For people like myself who are trying to find their professional niche in the world of historic preservation, the job market can seem a little scary. Although I reconciled myself a long time ago with the fact that historic preservation isn't the best way to get rich, gainful employment is still, of course, important.

This article contains a collection of links to online job resources that are relevant to historic preservation. Although few employment posting sites are dedicated solely to historic preservation, this illustrates the breadth and diversity of professional specializations that exist within the field. Established professions that might be considered central to historic preservation work, such as architecture, planning, or conservation, generally have their own online employment resources in which preservation jobs are posted.

Because there is no orderly, centralized process for recruiting historic preservation specialists, it behooves the job seeker to search both within their professional area and also within some of these other fields. For example, there may be a posting for a "community development specialist" in an historic district that is posted only on an architectural history web site, even though someone with an advocacy or planning background may be just as well suited for the job.

This collection of resources is intended to provide a sampling of sites to monitor, and to also serve as a starting point for the job search. The links included vary in the types of jobs offered, the number of announcements and the geographic location.

General Preservation Job Listings

The jobs listed on the web sites below vary widely in qualifications, responsibility and type. Below each link is a brief summary of the web site owner and the types of jobs that are generally posted.

The National Trust for Historic Preservation maintains a website that list employment opportunities within the National Trust, as well as links to internship and educational information. National Trust opportunities range from professional and managerial, to administrative support positions. For subscribers of the National Trust's Forum, there is also a password protected employment database. Annual dues for the Forum are $115.

The Mainstreet Program is a program of the National Trust that links the preservation of historic commercial areas with economic and community development strategies. The job listings are geared towards professionals and most of the postings are for mid to upper-level management positions, including Mainstreet Directors, real-estate positions and economic development officers. Opportunities are generally with business improvement districts, Mainstreet areas, downtown associations, and public development authorities.

Founded in 1984, PreserveNet is one of the only job databases dedicated to historic preservation. It includes employment information, announcements for jobs and internships, and a variety of links to other similar listing services (some of which are included here as well). PreserveNet is occasionally offline.

Mary Washington College Job Listings http://departments.mwc.edu/hipr/www/jobs/jobs.htm

This site is maintained by the Department of Historic Preservation at Mary Washington College in Fredericksburg, VA. It includes listings for permanent, temporary, internship and fellowship-based employment, as well as links to outside employment listings.

Career-level jobs typically include museum-related positions, architectural historian positions with private firms, and on occasion, planning and management-level positions. Most opportunities are located in the eastern region of the United States.

University of Virginia School of Architecture Career Services http://www.virginia.edu/~a-ocpp/Postings/hist_post.html

The UVA database contains a category specifically for architectural historians and preservation work. Listings are mostly for architectural historians, preservation architects and internships, although there are also occasional announcements for museum-related work and planners. Generally, UVA posts 2-3 announcements per month.

ArchNet Jobs http://archnet.org/jobs/

ArchNet is a site maintained by the MIT School of Architecture for the purpose of increasing awareness of the built environments in which Muslim peoples have a significant presence. The job database is geared toward academic positions in architecture and planning, but includes professional opportunities in architectural history and community development. Some announcements are for overseas positions.

Land Trust Alliance http://www.lta.org/resources/ltjobs.htm

The Land Trust Alliance maintains a listing of jobs related to conservation and land trust organizations. Most of the announcements are for upper-level management and executive jobs; a few are historic preservation-related.

archaeologyfieldwork.com http://www.archaeologyfieldwork.com

As the name indicates, this site is aimed primarily towards archaeologists and archaeological technicians. However, the announcements cover a range of cultural resource management and museum related jobs, including historic preservation and conservation work.

Aviso http://aviso.aam-us.org

Aviso is a large employment database and information service maintained by the American Association of Museums. Like many museum listing services, most of the preservation-related work is technical, such as conservation. However, administrative and executive positions are posted here as well.

The Global Museum Global Careers http://www4.wave.co.nz/~jollyroger/global_careers.html

The Global Museum is an online magazine based in New Zealand that posts news stories and links about museum and archaeological issues worldwide. Likewise, the employment database contains announcements from all over the world. The job postings vary widely from entry-level to executive. Although it targets museum professionals, the database contains a number of historic preservation-related jobs, including technical and managerial positions.

Employment Resources with the Federal Government

The federal government employs preservation professionals through its role as a land steward and within its cultural programs. Federal agencies with major land holdings, such as those within the Department of the Interior or branches of the military, require the services of cultural resource management professionals to inventory and maintain historic sites and assess impacts on those sites. Specialized projects and programs, which vary in length, time and objective, are also a source of employment.

Positions offered at the federal level are generally technical, such as conservators, architects, and historians, or are administrative positions. Many position, especially with the National Parks Service, are seasonal.

