What skills should a Curator put on a resume?

O*NET rates Reading Comprehension, Speaking, Active Listening, Writing, and Critical Thinking among the most important skills for this occupation. Name the ones that are genuinely yours and show where you used them. A resume that lists skills you do not have is weaker than one that lists fewer.

What software should a Curator list?

Software recorded for this occupation includes Adobe Acrobat, Adobe Creative Cloud software, Adobe FreeHand MX, Adobe Illustrator, and Adobe InDesign. Applicant tracking systems match on the exact product name, so write the tool as the posting writes it rather than describing it in general terms.

What other job titles cover Curator work?

O*NET records 24 titles for this occupation, including Collections Curator, Collections Manager, Museum Curator, and Education Curator. Searching only your own job title hides most of the openings you could apply to.

What qualifications does a Curator need?

In O*NET's survey of people doing this job, 44% reported their level of education as "Master's Degree". That is what current postholders reported, not a requirement any single employer sets.

Will this resume pass an ATS for a Curator role?

No tool outside an employer can tell you how that employer's system is configured, including ours. What you can control is that the resume parses cleanly, names the work in the words the posting uses, and does not claim anything you cannot back up.

Curator resume example

A resume for a Curator needs to show the work itself: administer collections, such as artwork, collectibles, historic items, or scientific specimens of museums or other institutions. Day to day that means work like this: plan and organize the acquisition, storage, and exhibition of collections and related materials, including the selection of exhibition themes and designs, and develop or install exhibit materials; develop and maintain an institution's registration, cataloging, and basic record-keeping systems, using computer databases. Recruiters and applicant tracking systems both read for the tasks and tools this role actually involves, so the strongest resume names them in your own experience rather than describing the job in the abstract. Below are the tasks O*NET records for this occupation, the software and tools it uses, the titles it is advertised under, and the skills worth naming if they are genuinely yours.

Also advertised as

The same job is posted under many titles. Searching only your own job title hides most of the openings you could apply to.

Collections Curator
Collections Manager
Museum Curator
Education Curator
Exhibitions Curator
Exhibits Curator
Photography Curator
Vertebrate Zoology Curator
Art Curator
Coin Collector
Content Curator
Data Curator
Digital Curator
Educational Institution Curator
Educational Resource Coordinator
Field Collector
Herbarium Curator
Metadata Curator

O*NET records 24 titles for this occupation in total.

What this work actually involves

Tasks recorded for this occupation, in O*NET's words. If your experience covers one of these, it belongs on your resume in your own words.

Plan and organize the acquisition, storage, and exhibition of collections and related materials, including the selection of exhibition themes and designs, and develop or install exhibit materials.
Develop and maintain an institution's registration, cataloging, and basic record-keeping systems, using computer databases.
Plan and conduct special research projects in area of interest or expertise.
Provide information from the institution's holdings to other curators and to the public.
Negotiate and authorize purchase, sale, exchange, or loan of collections.
Study, examine, and test acquisitions to authenticate their origin, composition, history, and to assess their current value.
Inspect premises to assess the need for repairs and to ensure that climate and pest control issues are addressed.
Write and review grant proposals, journal articles, institutional reports, and publicity materials.
Design, organize, or conduct tours, workshops, and instructional or educational sessions to acquaint individuals with an institution's facilities and materials.
Attend meetings, conventions, and civic events to promote use of institution's services, to seek financing, and to maintain community alliances.
Train and supervise curatorial, fiscal, technical, research, and clerical staff, as well as volunteers or interns.
Confer with the board of directors to formulate and interpret policies, to determine budget requirements, and to plan overall operations.

15 tasks are recorded in total; these are the most central.

Example bullets for this role

Built from this occupation's own tasks. The brackets stay empty on purpose: we will not invent a number for you, and a fabricated metric is the fastest way to lose an interview you had already won.

Plan and organize the acquisition, storage, and exhibition of collections and related materials, including the selection of exhibition themes and designs, and develop or install exhibit materials, for [who or what it served], at [what volume].
Develop and maintain an institution's registration, cataloging, and basic record-keeping systems, using computer databases, for [who or what it served], at [what volume].
Plan and conduct special research projects in area of interest or expertise, for [who or what it served], at [what volume].
Provide information from the institution's holdings to other curators and to the public, for [who or what it served], at [what volume].

