Museum Assistant Summer Student (2 positions available)

 

Location:                    Revelstoke, BC

Term:                         May 15 to September 5, 2022 (17 weeks, subject to funding approval)

Working Hours:        Full-Time (40 hours per week)

Hourly wage:             $16.00/hour

 

The Revelstoke Railway Museum is one of Revelstoke’s cornerstone cultural institutions with visitation of over 24,000 annually. Opened in 1993, it is known as one of Canada’s best small railway museums, playing a valuable role in collecting, preserving and interpreting Canada’s mountain railway stories. Its collection exceeds 6,500 three-dimensional artifacts, 7,500 archival objects, 13,000 photographs, and 17 locomotives and cars. The Museum’s website is railwaymuseum.com.

 

Position Summary:

 

The Revelstoke Railway Museum is hiring two Museum Assistant Summer Students to assist with the museum's visitor services, museum store, museum operations and administration, and special events during our busy summer season.   

 

This is a Canada Summer Jobs position and candidates must be eligible for the Canada Summer Jobs program.  This position is subject to funding approval. 

 

Key Responsibilities:

 

The Museum Assistant Summer Students will be an integral part of the museum's summer operations:

• Working closely with the Manager of Retail and Visitor Services, greeting visitors, handling museum admission and orientation, processing retail sales and ensuring the Museum Store is orderly and well-stocked. 

• Collaborating with the Museum's entire team in helping ensure our COVID protocols are maintained to maximize visitor and staff safety. 

• Leading small group tours, if permitted by COVID protocols regarding visitation, events and gatherings

• Supporting the Executive Director in handling telephone inquiries, responding to email requests and maintaining membership communications and the member database. 

• Depending on skills and experience, the students may be involved in monitoring and maintaining the museum's social media presence, including development and production of short virtual tours. 

• For special events, if permitted by COVID protocols, the students will work with the Executive Director, staff and volunteers in the planning, preparation, set-up and delivery of local community celebrations at the Museum, such as our annual Railway Day in August.  This would include duties such as collection of supplies, venue set up, greeting participants, and leading planned activities in an engaging, safe, educational and productive way.

• The students will also perform other job-related duties and special projects providing support and assistance to the Executive Director, Curator, Manager of Retail and Visitor Services, Trustees and volunteers.

 

Qualifications:
 

• The ideal candidate is a post-secondary student returning to their studies in September, with an interest in museums, history, education, tourism, marketing or communications. 

• Strong computer skills, ideally with proficiency in Microsoft Office.  Experience in operating the Shopify point-of-sale system is an asset.

• Excellent customer service skills; previous retail experience is an asset.

• Strong written and verbal communications skills

• Demonstrated initiative

• Strong organizational skills and attention to detail

• Ability to work both independently and in a team environment

• Ability to work weekends and statutory holidays

• Positive attitude, maturity and flexibility.

 

All candidates must prove eligibility under the Canada Summer Jobs program criteria prior to the interview process.  Applicants must:

• be between 15 and 30 years of age at the start of the employment;

• be a Canadian citizen, permanent resident, or person to whom refugee protection has been conferred under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act for the duration of the employment; and,

• have a valid Social Insurance Number at the start of employment and be legally entitled to work in Canada in accordance with relevant provincial or territorial legislation and regulations. Please note that international students are not eligible participants (including anyone who is temporarily in Canada for studies and who is not a Canadian citizen, permanent resident, or person who has been granted refugee status in Canada. Youth awaiting a refugee status ruling, as well as those who hold a temporary visitor visa, youth visa or work visa are also ineligible)

 

Applicants should email a resume and cover letter to the Manager of Retail at railway@telus.net with the subject line “Canada Summer Jobs Museum Assistant Application” by May 1st, 2021

 