National Parks Service Links to the Past http://www.cr.nps.gov/getinvol.htm

This web site is an information clearinghouse for jobs and volunteer opportunities related to cultural resource management within the federal government, including historic preservation and archaeology fieldwork opportunities. It provides guidance on the types of employment offered at the federal level, and suggests ways for citizens to become involved.

National Center for Preservation Technology and Training: Preservation Job Openings http://www.ncptt.nps.gov/jobs

This site contains a searchable database for preservation related jobs worldwide, including history, architectural history, archaeology and conservation. At the time of this article the database is not very active, but it may occasionally be a source of unique opportunities.

Historic American Building Survey/Historic American Engineering Record: Jobs and Competitions http://www.cr.nps.gov/habshaer/joco/

HABS/HAER seasonally hires professional practitioners, including architects and landscape architects, historians, industrial archaeologists and engineers, to document historic buildings and structures across the United States. In addition, there are student drafting competitions, internships and fellowships offered annually.

Student Conservation Association http://www.sca-inc.org/index.htm

The SCA is an organization that places students, aged 15-25, in volunteer and paid internships in a wide variety of conservation-related fields. Preservation related internships vary in length and responsibility, and include archaeological work, historic building surveys, and collections conservation. SCA provides their internships through cooperation with federal, state and local agencies, and private organizations.

USA Jobs http://www.usajobs.opm.gov

This is the centralized employment database for the federal government, maintained by the Office of Personnel Management. It is fully searchable by agency, profession, posting location, pay, and so on. Although a generalized employment database, with approximately 17,000 listings at any given time, it is an important tool for people seeking government employment. Opportunities in historic preservation occur on occasion; this database is sometimes the source of announcements that are forwarded to other lists. There are also a variety of online services for job seekers, such as resume-building tools and links to other employment sites.

Employment with State and Local Government

Because most land use planning is done at the state and local levels, most of these positions fall under the categories of planning, architecture, and administration, although on occasion there may also be specialized positions for historians and other related opportunities. Due to space limitation, the government employment listings in this article are limited to Washington, King County and the City of Seattle.

Municipal Research and Services Center of Washington http://www.mrsc.org

MRSC offers a large volume of information related to city government and planning, and offers links to many municipalities in Washington State. In addition, the MRSC web site contains a good collection of preservation web resources.

Washington State Employment Listings http://hr.dop.wa.gov/statejobs/jobs.htm

Most preservation opportunities in state government will be with the Community, Trade and Economic Development (CTED) and Office of Archaeology and Historic Preservation (OAHP) offices.

The OAHP also maintains listings of historic preservation consultants and companies that work within Washington State:

Historic Preservation and National Register Consultants http://www.ocd.wa.gov/info/lgd/oahp/hpcon.doc

List of Historic Architects http://www.ocd.wa.gov/info/lgd/oahp/arct.doc

King County Job Listings http://www.metrokc.gov/ohrm/psd/openings.html

Occasionally though infrequently, King County government seeks applicants for jobs in historic preservation. Preservation related positions include program coordinators and managers, planners and preservation officers. The county office dealing with historic preservation is the Office of Cultural Resources, Landmarks and Heritage Program.

City of Seattle Jobs http://www.cityofseattle.net/html/business/employment

The City of Seattle, like the county, occasionally has administrative or planning vacancies for historic preservation specialists. City personnel work with developers to ensure compliance with landmarking legislation, and administer the Landmarks and Preservation Boards. The office charged with overseeing the city's preservation efforts is the Office of Urban Conservation, within the Department of Neighborhoods.

Listserves

Lastly, listserves are valuable resources for finding work. Employers often forward job announcements to these regularly-updated lists. Two relevant listserves are the Preservation L listserve, and the ACRA L listserve.

Preservation L

Preservation L is a listserve for enthusiasts and professionals in architectural history and historic preservation. The discussion that occurs is informal, and tends to be relatively brief and technical in nature. Occasionally job announcements are posted. This is a good list for those who already receive too much email. To subscribe, send an email to preservation-l-subscribe@topica.com

ACRA L

ACRA L is maintained by the American Cultural Resources Association, and is an active and somewhat lively list. Although most of the subscribers are professional archaeologists, architectural historian and preservation planner openings also appear. Job announcements are frequently posted to this list, as well as conference announcements and other preservation related issues. To subscribe, go to http://lists.nonprofit.net/mailman/listinfo/acra-l and fill out the form at the bottom of the page.

Hopefully, the above resources will be of some use to preservationists on the hunt for that perfect job. There are many potential opportunities out there for those with a variety of backgrounds and interests, and you never know what you might find until you look.

Good luck!

View last month's Young Voices article

Back to Top