I began working in museums as an Exhibition Preparator helping set up the inaugural displays at Te Papa Tongarewa. After Te Papa opened, I worked in the department of Asia at the British Museum. Armed with the skills, experience and knowledge gained from working at Te Papa and the British Museum I returned to New Zealand and joined Canterbury Museum in 2006.

My favourite year at school was my fourth form (year 10), which was all about doing projects. It seemed that for every subject, an assignment would be issued and you’d be expected to hand in a creative, colourful and factually correct project. I remember thinking at the time that my perfect job would be to continue doing these projects.

Undertaking ServiceIQ’s National Certificate in Museum Practice (Level 4) has given me an insight into the qualification so that I can encourage staff to complete the training. We organise training workshops about aspects of museum practice that are outside of each of our roles so we share information about our respective roles. It is always nice to have someone take an interest in what you do. 

To help make workplace training successful I suggest that museums pair up with other local or small institutions to share knowledge and practice. The National Certificate is all about understanding museum principles and showing knowledge of working examples. It’s not about learning from textbooks.

My advice to young people is that I have often found in my career that hard work attracts luck. If you put 100% into a role then you’ll be surprised at what comes back to you. Seize every opportunity.

For more information, please contact ServiceIQ on 0800 863 693 or email intel@ServiceIQ.org.nz