Education, Training, and Library · Holland code RCI
Museum Technicians and Conservators
Restore, maintain, or prepare objects in museum collections for storage, research, or exhibit. May work with specimens such as fossils, skeletal parts, or botanicals; or artifacts, textiles, or art. May identify and record objects or install and arrange them in exhibits. Includes book or document conservators.
Also called: Conservator, Objects Conservator, Paintings Conservator, Preparator, Conservation Technician (Conservation Tech), Exhibit Technician (Exhibit Tech), Museum Registrar, Museum Technician (Museum Tech).
O*NET 25-4013.00
At a glance
- US median annual pay
- $51,440
- Middle half earn $41,050 to $67,640. BLS OEWS, May 2025.
- Preparation needed
- Job Zone 5 of 5
- Extensive preparation. Zone 1 is little or none; zone 5 is graduate-level.
What the work involves
The tasks workers in this occupation rate as most important, from the O*NET survey.
- Determine whether objects need repair and choose the safest and most effective method of repair.
- Specialize in particular materials or types of object, such as documents and books, paintings, decorative arts, textiles, metals, or architectural materials.
- Recommend preservation procedures, such as control of temperature and humidity, to curatorial and building staff.
- Install, arrange, assemble, and prepare artifacts for exhibition, ensuring the artifacts' safety, reporting their status and condition, and identifying and correcting any problems with the set up.
- Study object documentation or conduct standard chemical and physical tests to ascertain the object's age, composition, original appearance, need for treatment or restoration, and appropriate preservation method.
- Clean objects, such as paper, textiles, wood, metal, glass, rock, pottery, and furniture, using cleansers, solvents, soap solutions, and polishes.
- Repair, restore, and reassemble artifacts, designing and fabricating missing or broken parts, to restore them to their original appearance and prevent deterioration.
- Perform tests and examinations to establish storage and conservation requirements, policies, and procedures.
Skills and knowledge it leans on
Skills
- Reading Comprehension4.0 / 5
- Active Listening3.9 / 5
- Speaking3.6 / 5
- Writing3.4 / 5
- Critical Thinking3.4 / 5
- Monitoring3.4 / 5
Knowledge areas
- Chemistry4.5 / 5
- Fine Arts4.4 / 5
- History and Archeology4.2 / 5
- English Language3.6 / 5
- Education and Training3.3 / 5
- Administrative3.0 / 5
Importance ratings on O*NET’s 1 to 5 scale. Higher means the occupation depends on it more.
Who tends to enjoy it
How strongly this occupation draws on each of the six Holland interest types, which is the same profile the career interests test compares you against.
- Realistic78
- Investigative37
- Artistic36
- Social27
- Enterprising9
- Conventional60
The same work abroad
Other countries classify jobs differently, so these are the closest matches through the international ISCO-08 standard, not exact equivalents.
European occupation titles (ESCO)
- museum director · DE Museumsdirektor/Museumsdirektorin · FR directeur de musée/directrice de musée
- archivist · DE Archivar/Archivarin · FR archiviste
- collection manager · DE Wissenschaftlicher Sammlungsmanager/Wissenschaftliche Sammlungsmanagerin · FR gestionnaire de collections
- conservator · DE Konservator/Konservatorin · FR conservateur/conservatrice
- exhibition curator · DE Kurator/Kuratorin · FR responsable des expositions
- exhibition registrar · DE Museumsregistrar/Museumsregistrarin · FR régisseur des collections/régisseuse des collections
Closest UK occupation groups (SOC 2020)
- Senior officers in fire, ambulance, prison and related services (1163)8,000 employed
- Archivists, conservators and curators (2472)17,100 employed
- Print finishing and binding workers (5423)8,400 employed
Employment is the UK Annual Population Survey for April 2025 to March 2026, all workers in the group, which can be broader than this one occupation.
Pay across Europe, for the whole group
Median annual earnings of all employees in “Professionals”. This is the broad ISCO group this occupation falls in, not the occupation itself, so treat it as context for the wage level, not as a salary for this job.
| Country | Median pay |
|---|---|
| Belgium | €61,714 |
| Germany | €59,529 |
| Ireland | €56,877 |
| Austria | €55,374 |
| Netherlands | €53,595 |
| Sweden | €43,567 |
| France | €41,515 |
| Spain | €35,735 |
| Italy | €33,649 |
| Portugal | €26,072 |
| Poland | €14,380 |
Eurostat Structure of Earnings Survey, businesses with ten or more employees outside public administration, in euro and not adjusted for the cost of living. Reference years differ between sources: the US, Japan and Europe figures on this page come from different survey years, so compare them as rough levels, not to the euro or yen.
Exposure to AI
This occupation sits in the middle third of the 774 occupations scored, with an exposure score of -0.09. The scores are standardized across those occupations, so 0 is the average and a score of 1 is about one standard deviation above it.
Our note on reading it: the dataset links AI applications to the abilities that occupations require, so the score reflects overlap between the two. It is a comparison between occupations, not a forecast about jobs. It does not say whether exposure means tasks are replaced or workers get more done with the tools, and it says little about one employer or one role.
Source: Felten, E., Raj, M., & Seamans, R. (2021). Occupational, industry, and geographic exposure to artificial intelligence: A novel dataset and its potential uses. Strategic Management Journal, 42(12), 2195-2217. Matched to this page by 6-digit SOC code (25-4013).
Related careers
Is it a fit for you?
Interest is one input, alongside ability, pay and what is hiring near you. The career interests test takes about thirteen minutes and ranks occupations by how closely their profile matches yours.
Take the career interests test