Archivist Career

Job Description: Appraise, edit, and direct safekeeping of permanent records and historically valuable documents. Participate in research activities based on archival materials.


Is Archivist the right career path for you?
Take the MyMajors Quiz and find out if it fits one of your top recommended majors!

Archivist Career

What skills are required for Archivists?

Importance Skills
Reading Comprehension - Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work-related documents.
Writing - Communicating effectively in writing as appropriate for the needs of the audience.
Active Listening - Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
Critical Thinking - Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions, or approaches to problems.
Active Learning - Understanding the implications of new information for both current and future problem-solving and decision-making.
Speaking - Talking to others to convey information effectively.
Complex Problem Solving - Identifying complex problems and reviewing related information to develop and evaluate options and implement solutions.
Judgment and Decision Making - Considering the relative costs and benefits of potential actions to choose the most appropriate one.
Service Orientation - Actively looking for ways to help people.
Time Management - Managing one's own time and the time of others.
Instructing - Teaching others how to do something.
Coordination - Adjusting actions in relation to others' actions.
Monitoring - Monitoring/Assessing performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action.
Learning Strategies - Selecting and using training/instructional methods and procedures appropriate for the situation when learning or teaching new things.
Systems Analysis - Determining how a system should work and how changes in conditions, operations, and the environment will affect outcomes.
Management of Personnel Resources - Motivating, developing, and directing people as they work, identifying the best people for the job.
Persuasion - Persuading others to change their minds or behavior.
Negotiation - Bringing others together and trying to reconcile differences.
Social Perceptiveness - Being aware of others' reactions and understanding why they react as they do.
Systems Evaluation - Identifying measures or indicators of system performance and the actions needed to improve or correct performance, relative to the goals of the system.

What knowledge is needed to be an Archivist?

Importance Knowledge
History and Archeology - Knowledge of historical events and their causes, indicators, and effects on civilizations and cultures.
English Language - Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
Customer and Personal Service - Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
Administrative - Knowledge of administrative and office procedures and systems such as word processing, managing files and records, stenography and transcription, designing forms, and workplace terminology.
Administration and Management - Knowledge of business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources.
Computers and Electronics - Knowledge of circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.
Education and Training - Knowledge of principles and methods for curriculum and training design, teaching and instruction for individuals and groups, and the measurement of training effects.
Law and Government - Knowledge of laws, legal codes, court procedures, precedents, government regulations, executive orders, agency rules, and the democratic political process.
Communications and Media - Knowledge of media production, communication, and dissemination techniques and methods. This includes alternative ways to inform and entertain via written, oral, and visual media.
Personnel and Human Resources - Knowledge of principles and procedures for personnel recruitment, selection, training, compensation and benefits, labor relations and negotiation, and personnel information systems.
Public Safety and Security - Knowledge of relevant equipment, policies, procedures, and strategies to promote effective local, state, or national security operations for the protection of people, data, property, and institutions.

Work Styles

Importance Styles
Attention to Detail - Job requires being careful about detail and thorough in completing work tasks.
Integrity - Job requires being honest and ethical.
Dependability - Job requires being reliable, responsible, and dependable, and fulfilling obligations.
Cooperation - Job requires being pleasant with others on the job and displaying a good-natured, cooperative attitude.
Achievement/Effort - Job requires establishing and maintaining personally challenging achievement goals and exerting effort toward mastering tasks.
Initiative - Job requires a willingness to take on responsibilities and challenges.
Analytical Thinking - Job requires analyzing information and using logic to address work-related issues and problems.
Persistence - Job requires persistence in the face of obstacles.
Adaptability/Flexibility - Job requires being open to change (positive or negative) and to considerable variety in the workplace.
Independence - Job requires developing one's own ways of doing things, guiding oneself with little or no supervision, and depending on oneself to get things done.
Self-Control - Job requires maintaining composure, keeping emotions in check, controlling anger, and avoiding aggressive behavior, even in very difficult situations.
Leadership - Job requires a willingness to lead, take charge, and offer opinions and direction.
Concern for Others - Job requires being sensitive to others' needs and feelings and being understanding and helpful on the job.
Innovation - Job requires creativity and alternative thinking to develop new ideas for and answers to work-related problems.
Stress Tolerance - Job requires accepting criticism and dealing calmly and effectively with high-stress situations.
Social Orientation - Job requires preferring to work with others rather than alone, and being personally connected with others on the job.