Science Museum Group Employee Reviews

The National Railway Museum is a great place to work. The staff are incredibly kind and, although the work can be tiring, it's very rewarding to see the museum clean, tidy, and ready for visitors.The pay rate is only slightly above minimum wage but it's certainly nothing to scoff at, especially with all the amazing benefits you get as a staff member (private health and dental, staff discounts, free exhibition entry to name a few).

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Visitor Experience is a great team and the museum as a whole is very friendly

Visitor Fundraising Team Leader (Former Employee) - York - 30 July 2019

The Railway Museum is a great place to work, especially the Visitor Experience Team. A very fun place to work that gives lots of experience and a fun workplace.

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Insights into Science Museum Group

Based on 16 survey responses

What people like

Clear sense of purpose
Inclusive work environment
Supportive environment

Productive and exciting

Conservation Intern (Former Employee) - London - 16 July 2019

Working within a project at the science museum was great. Everyone was friendly, supportive and keen to build relationships which last outside the workplace.

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No growth

General administrative (Current Employee) - London, Greater London - 10 July 2019

No progression or learning development whatsoever. .

Pros

Colleagues

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Work/life balance is great, but that is about it

Outreach Developer (Current Employee) - London - 3 April 2019

Worked here for almost 3 years after leaving academia post-PhD. My desire was to communicate science to people. Current role is very free and has fast-paced busy days, and often slow weeks/months in-between. You rarely ever have to bring any work home so the moment you clock out, you don't even have to worry about checking emails. This is great for work/life balance and there is a great deal of flexibility involved. The other great thing is the opportunities you are given to interact with people of all ages and from all backgrounds and get to share your knowledge and passion for scientific topics with them. It is also exciting developing new science shows and props (when the rare opportunity presents itself). The most important skills that you get several opportunities to develop are presenting, and science communication. The museum goes out of its way to offer show presenting courses at the beginning of your training which help greatly with your self confidence, and you start out small and work up to bigger shows you can run on your own. It is an amazing boost to self confidence and ability to interact with people of all kinds. However that is about all that is great about this job. Job progression is non-existent and only involves you applying for a manager role within your branch when a manager leaves. Skill learning is pretty shallow, if you have a scientific background there is almost nothing else to learn beyond presenting in a science show setting. Management is a mixed bag, you may get a micro manager, or a completely out of the picture one, or (if lucky) -

Pros

Huge flexibility, learn presenting skills, meet lots of people

Cons

Pay is bad and doesn't ever increase, most positions are stepping stones, revolving door of colleagues, slow moving culture, lots of showy improvements but not many real quality ones

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Strong senior management and positive work environment

Senior Development Manager (Current Employee) - London - 1 March 2019

The fundraising department is mission-led, very well organised with a strong organisational structure and inspirational leadership. A very positive workplace culture with a can-do attitude. A lot of investment in personal and professional development, but not many career progression opportunities. Overall one of the best places I've worked, but I am aware this is specifically the case for the development department and other parts of the organisation may not be managed in the same way.

Pros

Strong senior management and positive work environment

Cons

Lack of career progression opportunities

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Nice place to work

Visitor Experience Assistant (Current Employee) - South Kensington - 13 February 2019

A few choices in contract, working in a nice part of London, work isn't too hard and the pay is decent, has busy days and quiet days and you're always interacting with lots of people from different walks of life, each with their own story to tell. The staff are wonderful and everybody gets along. You work in a new position each day and learn about the collection.

Pros

Shift hours and environment

Cons

half terms are really busy and can be overwhelming

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productive

Events Steward (Former Employee) - York - 16 January 2019

Fast pace and regular breaks provided. A fun place to work with equal balance of work and fun. I would reccomend if you have already worked in catering industry before.

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fun work place

Waitress (Former Employee) - Crick - 25 November 2018

friendly people to work with, helpful , helps gain experience and builds confidence taking to customers. Helps you gain knowledge with hygiene and safety in the kitchen and helps you be able to adapt to a fast peaces working environment.

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Fun and a great learning space

Volunteer (Former Employee) - York, North Yorkshire - 24 September 2018

The work consisted of conserving the museum artefacts and each day was different. The learning curve here was great and the best part of the job was the staff and their commitment to doing a good job. They were supportive, amiable and good-natured. Would have loved to continue working there long-term.

