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Archivist skills: what to learn first, and what can wait

Archives hiring rewards people who can show a standard applied to a real collection. Learn the description standards and one collections system first, then add digital preservation, because that's where the openings are heading. Management skills matter later, once you're the one deciding what the repository collects.

37 open jobs

Step one

Gets you the interview

DACS arrangement and descriptionDescribing Archives: A Content Standard is what committees expect your finding aids to follow, and naming it on a résumé tells them you've done real processing.

ArchivesSpace data entryIt's the collections system you'll see in most postings, so being able to create accessions, resources and container records without training is a quick yes on a screener.

Rehousing and basic preservation handlingRemoving staples, flattening folded letters and choosing the right folder or box are daily work, and supervisors notice fast who handles originals carelessly.

Reading-room referencePulling boxes, explaining handling rules and helping a researcher read a finding aid show you can work the public side, which small shops need from everyone.

Step two

Gets you the offer

Processing plans and minimal processingBeing able to survey a collection and write a short plan with a processing level shows you can reduce a backlog instead of adding to it.

EAD encodingEncoded Archival Description lets finding aids travel to aggregators and union catalogs, and fixing broken EAD exports is a skill fewer candidates bring.

Born-digital intake with BitCurator and ArchivematicaImaging a drive with a write blocker, running format identification and producing a preservation package is the gap most paper-trained archivists have.

Appraisal against a collecting policyCommittees want someone who can tell a donor what's in scope and what isn't, with reasons tied to the written policy.

Step three

Gets you promoted

Records retention schedulesWriting and applying schedules with legal counsel and departments moves you from caretaker of old material to the person who shapes what arrives.

Digital preservation planningChoosing storage, fixity checking routines and file format policies, and defending them to IT and budget holders, is senior work.

Grant writing for processing and digitization projectsA lot of archives work is funded by outside grants, and the person who can win them usually ends up leading the project and its staff.

Supervising students and project archivistsTraining processors, reviewing their description and keeping a team on the same standards is how you step up to head archivist or department lead.

Certificates worth your time

Certificate	Best for	Effort	Worth it?
Certified Archivist (Academy of Certified Archivists)	Archivists with a graduate degree and some professional experience who want a credential that signals broad competence	a few months of reading and review before a single exam	Nice to have in government and some university roles, but rarely required, so earn it once you're working rather than to get in.
Digital Archives Specialist (Society of American Archivists)	Archivists moving toward born-digital work or electronic records programs	a series of short courses and exams spread over several months	Worth it if digital records are part of your target roles, because it covers the exact workflows committees ask about.

Check the Academy of Certified Archivists or the Society of American Archivists directly for current eligibility, fees and renewal rules before you sign up.

Put it on your resume like this

Weak

Responsible for digital preservation of archival materials.

Strong

Imaged 120 legacy floppy disks with BitCurator, ran them through Archivematica, and opened 3 born-digital collections to researchers with privacy review complete.

Questions people ask

Which archivist skill should I learn first?

DACS, practiced on a real collection. Volunteer at a historical society or take a practicum, process something small, and write the finding aid. Everything else builds on being able to describe a collection clearly.

Do I need to know how to code to be an archivist?

Not for most roles. Knowing enough XML to read and fix EAD helps a lot, and basic scripting in Python becomes useful in digital archivist jobs that handle big batches of files. You can get hired without either.

Can I learn archives software on my own?

Partly. ArchivesSpace and Archivematica both have public documentation and sandbox demos you can practice in. What's harder to get alone is feedback on your description, so pair self-study with a volunteer project where an archivist reviews your work.

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