We are now hiring for our 30th Summer Season for Museum Assistant Summer Students and Collections Assistants!  Come and see why our students consistently say their summer jobs with us were their "Best Jobs Ever!"  
 

Museum Assistant Summer Student

Location:                     Revelstoke, BC

Term:                            Mid-May to the end of August (16 weeks, subject to funding approval)

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

Hourly wage:               $18.00/hour

Number of Positions: 2

 

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, including our 30th Anniversary.   

 

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 including visitor services and retail operations, administration, tours, and completing special projects:

• Working closely with the Manager of Retail and Visitor Services, greeting and orienting visitors, processing museum admissions and retail sales and ensuring the Museum Store is orderly and well-stocked.  They will also develop an in-depth procedure and policy manual for the Visitor Services and Retail function, including the Shopify Point of Sale system.

• Students will have the opportunity to lead small group tours

• Working with the Executive Director to catalogue and organize the Museum’s extensive research library, identifying duplicate and out-of-field items. 

• Doing daily walk-throughs of the Museum to flag maintenance and other issues. 

• Working with the President to catalogue, organize and and document the background stories of 30 years of digital photographs about the Museum, its development and events.

• Working with the Manager of Administration to communicate with the Museums 100+ member base on membership renewals, ensuring member records are up-to-date, and (depending on qualifications) writing member newsletters.  Students will also work with the Manager in developing a special event plan for the Railway Day event in September.

• Provide support to all members of the Museum leadership team, including handling enquiries and helping us deliver high quality customer service and programming and preserving our cultural heritage. 

• Students will benefit by learning new skills in customer service, use of a modern retail system, event planning, public speaking, procedures development and museum operations. 

 

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 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 Executive Director at director.railway@telus.net with the subject line “Canada Summer Jobs Museum Assistant Application” by April 15, 2022

 

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

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Collections Assistant

Location:                   Revelstoke, BC

Term:                         June 5 to August 25, 2023 (12 weeks, subject to funding approval)

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

Hourly wage:            $18.00/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:

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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

• Conducting research for upcoming exhibits and assisting with writing and editing content, displaying artifacts, and designing exhibit panels

• Developing an education program to accompany our exhibit “Revelstoke Is A Railway Town”, launched in 2022, the contains strong curriculum links for at least 2 grade levels

•  Implementing the Silver Storage Plan developed in 2022 and storing the silver artifacts collection

 

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:

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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

• Conduct research on potential exhibit topics as assigned by the curator

• Write, edit, and design exhibit content

• Research the BC curriculum and develop educational programming content for the existing “Revelstoke Is A Railway Town” exhibit that directly links to the BC curriculum

 

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, 2023.

 

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

 

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

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