Launch Your Career

What does a Historic Preservationist Do?

• Works with communities to jumpstart neighborhood revitalization and facilitate “placemaking” through enhancing heritage resources. 
• Helps combat climate change by retrofitting and “greening” existing buildings. 
• Protects heritage assets by re-inventing and adaptively reusing historic buildings, while preserving significant character-defining features.
• Advocates for the protection of both tangible and intangible heritage with attention to social equity and the heritage of underrepresented groups
• Reconstructs the narrative of the heritage resources through archival research and oral history.
• Assess historic material conditions and recommend appropriate interventions. 

Jefferson’s M.S. in Historic Preservation opens the door to these and many other career opportunities. Our graduates are employed by private firms, government organizations, and cultural heritage nonprofits, as they work to link past and present to shape the future!

What are some jobs for a preservation professional?

• Preservation Architect
• Sustainability Preservation Specialist
• City and Regional Preservation Planner
• Museum Curator
• Digital Heritage Specialist
• Architectural Historian
• Historic Materials Conservator

Recent graduates have started their careers at the Preservation Alliance of Greater Philadelphia; Heritage Design Collaborative; the Philadelphia Historical Commission; CIS Architects; Whitman, Requardt and Associates; the Westmoreland Township Historical Commission; Historic Building Architects, LLC; and Richard Grubb Associates.

Guidance to Career Success

Real-world, hands-on experience is a key part of a Jefferson education. Our college partners with major corporations, local communities, and nonprofit organizations, supplying a broad range of real-world projects, internships, networking opportunities and jobs after graduation.

The Marianne Able Career Services Center on campus offers employment and internship preparation activities including search strategy sessions and advising appointments.

• Résumé, cover letter writing and review
• Interview preparation
• Portfolio building
• Internships and job search strategies
• Networking opportunities—employer events, career fairs, social media