York Profiles & Mentors

The recruitment process

I found the ad on a Roman website, sent in a C.V., went for an interview and then a training day, and then started work.

Where I hope to be in 5 years

I will become more involved in different aspects of keeping the museum running, for example stock keeping and ordering, event organisation, staff training. I know that for other staff there have also been opportunities in the past to direct and develop designs for new merchandise, advertising etc. As I said, the fact that I really love just being in the museum sharing enthusiasm with visitors "career progression" is not as important to me as quality and enjoyment of life.

My advice to students considering work

If you are interested in heritage then you are probably one of those people who feels an unexplainable thrill and enjoyment in being surrounded by relics and presentations of the past. If this is the case then I would say choose your area (geographical and historical) and go to search it out. Heritage is a strong sector in that modernisation and globalisation creates a desire in people to lose themselves in the past for an afternoon. People like to encounter the past and the presentations of the past are diversifying. There are now vast numbers of museums presenting all sorts of aspects of the past. If you are interested in it, then other people will be too and there is probably a museum to it somewhere.

My advice about working in my industry

If you are interested in heritage then you are probably one of those people who feels an unexplainable thrill and enjoyment in being surrounded by relics and presentations of the past. If this is the case then I would say choose your area (geographical and historical) and go to search it out. Heritage is a strong sector in that modernisation and globalisation creates a desire in people to lose themselves in the past for an afternoon. People like to encounter the past and the presentations of the past are diversifying. There are now vast numbers of museums presenting all sorts of aspects of the past. If you are interested in it, then other people will be too and there is probably a museum to it somewhere.

What I do

I work for a morning in the shop and ticket office, then an afternoon in the museum itself (or vice versa). In the shop there are general duties of selling tickets and merchandise, giving information, stock keeping and organisation. In the museum I greet the visitors, answer questions, and regularly give tours and talks to groups, or short lectures on specific objects in the collection. Because the museum is small each member of staff is involved in many aspects of the work, which makes it diverse and interesting.

Skills I use and how I developed them

Extracurricular skills:
Obviously basic "shop keeping" skills for working in the ticket office, which have come from several similar pub/shop jobs I had before and during university, but interpersonal skills, presentation and production of lecture scripts, and public speaking all play an important part. These have developed over the last few years of travelling and teaching abroad, also a bit amateur dramatics with York's drama society helped with not feeling too silly when addressing a group of strangers.

What I like most

Transmitting passion about history, heritage and literature. I love working in the museum; unlike many large museums where an attendant sits in each room in order to tell people off for talking too loudly or looking too closely at things, I get to actually engage with visitors. The groups are good fun because it is like delivering a half-hour lectures. I enjoyed teaching English as a foreign language and the museum work encompasses all of the things I liked most about being in front of a class only the content is now based on areas where my own passions and interests lie.

What I like least

There is nothing I don't like about the job. Perhaps my least favourite part is keeping on top of payments when big groups arrive as it can be a little stressful but I've never had any real problems.

Name	Mark S.
Department	History
Subject	History
Qualification	Undergraduate
College	Halifax
Class of	2011

Job title	Museum Guide and Assistant
Employer	Keats-Shelley House, Rome
Location	Italy
Industry sector	Library, museum and information services