Museum Futures Programme 

Digital Traineeship at Garden Museum This paid traineeship is supported by the Heritage Lottery Fund.

Location: Garden Museum, Lambeth, London SE1 7LB Role Title: Museum Futures Trainee Bursary: £15,350 (tax exempt) Full-time one year paid training placement starting 16th January 2019 This document contains the role job description and application form.

About Museum Futures This programme is a partnership of museums across the UK working together to support new entrants into the museum sector who are interested in gaining digital skills and broader heritage experience. Each trainee will be based for a year at their museum but will benefit from the network of other participating museums through regular accredited training sessions and the community of Museum Futures trainees.

Candidates are not expected to have any prior experience of working in museums but it is important that anyone who applies is interested in how culture and digital technologies can be relevant to diverse communities and new audiences, and has a passion for working with people and thinking creatively about the role museums play in people’s everyday life.

The aim of this programme is to seek out young people who may not have considered a career in museums before and have the digital confidence to work on new digital projects, including digitisation of museum objects and resources into a database and online, digital engagement, and finding new ways to reach new audiences via digital means.

Trainees will complete an accredited Level 3 diploma in Cultural Heritage and gain in-work skills training and experiences to add to their CV and further their career opportunities. For these reasons we encourage young people aged 18-24 that have not completed an undergraduate degree to apply. Candidates with over 6 months paid or unpaid experience of working in a museum and/or a postgraduate qualification in a related area are not eligible to apply. 

We particularly welcome candidates who are from diverse socio-economic and diverse ethnic backgrounds, but these are not essential criteria.

About the Garden Museum

Page 1 of 7

The Garden Museum is Britain's only museum dedicated to the art, history and design of British gardens. The Museum is housed in a medieval/Victorian deconsecrated church, and re-opened in May 2017 following 18-months of closure for a £8m HLF re-development project with brand new galleries, facilities and gardens. The Museum’s permanent collection is incredibly diverse, and contains everything from the world’s oldest watering can, to pressed flowers from the battlefields of World War One, to 18th century botanical illustrations. During the development we created the country’s first Archive of Garden Design, which contains over 10,000 plans and documents from the careers of several leading garden designers of the 20th century. Our programme of temporary exhibitions allow us to explore the different ways gardens impact our lives, including fashion, art, and landscape design.

The Museum has become a unique space for garden-based education; in a typical week we welcome primary schools potting pea plants, people living with dementia using clay to explore memory, a lecture on green policies, and a class about identifying trees. We have also launched the only food learning programme in a UK museum, teaching sustainable, natural cooking, and the journey of food from ground to plate. Furthermore, we host over 100 events a year, telling hundreds of individual stories about the nation’s gardens, large or small; we have become the place to debate London’s green future.

Role Description This role will assist in improving the Garden Museum’s digital presence and strategy. The chosen candidate will gain an understanding of digital preservation and learn about the importance of digitisation in the Museum sector, including digitisation through photography, scanning, and writing about objects in our collection. The trainee will also gain experience using collections databases to manage object data and keep records. The trainee will work with our Learning and Marketing departments to share the Museum’s educational resources online and find new ways for us to share our online collection and resources the public.

Key Responsibilities Support the digitisation of the Garden Museum's collection Support the digitisation of the Archive of Garden Design Assist in making key objects from the collection and archive available online Assist in making the Museum’s learning resources available online Seeking out new ways to engage visitors and the public with our online resources Support the Press and Marketing Officer in day to day running of the Museum website and social

media platforms Assisting with the digitisation of visitor evaluation and feedback Develop skills in digital preservation, management and access for the museum sector Complete all required documentation for the training qualification (Cultural Heritage QCF Level 3) Attend 10 training sessions over the course of the year, hosted at Museum Futures partners

located across England. Also attend one induction training and one end of programme celebration event at The British Museum

Help coordinate one training session at the Garden Museum for the wider Museum Futures network

Person Specification Essential characteristics:

curious about cultural heritage and museums confident using digital technologies with an interest in broadening digital knowledge good team player can show they will benefit from this opportunity willing to commit to a year-long programme of self-development and learning

Page 2 of 7

Desirable characteristics: familiarity with digital imaging and design software such as Photoshop, Illustrator or InDesign familiarity with database software familiarity with digital photography have Level 2 qualifications (GCSE grades 9-4 or A*-C; level 2 diploma; or intermediate

apprenticeship)

It is also important that candidates are: reliable, punctual, and adaptable to new working environments and teams articulate, enthusiastic and conscientious motivated to develop and learn new skills a good communicator both written and verbal able to plan and organise their time IT literate with experience of using Microsoft Excel and Word

How to Apply The Garden Museum will be hosting a drop-in taster day for this role on the afternoon of Friday 12th October, full details of which will be available on the Garden Museum website. Potential applicants will be able to explore what it is like working at the Garden Museum, sample some digitisations tasks and activities, and speak with staff from a variety of departments. Attendance at the taster day is encouraged as it will help you understand the role and ask questions before you apply, but it is not essential.

