Smithsonian reviews

Relies heavily on contract positions with no guarantee of future funding. For those like myself who are funded through a private gift that may expire, there is little effort into seeking to continue that position unless it aligns with museum priorities.

but another system of rewards operates inside the institution, which can make it hard to remember all the excellent opportunities: time off policies depend heavily on your supervisor's interpretation of your responsibilities; large gap between job descriptions at "humanities" agencies vs "science" agencies, even if titles (aka "Curator") are the same. Some Curators are responsible for exhibits, some are not, some write exhibition texts, some do not, some are subject to evaluation from outside committees of their peers, some are reviewed only by those inside the institutions, and recognition from the institution is rarely more than lukewarm. Advice: make sure to travel, and get feedback from your professional peers, do not rely on supervisors (who have little incentive to be supportive) or institutional colleagues (whose standards can be too low because limited to what goes on "at home"). It will be as good as you make it.