibitions, digitised items, grant amounts. List museum education and guided tours, because museums count attendance.
Weaker: Collection care.
Better: Caring for a collection of about 3,500 objects and keeping the accession registers.
Weaker: Exhibitions.
Better: Curating 5 temporary exhibitions and a new permanent display.
Weaker: Digitisation.
Better: Coordinating the digitisation of 1,200 objects in a grant project.
Skills worth listing
List collection work, documentation systems, curating, education and projects. In your soft skills show accuracy, writing and working with the public.
Professional skills
Collections and inventory
Museum documentation
Exhibitions
Loans
Digitisation
Grants
Personal skills
Accuracy
Writing
Working with the public
Organisation
Cooperation
Training and publications
List postgraduate museum studies and training in preventive conservation, project management and digitisation. Give publications and catalogues briefly or as a link.
Museum curator CV with no experience
Describe placements, volunteering at a museum, your master's thesis and work on exhibitions. Add guided tours and educational activities.
Museums first hire assistants and educators. Write which field and which collections you want to work with.
Tailoring your CV to the job offer
A collections department looks for inventory and research, an exhibitions department for curating and organisation, and an education department for work with the public and programmes for schools. Move to the top what the job ad is about.
The most common mistakes on a museum curator CV
No size or type of collections.
Exhibitions without titles or years.
Leaving out grants and projects.
A list of publications taking up half a page.
No documentation systems you know.
A CV longer than two pages.
Questions and answers
What should a museum curator put on a CV?
The museum, post, collections, exhibitions, catalogues, loans, digitisation, projects, education, degrees and training.
How do you get a job at a museum?
Usually after a degree in history, art history or archaeology, with placements or volunteering at a museum.
Can you work at a museum with no experience?
Yes, as an assistant or educator. On your CV show placements, volunteering and guided tours.
Should a museum curator list publications?
Yes, but briefly. Exhibition catalogues and articles show your record well.
Create a museum curator CV in the builder
In the CV Majster builder you enter your details step by step and see right away what the document looks like. You can copy the wording from this page and adapt it to yourself. The finished CV as a PDF costs a one-off PLN 5, with no subscription, and you see the preview before you pay.