Software used in this role

Recorded for this occupation by O*NET. An applicant tracking system matches the exact product name, so write the tool the way the posting writes it.

Adobe Acrobat
Adobe Creative Cloud software
Adobe FreeHand MX
Adobe Illustrator
Adobe InDesign
Adobe Photoshop
Apple macOS
Artsystems Collections
Autodesk AutoCAD
Corel WordPerfect Office Suite
Cuadra Associates STAR/Museums
Database software
Desktop publishing software
Eloquent Systems Eloquent

46 software entries are recorded in total.

Tools and equipment

The physical equipment this occupation is recorded as using. Worth naming when a posting asks for it by name.

Claw hammers
Desktop computers
Digital cameras
Digitizers
Handheld digital thermometers
Laptop computers
Light meters
Mat cutters
Paint brushes
Personal computers
Power drills
Precision knives

What this job rates as most important

O*NET rates every skill for importance to this occupation. These are the highest rated, in order.

01Reading Comprehension
02Speaking
03Active Listening
04Writing
05Critical Thinking
06Complex Problem Solving
07Active Learning
08Judgment and Decision Making
09Monitoring
10Systems Analysis

Knowledge areas

The subject knowledge this occupation draws on, rated by importance.

English Language
History and Archeology
Fine Arts
Administration and Management
Sociology and Anthropology
Communications and Media
Administrative
Education and Training

What qualifications people in this job have

From O*NET's survey of people doing this work. This is what postholders reported, not a requirement any single employer sets.

44%Master's Degree
35%Doctoral Degree
8%Post-Baccalaureate Certificate, awarded for completion of an organized program of study; designed for people who have completed a Baccalaureate degree but do not meet the requirements of academic degrees carrying the title of Master.

What level this role is pitched at

O*NET places this occupation in “Extensive Preparation Needed”. Most of these occupations require graduate school. For example, they may require a master's degree, and some require a Ph.D., M.D., or J.D. (law degree).

Extensive skill, knowledge, and experience are needed for these occupations. Many require more than five years of experience. For example, surgeons must complete four years of college and an additional five to seven years of specialized medical training to be able to do their job.

Common questions

What does a Curator do?: Administer collections, such as artwork, collectibles, historic items, or scientific specimens of museums or other institutions. Day to day that includes work like plan and organize the acquisition, storage, and exhibition of collections and related materials, including the selection of exhibition themes and designs, and develop or install exhibit materials and Develop and maintain an institution's registration, cataloging, and basic record-keeping systems, using computer databases.
What skills should a Curator put on a resume?: O*NET rates Reading Comprehension, Speaking, Active Listening, Writing, and Critical Thinking among the most important skills for this occupation. Name the ones that are genuinely yours and show where you used them. A resume that lists skills you do not have is weaker than one that lists fewer.
What software should a Curator list?: Software recorded for this occupation includes Adobe Acrobat, Adobe Creative Cloud software, Adobe FreeHand MX, Adobe Illustrator, and Adobe InDesign. Applicant tracking systems match on the exact product name, so write the tool as the posting writes it rather than describing it in general terms.
What other job titles cover Curator work?: O*NET records 24 titles for this occupation, including Collections Curator, Collections Manager, Museum Curator, and Education Curator. Searching only your own job title hides most of the openings you could apply to.
What qualifications does a Curator need?: In O*NET's survey of people doing this job, 44% reported their level of education as "Master's Degree". That is what current postholders reported, not a requirement any single employer sets.
Will this resume pass an ATS for a Curator role?: No tool outside an employer can tell you how that employer's system is configured, including ours. What you can control is that the resume parses cleanly, names the work in the words the posting uses, and does not claim anything you cannot back up.

Related roles

Occupations O*NET records as closest to this one, and worth looking at if this search is not moving.

What this page cannot tell you

No tool outside an employer can tell you how that employer’s ATS is configured, including ours.
This page makes no claim about pay, demand or how many people hold this job. O*NET does not publish that here and we will not estimate it.
Keyword overlap is one input to a resume’s score, not a verdict on you. A resume that names skills you do not have is worse than one that names fewer.

If this is the job you are aiming at, the guide to tailoring a resume covers how to aim one posting properly, and building and exporting a resume here is free.

Occupation data from the O*NET 29.1 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA), used under CC BY 4.0. O*NET is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. SpartanResume is not endorsed by USDOL/ETA.