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Jobs at Science Museum Group

Exhibitions Project Manager

Manchester

10 days ago

Digital Producer (North)

Manchester

12 days ago

Retail Operations Manager

London

7 days ago

Digital Producer (South)

London

12 days ago

Science and shake

Barista (Former Employee) - London - 28 August 2018

during the day we worked hard to offer the perfect breakfast to the customers and we were always careful that the coffee and the milkshakes were perfect in every aspect

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fun place to work

Waitress (Former Employee) - London, Greater London - 25 June 2018

l loved interacting with the customers, you get to know more about the pepole that you are serving . The hardest part of the job is being on your feet foe a long period of time.

Pros

free lunch

Cons

sore feet

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Creative, happy, intelligent

Web Content Editor (Former Employee) - London - 12 June 2018

Great place to work. I'm sorry that the project I was hired for is ending and precipitating my departure. Lovely people, fascinating environment, beautiful part of town, good salary. People work hard but the work / life balance is utterly respected, as are individuals per se. Collaboration is paramount and hard work never turns into unmanageable stress.

Pros

Meet interesting people; free entry to paid museum and gallery exhibitions.

Cons

Hard to turn contract into full employment.

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High Motivation and encouragement

Gift Aid Officer (Former Employee) - London - 21 May 2018

A typical day at work to me is always working hard and playing hard. Being always a team player I learn in practice and asking. There is no hardest part in the job because I am committed in full. The most enjoyable part is the celebration of positive outcomes.

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good place to work

Cleaner (Former Employee) - Manchester - 22 January 2018

the museum is a good place to work, really interesting being able to work around the galleries. the staff are friendly and everyone helps each other out

Pros

interesting place to work

Cons

can get very busy

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Good Experience

Casual Assistant (Former Employee) - South Kensington - 7 January 2018

The most positive experience I had was based on the fact that I generally enjoy visiting museums in my spare time.I did enjoy the various roles available ranging from assisting with flight simulators to printing tickets to dealing with general enquiries. I would appreciate anoher opportunity to train and work in a museum full time or work as a casual assistant inthe future.

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Productive

Marketing and Communications Assistant (Former Employee) - London - 5 October 2017

It was an amazing experience and I never wanted to leave I met so many new people and so many new skills hat I can take on for the rest of my life. I would love to work there again as it truly was fantastic.

Pros

Good working hours

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A great place to work

Exhibition Volunteer (Former Employee) - London, Greater London - 2 October 2017

I volunteered with an exhibition and, though my time there was short, it was wonderful. Friendly coworkers and a lively environment which I fell in love with from the word go. I would absolutely return to work here at some point in the future.

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A laid back yet exciting work environment with fantastic management and training.

Casual Sales Assistant (Current Employee) - York - 7 September 2017

I have been working with the science museum group at the national railway museum for about three months now and I am thoroughly enjoying my time here, I haven't been treated poorly at all and the training has been excellent and I believe that a lot of other places could learn a lot from them and how they run things. The only criticism I have is the fact that I am working on a casual contract which is essentially a zero hours contract with a prettier name and they have been hiring a number of people for permanent positions with 14 or more hours which leaves next to no hours for us on casual contracts. A bit more communication about available positions wouldn't go a miss, other than that I have no issue with this job. Probably something for future employees to consider, but I think that's part of the territory of zero hours contracts. Training has always been thorough and prompt, I have been trusted and made to feel unbelievably welcome from the very first day, and was not left on my own until I felt comfortable to do so. Most management are of a similar age range to me (mid to late twenties) so I've found that they are more understanding with personal issues and are easy to get on with, which, for me personally, improves morale. We all get along and we have a healthy balance of professionalism and friendly rapport. You aren't belittled or made to feel like a burden when you make errors either, they're very understanding and things can be rectified easily. I think many, if not all, are completely understanding because of the fact we all appreciate that each of us had -

Pros

friendly working environment, great managers, excellent training

Cons

unreliable no guarantee of hours

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productive and fun place to work

Administrator (Former Employee) - York, North Yorkshire - 28 June 2017

My experience of working at the National Railway Museum was in an Admin role working alongside the engineers. I had a really great team with a professional but easy going work ethic. Very friendly and willing to provide help or advise at any time with a good workplace culture. Discount given at the museum Café which helped cut down costs. The work ethics are that of a hardworking company and you are expected to be a team player and work hard also along with the rest of the team. There is opportunity to progress and obtain promotion however this is dependant on vacancies and personal review. Overall an enjoyable and pleasant company to work for.

Pros

Cafe Discount

Cons

Job can be monotonous

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Productive and fun work placement, educational and a new challenge.

Voluntary Worker (Former Employee) - London, Greater London - 27 May 2017

I have not yet begun my volunteering with the Science Museum but will be this summer. I will be working alongside their Robots project which I know will be both fun and a great opportunity to add to my cv.

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