Anyone a museum assistant? Got a job interview

[borageforager]

Any top tips on interview prep for museum assistant job? It’s a temporary role covering for shielding volunteers, so I am hoping enthusiasm will stand for a lot. It’s a small local museum run by the local council...

Hopeful bump.

Make sure you research a great deal on what they display in there and maybe a fact or 2 you can wow them with. Enthusiasm and passion really help too.

Shaniac I’ve only visited once which is a bit unfortunate! Will do some thorough checking of the website...

As it's part of a local authority they'll probably ask about equal opportunities. They'll be an equal opportunities policy on the Council's website so have a read. The question might focus on how you'd provide a welcome to everyone, or something similar.

No help but I WANT that sort of job. Good luck!

I used to do that, if it's a customer facing role most of what they will be interested in is how you interact with the public & how you would deal with the challenges (to put it politely!) they can throw your way, they'll want you to be interested & enthusiastic about the museum but the customer skills will probably be more important.

Health and safety qualifications and considerations? Eg what to do Or who to call if a customer hurts her hands. Or someone has a heart attack in there.
No experience. Just thinking what might pop up. Good Luck 🍀

OP is this for a town starting with L because if it is I can help?

fredisthebestandthelast no... begins with B.

MothershipG yes, dealing with difficult people was a ‘desirable’ criteria. As you say, really the job ad was for a customer facing person who is at least aware history has happened. I am very strong on the history bit but my customer service roles were about 15 years ago...

Ah okay.

Definitely scope out the website, have they got an online catalogue you can have a look through? I would suggest emailing to see if you can set up a telephone chat about the museum/role instead of visiting in person.

Good luck.

What MothershipG said. Don’t stress about being expected to be an expert on the collections, they will want you to be interested but being able to be friendly and welcoming with visitors from all walks of life will be more important.
They will want you to be conscientious and able to follow procedures (for instance if someone came in with an object they wanted someone to identify there would be a procedure to follow/form to fill in) and they would need to know you would be careful and not sloppy about that kind of thing.

No actual experience, but you could check on the website the accessibility for wheel chair users, pushchairs etc so that you can show an awareness of user needs. Same for visual and audio aids.
Good luck!

I would be looking for enthusiasm from candidate. If possible visit, if not look at website, social media to get an idea of what they have within their collection, what exhibitions/ projects have they had. I'm looking for a candidate that's interested in local history and can pass that passion on to visitors. A number of candidates probably are applying to build their experience in museums.
Think about how you work with volunteers, what motivates them?
A time when you've dealt with a challenging customer?
What your strengths are?
What are the challenges in the sector at moment?
How is covid impacting visits? Before latest lockdown many I was speaking to were running at 30% on last year's figures. Think about covid secure, risk assessment, ensuring visitors understand rules but in a friendly way that puts them at ease for example a museum using dinosaur footprints to mark out 2 metres one way system instead of big red warning health and safety signs.

Look at Museums Association website, association of independant museums (aim) website, Collections Trust website for Spectrum standards and also look up Arts Council England (if you're in England) for Museum Accreditation standards. If the Museum is accredited them it would be good to look through this so it shows an awareness of sector.

If you have any questions pm me.

Customer service
Teamwork
Multitasking
Customer service
Dealing with difficult people
Customer service

I worked in a very similar role for two years and loved it

Update - got offered the job!

Thank you for all your help

I used to do this and I know you dont want to hear this but it was the most boring thing I have ever done in my life. It was actual torture. Had to stand around a small museum 9 hours a day not talking or doing anything.

@user1471565182
it was the most boring thing I have ever done in my life
Surely sitting down to work out a user name trumped that?
(Sorry, I jest - couldn't resist!) 😃

I did used to have a (slight museum themed) username, but then it all went mad one day and I lost it and have to keep this one forever (or at least until I can be arsed to do anything about it, so still forever)

Well done OP!

user1471565182 haha! I can imagine it has the potential to be dull. However I’m just pleased to get a job, & it’s only for 3 months as the funding is short term covid recovery. So hopefully the boredom won’t carry me off.

Well i honestly hope its a different environment to mine, its the sort of job that could be really good or really shit depending on what you are assigned to do.

Congratulations @user1471565182 - it’s a tough jobs market out there right now so you must have wowed them! Hope you love it.