Exhibition registrar to museum director
An exhibition registrar already meets 31% of what the museum director role asks for. The move turns on 15 required skills not yet in the profile.
73.2/ 100
1 How much of what a museum director is expected to do is already part of an exhibition registrar’s work. Directional: the figure for the reverse move differs, because moving into a speciality is not the same problem as moving out of one. 2 Every skill the museum director role is recorded as needing, required and optional together. What these numbers mean.
Why this move works
A museum director role treats 10 of its required skills as things an exhibition registrar already does. You would walk in with these on day one.
- advise on art handling
- advise on loans of art work for exhibitions
- art collections
- art history
- consult exhibition organisers
- document museum collection
What stands in the way is 15 required skills the profile does not yet cover. Table 3 groups them; Table 4 says which to take first.
Table 2 · What you already bring
Of the 10 skills that carry over, these are the ones fewest other occupations ask for. A museum director role needs them, and most people applying for one will not have them already. This is the part of an exhibition registrar background worth leading with.
- already held advise on art handling communication, collaboration and creativity
- already held implement risk management for works of art information skills
- already held advise on loans of art work for exhibitions management skills
- already held monitor museum environment information skills
- already held document museum collection information skills
- already held handle artworks handling and moving
All 10 carried skills, including the 10 the museum director role treats as required.
Table 3 · What you may need to learn
The 37 missing skills fall into 9 areas of the ESCO skill hierarchy, numbered in the order worth working in. Areas carrying the most required skills come first, and inside each one the required skills sit above the optional ones. Nothing here is a verdict on you: it is a list of what this particular job asks for that your current one does not.
- still to learn sell art required
- still to learn assist clients with special needs required
- still to learn ensure infrastructure accessibility required
- still to learn liaise with colleagues required
- still to learn liaise with educational institutions required
- still to learn liaise with managers required
- still to learn liaise with shareholders required
- optional, not held advertise an art collection optional
- optional, not held collaborate in the development of marketing strategies optional
- optional, not held perform fundraising activities optional
- still to learn plan art educational activities required
- still to learn manage budgets required
- still to learn manage staff required
- still to learn supervise art gallery staff required
- optional, not held organise participation in local or international events optional
- optional, not held evaluate cultural venue visitor needs optional
- optional, not held coordinate marketing plan actions optional
- optional, not held manage fundraising activities optional
- optional, not held manage rented goods returns optional
- still to learn approve reports for artistic project required
- still to learn maintain catalogue collection required
- still to learn maintain museum records required
- optional, not held develop classification systems optional
- optional, not held analyse packaging requirements optional
- optional, not held conduct scholarly research optional
- still to learn art-historical values required
- optional, not held classical antiquity optional
- optional, not held history optional
- optional, not held marketing management optional
- optional, not held marketing principles optional
- optional, not held public relations optional
- optional, not held ensure safety conditions in storage rooms optional
- optional, not held store goods optional
- optional, not held install artwork in gallery optional
3 further areas in the appendix
Table 4 · Where to start
The 3 entries a museum director role is least likely to hire without. The ordering is computed from the skill data, not from what pays.
- 01 approve reports for artistic project practise this
- 02 art-historical values study this
- 03 maintain catalogue collection practise this
Each entry opens a course search for that skill. Career Overlap earns nothing from these links.
Appendix · The rest of the record
All 10 skills that carry over
- already held advise on art handling skill
- already held advise on loans of art work for exhibitions skill
- already held art collections knowledge
- already held art history knowledge
- already held consult exhibition organisers skill
- already held document museum collection skill
- already held handle artworks skill
- already held implement risk management for works of art skill
- already held monitor museum environment skill
- already held museum databases knowledge
The 3 learning areas not shown above
- optional, not held paleontology optional
- optional, not held investigation research methods optional
- optional, not held museology optional
22 supplementary skills, helpful but not required
- optional, not held museology optional
- optional, not held organise participation in local or international events optional
- optional, not held advertise an art collection optional
- optional, not held develop classification systems optional
- optional, not held ensure safety conditions in storage rooms optional
- optional, not held evaluate cultural venue visitor needs optional
- optional, not held store goods optional
- optional, not held analyse packaging requirements optional
- optional, not held classical antiquity optional
- optional, not held collaborate in the development of marketing strategies optional
- optional, not held conduct scholarly research optional
- optional, not held coordinate marketing plan actions optional
- optional, not held history optional
- optional, not held install artwork in gallery optional
- optional, not held investigation research methods optional
- optional, not held manage fundraising activities optional
- optional, not held manage rented goods returns optional
- optional, not held marketing management optional
- optional, not held marketing principles optional
- optional, not held paleontology optional
- optional, not held perform fundraising activities optional
- optional, not held public relations optional
24 held skills the museum director role does not ask for
- not needed by the target role advise on foreign affairs policies skill
- not needed by the target role advise on government policy compliance skill
- not needed by the target role advise on tax policy skill
- not needed by the target role assess museum object condition skill
- not needed by the target role collection management software knowledge
- not needed by the target role compose condition reports skill
- not needed by the target role conservation techniques knowledge
- not needed by the target role cope with challenging demands skill
- not needed by the target role deliver correspondence skill
- not needed by the target role ensure safety of exhibition skill
- not needed by the target role give instructions to staff skill
- not needed by the target role interact with an audience skill
- not needed by the target role lead inspections skill
- not needed by the target role liaise with cultural partners skill
- not needed by the target role manage loan administration skill
- not needed by the target role manage loans skill
- not needed by the target role prepare loan contracts skill
- not needed by the target role provide advice on travel destinations skill
- not needed by the target role provide railway technical advice skill
- not needed by the target role respect cultural differences in the field of exhibition skill
- not needed by the target role supervise artefact movement skill
- not needed by the target role train guides skill
- not needed by the target role use ICT resources to solve work related tasks skill
- not needed by the target role work independently on exhibitions skill
9 gaps that are knowledge rather than practice
Knowledge gaps usually close through study. Practical skill gaps usually need something you can point at.
- still to learn art-historical values required
- optional, not held museology optional
- optional, not held classical antiquity optional
- optional, not held history optional
- optional, not held investigation research methods optional
- optional, not held marketing management optional
- optional, not held marketing principles optional
- optional, not held paleontology optional
- optional, not held public relations optional
Common questions about this move
Can an exhibition registrar become a museum director?
Yes, and it is a substantial move. An exhibition registrar already covers 31% of what a museum director is expected to do: 10 skills carry over, 10 of which the museum director role treats as required.
What skills does an exhibition registrar need to become a museum director?
15 required skills are missing, plus 22 optional ones. They fall into 9 areas of the ESCO skill hierarchy, led by communication, collaboration and creativity. The single most important is approve reports for artistic project.
How hard is the move from exhibition registrar to museum director?
Its learning distance is 73.2 out of 100, which is the substantial band. That accounts for both how much is missing and how specialised those skills are.
How this record was compiled
Both occupations are taken from ESCO, which lists the skills and knowledge each occupation is expected to have and marks every one required or optional. Nothing here is a prediction about hiring, and nothing here knows that a particular employer wants a particular certificate. Treat Table 3 as a starting point for your own research rather than a syllabus. The full method states what these figures can and cannot tell you.