@Miniestelle
Hi there!
So happy you have posted this thread. Thank you so much.
You have my dream job. I am hoping to get into working in museums in some capacity. I am going to be studying History at Hull Uni in Sept. I am 43 though, is that too old? I am constantly looking for volunteer opportunities in museums and archives in the Hull area but no luck so far, and covid had just made that worse. I really wish I lived in London where there seems to be so many more opportunities. Please can you give me any advice at all? I think the History course has internship opportunity in the second year so that will be great. Is there anything extra I can do that you can recommend please? Any online courses or Facebook groups, societies etc I can get involved in? I have seen and admired how some museums have switched to showing their exhibs and engaging online in the last few years and again especially since covid came. The resources avaible on Jane Austen's House in Alton are fantastic. I did a short course last year about Jane Austen's world via Futurelearn. It also inspired me to join the Jane Austen Society.
Anyway so sorry to ramble on, just very ex tied to hear from you. Many, many thanks. 
Hi! I'm so glad you reached out! 43 is absolutely not too old, and I wish you the best of luck with your degree! There are SO many ways to work in and with museums, although you're right in mentioning that the sector is struggling at the moment. Do you know which areas interest you the most? If not, I'd suggest researching the different roles (collections, education, front of house, marketing, fundraising, community engagement etc), and seeing if any sound like a good fit. If you look up some typical job descriptions, you'll get a good idea of the kinds of skills and experiences needed, and where to focus your efforts going forward. If you're keen to volunteer, I'd strongly suggest reaching out to museums in your area with ideas of things you'd like to do. Have a think about the unique skills and experiences you can bring to benefit the museum - they may want to invite you to run projects with them (sometimes paid - I've done this when people have written in). Off the top of my head, digital skills, community engagement, the Creative Case for Diversity, health and wellbeing and sustainability are always topical for museums, and they may bite your hand off if you can propose something exciting.
There are definitely some good accounts/networks I'd suggest following. Twitter is probably the best place, since there's always trends and discussions happening over there, but Instagram is also relatively lively. Fair Museum Jobs are doing incredible work towards fairer recruitment practises for the sector, and give amazing advice for people trying to break in. Museum Development North West has loads of fantastic resources about free courses, sector news, and opportunities. Things in Jars is a great podcast about museums, and gives great career advice for aspiring curators. Collections Trust provides lots of curatorial resources and run free museum skills workshops. I'd also try and follow as many curators/museum professionals as possible, since networking is always a good thing.
Sorry this is long - hope it helps!! Happy to expand on anything if you need.