You could study for a degree in fine arts or art history, although this is not always essential.

Entry requirements

You'll usually need:

• 2 to 3 A levels, or equivalent, for a degree

You may be able to start by taking part-time or short residential courses to build up your knowledge.

Courses include:

• antiques
• history of art
• fine art
• decorative arts

Entry requirements

There are no set entry requirements for this route.

You could work in an antiques shop as an assistant to learn on the job.

You could also start in a salesroom or auction house as a porter, clerk, cataloguer, valuer or auctioneer.

You could collect and research antiques as a hobby and then:

• get a stall at an antiques market or fair
• buy and sell on the internet
• open a shop

Some of the larger auction houses, like Sotheby's Institute of Art and Christie's Education, run short courses in art history and the arts market. They also offer more in-depth postgraduate study aimed at graduates wanting to work in the commercial arts market.

You'll need:

• the ability to sell products and services
• persuading and negotiating skills
• excellent verbal communication skills
• customer service skills
• to be thorough and pay attention to detail
• the ability to use your initiative
• the ability to work well with others
• business management skills
• to be able to carry out basic tasks on a computer or hand-held device

As part of your day-to-day work, you could:

• buy items from salesrooms, auctions, markets and private owners
• sell items to the public from shops or from stalls in antique centres
• negotiate purchases and sales
• buy and sell items online
• carry out minor restoration work
• research the identity and value of objects
• value antique objects for insurance or sales purposes

You could work at antiques fairs, at a store or from home.