Genealogy as a Career
A genealogist can have many different career titles. Some of these include: historians, authors, biographers, journalists and archivists. Although there are many different titles, all people that do genealogical work perform very similar tasks. They research and compile data relating to the histories of families, people and where they live.
Genealogy consists of many different types of research and projects. There are many ways to do amateur genealogy work for yourself or your family. There are publications on the subject such as “Genealogy for Dummies” that can get a person started doing research on their own family history. There are also software packages available online and for purchase that can help a person explore and accumulate information on their own family. There are even free workshops and classes offered at most local libraries and universities. However, if you want to pursue genealogy as a career, there are certain steps that must be taken and information that you must know.
First, a college degree is required in this field. Some potential employers will only require a general liberal arts degree from a major university. Other employers will require some experience with genealogy meaning that it will be hard to get a job with just a degree in liberal arts and no emphasis in genealogy. There are several institutes and universities that offer specific courses in genealogy to help someone gain experience if they are new to the field. Sometimes, these can be accompanied with a university placed internship in the field. These internships are crucial because jobs in the field of genealogy are rare and highly competitive. If a person has completed an internship, it will help to secure a job after degree completion.
There are certain personality traits and interests that someone should have to pursue a career in genealogy and be successful. A potential person entering this field should be extremely patient as some projects can take years to complete. In between finds there could be months of research that yield little results. A genealogist also needs to be inquisitive and have good research and organizational skills. Knowing some history of a region or family is also essential in doing research. It is important to be interested in constantly studying your environment and it’s past. It is also good to have good basic math skills to help with figuring dates and timelines. Some accounting knowledge is a must for tallying hours and expenses since most projects are paid for on a grant basis and require constant reporting.
When entering the field there are 2 major categories of work a person can do. One is working in an archive or library with genealogical records. Another is to work as a professional researcher. Professional researchers are often self-employed, but can sometimes work for Internet based companies as an employee.
Currently, the median average income for a genealogist is $25 per hour or $52,000 per year – although, don’t expect to start there. The starting salary for a degreed genealogist is probably around $30,000 per year depending on your experience level.