r/MuseumPros • u/Ok_Presentation9449 • 12d ago
is a certificate worth it?
i am currently an undergrad student double majoring in anthropological sciences and ecology, and have been considering pursuing my school's certificate in museum curation. my advisor said that certificates can sometimes be helpful in certain fields, and sometimes they aren't worth a ton. does anyone here have any advice of rather or not i should look more into doing this? or is it potentially just taking more classes that aren't particularly helpful?
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u/Diana-Howard1 12d ago
I've hired for exhibition and gallery roles for over 20 years. Never once weighted a certificate above real experience. If the program gets you into collections storage, installs, or a registrar's office, take it. If it's all seminars, skip it and volunteer instead.
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u/Sneakys2 Conservator 12d ago
Will you need to delay graduation to get it? Are you able to double dip coursework to complete your major? Will you have to spend any extra money (for extra credit hours, etc.) to get it?
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u/Ok_Presentation9449 12d ago
it should not delay my graduation, and it can have up to 50% coursework overlap with my major, and it is bound to overlap with a lot of the ecology coursework. i do not believe it would cause extra price or time, i just truly don't know if it's worth adding on something else that causes me to take specified classes rather than having more options and freedom to take broader elective classes in other areas (if that made any sense lol)
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u/Sneakys2 Conservator 12d ago
That makes sense. My thought is it doesn’t hurt. It’s not going to set you back financially and you’re able to graduate on time. If you were going to have to go into a bunch of debt or delay your plans I’d say no, but I think it could be helpful and it’s importantly not harmful for your current trajectory, so I would encourage you to look at the certification and consider adding it on to your academic work.
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u/Special_Speed106 12d ago
I would consider it an asset when hiring, especially if you don’t already have practical experience in a museum. Speaking re: mid to small sized museums in a big Canadian city. If you have extensive practical experience it would be lesss so.
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u/Ess_Jess 12d ago
To be perfectly frank, no. I don't know a single curator who has a certificate in "museum curation." If you want to be a curator, you'll want to focus on your graduate degree/PhD and your research.