To apply for this role, please complete the below application form and submit through the Museum website, www.gardenmuseum.org.uk/jobs, by 11pm on Sunday 28th October 2018.

Page 3 of 7

Museum FuturesApplication FormIf you need a larger print version or a copy of this form in another format, please contact Naomi Salinas-Burton at NSalinas-Burton@britishmuseum.org]

Post details

Post applied for Museum Futures Trainee

Host Museum Garden Museum

Application closing date Sunday 28th October 2018, 11pm

Other key recruitment dates Taster Day: Friday 12th October

Group Assesment: Wednesday 14th November

Individual Interviews: Wednesday 21st November

Potential Start date: Wednesday 16th January 2019

How to submit this application Submit via the Garden Museum website: www.gardenmuseum.org.uk/jobs

Personal details

First Name

Surname

Address details

Address line 1

Address line 2

Town/ County

Postcode

Home phone

Mobile phone

Email address

Most Recent job (or course details if currently a student)

Role/ Title

Employer’s name and address(or school/ college)

Dates (month/ year – month/ year)

Page 4 of 7

Short summary of experience(max 150 words)

Are you presently employed/ enrolled? (yes/ no)

Notice period required

Previous work experience (or course details if no prior work experience)

Role/ Title

Employer’s name and address

Dates (month/ year – month/ year)

Short summary of experience(max 150 words)

Previous experience

Role/ Title

Employer’s name and address

Dates (month/ year – month/ year)

Short summary of experience(max 150 words)

Qualifications - Part of the role is working towards a Level 3 Diploma in Cultural Heritage.

Highest Level of education attained(Entry Level – Level 8)

For help with levels, please see

https://www.gov.uk/what-different-qualification-levels-mean

Description of relevant qualification and subject/s (ex. NVQ in Media)

Name of School/ College/ Institution

Dates attended(month/ year – month/ year)

Training

Please list any other relevant training or experience you have taken part in

Other details

Do you need a work permit to take up this post? (yes/ no)

If you answered "Yes", please provide details

Can you confirm that you are able to start traineeship in January 2019? (yes /no)

Where did you hear about Museum Futures?

Page 5 of 7

Information for candidates with a disability

Museum Futures is a positive action training programme and welcomes applications from diverse candidates, including those with disabilities. The Equalities Act 2010 defines disability as “a physical or mental impairment which has a substantial and long-term adverse effect on the ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities.”If you have a disability, do you need support to take part in the group assesment or interview? Please provide details:

Criminal convictions

We do not ask for details on criminal convictions in this application as it is the partnership’s policy to ask shortlisted candidates to declare any unspent convictions at or after the interview stage. We have a duty to balance our commitment to help ex-offenders find work with our need to protect the public and those who are using its services.

References

Please give details of at least one reference. This person should not be a friend or family member, but could be an employer, teacher, case worker, mentor, coach, etc.

Reference #1

Full Name

Relationship to you

Telephone number

Email address

May we contact for a reference prior to job offer being made?

Yes/No

Reference #2

Full Name

Relationship to you

Telephone number

Email address

May we contact for a reference prior to job offer being made?

Yes/No

Personal StatementPlease answer the following questions as fully as you can, the shortlisting panel will use this information to assess your application.

Tell us about a museum or gallery you have visited and your experience (ex. what did you learn, what did you enjoy about it and/or what would have improved the experience?). (250 words max)

Page 6 of 7

Why have you decided to apply for this placement (e.g. why are you ready for a year long training programme that combines employment and earning a diploma)? (250 words max)

How do you think you will benefit from taking part in this programme (e.g. what do you hope to gain over the course of the year and how could this help you in your future goals)? (250 words max)

Many museums are looking for ways to share and highlight information about the objects in their collections online. Imagine that you are part of a team that has to chose which 15 objects - out of a total 500 objects – will get an image and description on a new museum website. How would you narrow down which objects should be included? What steps could you take or what questions could you ask to make your decision easier? (400 words max)

Declaration

Please read over your application to verify that all content is correct. By submitting this form as an email attachment you undertake that the information you have provided is true and accurate to the best of your knowledge.

The information I have given on this form is true and accurate to the best of my knowledge.

Full Name and/or Signature

Date

Job Applicant Privacy Notice (GDPR compliant)We intend to use this information for recruitment purposes only. Applicants have the right to request that their data be rectified or deleted. We may share your data with our evaluation consultant to aid our future recruitment process. If your application is unsuccessful, the Garden Museum will hold your data on file for up to six months after the end of the recruitment process, unless you have given consent for us to keep your data for future communication.

Page 7 of 7