Museum

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  • International Organizations
  • Non-Profit-Organisationen/ NGOs
  • Consultancy firms specialized in development
  • Deutsche Gesellschaft für internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ)
  • Institutes and centers for development policy
  • state museums
  • company museums
  • historical, cultural-historical, technical-historical, natural science museums
  • Public or private art museums

Here you will find regional examples of museums that offer internships.

There are traditional museum professions (e.g. curator, inventory manager, collection manager, conservator), as well as areas such as marketing, museum education and public relations. Topics such as fundraising, budgeting, digitization and controlling are also becoming increasingly important.

The range of tasks is very broad, the museum scientist (curator) must, for example, curate exhibitions (develop, design, select objects, write catalog texts), this is done in cooperation with graphic designers, restorers, magazine keepers and technicians.

In museums, the acquisition of third-party funding is also one of the main tasks. In the higher service, there is also responsibility for personnel. In smaller museums, museum scientists may have to take on museum education or other of these tasks themselves. A list of all tasks can be found in this document: Tasks of scientists in KMK museums (PDF)

Work as a

  • student assistant in a museum/institute with a teaching collection
  • do several internships/ work shadowing in different museums for several weeks during your studies
  • try to get an internship in a large German or international museum

The more extensive and varied your experience with the terms listed under field of activity, the more promising your chances of success.

Requirements for starting a career
Without a traineeship/museum assistant in further education after your Master's degree, it is almost impossible to start a career. A doctorate is not compulsory, but often makes sense. However, it does not replace the traineeship/assistant training.

On the one hand, a broad range of study content is advisable, as too much specialization greatly decimates the number of eligible museums. A European focus makes sense. On the other hand, many job advertisements call for very specific skills in a specialized discipline (e.g. experience with paintings by 16th century Dutch painters or the regional history of a place). It is not easy to find the right balance.

Unfortunately, there are very few permanent positions in museums.

Information on entry requirements, job advertisements, topics and structures of museums:

With a focus on marketing, public relations, fundraising or digitization, you can also get started in other areas with these keywords.

Self-employment in the exhibition sector (museums sometimes employ external scientists for exhibitions, but a traineeship and experience are required).