Searching

Career Exploration

Historians

Also called: Historian, Historic Sites Registrar, Research Associate, Researcher

What they do:

Research, analyze, record, and interpret the past as recorded in sources, such as government and institutional records, newspapers and other periodicals, photographs, interviews, films, electronic media, and unpublished manuscripts, such as personal diaries and letters.

On the job, you would:
  • Conserve and preserve manuscripts, records, and other artifacts.
  • Gather historical data from sources such as archives, court records, diaries, news files, and photographs, as well as from books, pamphlets, and periodicals.
  • Conduct historical research as a basis for the identification, conservation, and reconstruction of historic places and materials.
On the job, you'll need:

Arts and Humanities

  • history and archeology
  • English language

Business

  • customer service
  • administrative services

Education and Training

  • teaching and course design

Math and Science

  • geography

Basic Skills

  • reading work related information
  • thinking about the pros and cons of different ways to solve a problem

Problem Solving

  • noticing a problem and figuring out the best way to solve it

Verbal

  • read and understand what is written
  • communicate by writing

Ideas and Logic

  • make general rules or come up with answers from lots of detailed information
  • use rules to solve problems

Investigative

People interested in this work like activities that include ideas, thinking, and figuring things out.

  • Integrity
  • Cooperation
  • Attention to Detail
  • Concern for Others
  • Dependability
  • Adaptability/Flexibility

Data base user interface and query software

  • Microsoft Access
  • Structured query language SQL

Presentation software

  • Microsoft PowerPoint

Information retrieval or search software

  • Archival databases
  • Smithsonian Institution digital archives

Job Outlook

The job outlook for this position is Average.

New job opportunities are likely in the future.

Median Annual Salary: $64,540