This is an excellent opportunity to build marketable skills in a region known for its quality of life and recreational opportunities.  Revelstoke is a welcoming community with a population of about 7,500 along the Columbia River in the beautiful setting of the Selkirk and Monashee Mountains. Revelstoke is an important tourism destination for culture, heritage and summer and winter recreation. The city has three public museums and an art gallery, and boasts world-class mountain biking, hiking and climbing, Nordic and downhill skiing, heli-skiing, and snowmobiling. Revelstoke also has two National Parks just outside of the city limits: Mount Revelstoke National Park and Glacier National Park, as well as several hot springs within short driving distance. For more information about Revelstoke, visit seerevelstoke.com

 

E-mail your resume to: railway@telus.net or mail to:

Revelstoke Railway Museum

Attention: Retail Manager

719 Track St West

PO Box 3018

Revelstoke, BC

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Young Canada Works - Collections Assistant (2 positions available)
 

Location:                    Revelstoke, BC

Term:                         June 6 to August 26, 2022 (12 weeks, subject to funding approval)

Working Hours:        Full-Time (35 hours per week)

Hourly wage:             $16/hour

Number of Positions: 2

 

The Revelstoke Railway Museum is looking for 2 Collections Assistants to join the museum's team. Opened in 1993, the museum is known as one of Canada's best small railway museums, playing a valuable role in collecting, preserving, and interpreting Canada's mountain railway stories.
 

Position Summary:

The Collections Assistants will be assisting the curator with the management of the museum's artifact and archival collections. Students will have the opportunity to select projects from the museum's "job jar" that best match their interests, studies, and career goals. In this way, students will be able to maximize their skills development.

Available student projects include:

• Accessioning the Ferrier Collection, which consists of over 950 large rolled documents (blueprints, diagrams, scale models, etc.)

• Digitizing the photograph collection

• Digitizing the archival collection

• Completing an inventory of the off-site Station Storage facility

• Moving artifacts to the off-site, climate-controlled Station Storage

• Accessioning of new donations

• Creating an inventory of exhibits and their contents in PastPerfect

This is a Young Canada Works (YCW) position and candidates must be enrolled in the YCW program.  This position is subject to funding approval. 

 

Key Responsibilities:

The students will:

• Learn the mission and mandate of the Revelstoke Railway Museum, and become familiar with the museum’s collection and collecting practices

• Learn how to use PastPerfect to create digital catalogue records for objects, archives, and photographs

• Learn museum standards and practices

• Create accession and object records for new donations

• Update existing records to create a more robust digital database and bring records up to current museum standards

• Create digital records for artifacts that have previously only been catalogued in Excel sheets and on paper forms

• Link existing objects in PastPerfect database to donors and accession numbers

• Properly store objects in accordance to museum standards

• Assign storage locations using the digital database

• Use critical thinking skills to determine the most appropriate storage locations for a variety of objects

Other tasks as needed may include:

• Research related to events, people, places, etc. as related to objects and/or donors

• Write-ups of specific objects for social media

Students will be given the opportunity to tailor their work experience by selecting jobs from the museum’s list of ongoing collections projects. In addition, during week 1 orientation and discussions the curator will discuss other possible experiences and areas of learning that are specific to the student’s interests.

 

Qualifications:
The ideal candidate is a post-secondary student with an interest in museums and/or history. Areas of study may include: history, museum studies, archival management, library sciences, anthropology, social sciences, archaeology, English, and/or education.

 

The candidate should have above average computer skills, and be adept at written and verbal communication, critical thinking, and organization. Experience with Microsoft and Adobe Suites is considered an asset. The ideal candidate will be able to demonstrate critical thinking and organizational skills, and will have a strong attention to detail.

The museum is a shared workspace, and candidates must be able to work both independently and in a team environment. Candidates must also be willing to follow any COVID protocols in place at the museum.

 

All candidates must prove eligibility under the YCW program criteria prior to the interview process.

 

The Revelstoke Railway Museum is an equal-opportunity employer. Students from the Government of Canada's job equity groups are encouraged to apply and will be given due consideration.

 

How To Apply:

Applicants should email a resume and cover letter to Laura VanZant at curator.railway@telus.net with the subject line "Collections Assistant Application" by May 1st, 2022.

 

Interviews will be conducted over Zoom. All candidates selected for an interview will be required to provide 3 references.

 

This position is subject to funding approval.