100 archaeologists - BIG Money

[Mna]

Just a couple of points to make about the bad reputation. A lot of the bad rap in recent times has been due to various UK companies landing big contracts and not coming up with the goods. The worse one that comes to mind is Cashel Bypass, people not being paid for weeks before and after Christmas and as far as I know people still havent recieved all the pay they were due. Worse than that it looks like the archaeology from the Cashel Bypass wont be published.

The NRA have funded various publications, with various monpgraphs being written for the most significant sites and funded Masters at Irish Universities.

Just remember ACS have managed contracts as big as, if not bigger than, contracts that the likes of Oxford and Wessex have. Never worked for them myself but know plenty who have (and still do). Oh and 55 hours sounds better than the much longer hours worked on Network pipeline jobs and for much longer periods.

As to Irish excvations. Total excavation thanks to the legislation, every bit of archaeology is protected. Sometimes helps to phase the site more accurately, particually when several phases involved. Sometimes a ditch isnt a ditch. Got a nice levigation bed once that would have been recorded as a ditch if we hadnt totally excavated it and seen the steping at the base.

Finally some of us are still members of SIPTU and I've found them to be most helpful with various queries from members and non members alike regarding H&S,sick pay,stat holiday pay,conditions and the like.

[troll]

Tiz entirely true that the personal logistics of working in Eire can be trying (accommo/NI cards/bank accounts etc) but-I found that the archaeology over there is just damned sexy and worth the grief.Of course there are crap units and good ones and-like the English side of the wet stuff, its a bit of a lottery where one persons perception of professional standards can vary enormously from anothers.I don`t quite understand why this particular advert is coming in for such a grilling even before the project starts....should`nt we wait until the field staff have an informed opinion before eating the company alive? I readily admit that I have worked for some detritus (the same twice on one notable occasion) but even I would`nt have a gripe until I had eaten the cherry meself Give the firm the benefit of the doubt I say! I do agree with Mr Wooldridge that it would be an excellent idea to have some form of guide (BAJR) on working abroad...contributions from all please!

..knowledge without action is insanity and action without knowledge is vanity..(imam ghazali,ayyuhal-walad)

[Digger]

I've worked for ACS. It took about two weeks to get my emergency tax sorted and the tax department was very helpfull. I also found ACS admin also very helpful in getting set up in Ireland in general. If there is this many staff on site (In the past) they had an admin bod on site helping get everyone sorted. Sick pay and holiday issues are same as if you worked with other Irish mobs. I think the amount of pay offered is substatial enough to look after your own butt for a change (just like being your own contractor). And there is also the 100% excavation......

[kevin wooldridge]

quote:Originally posted by troll I don`t quite understand why this particular advert is coming in for such a grilling even before the project starts....should`nt we wait until the field staff have an informed opinion before eating the company alive? ....Give the firm the benefit of the doubt I say! I do agree with Mr Wooldridge that it would be an excellent idea to have some form of guide (BAJR) on working abroad...contributions from all please!

Apologies if anyone misunderstood my contributions regarding the Irish jobs. I was not intending to be in any way critical of the company involved (infact I could just about love any employer in archaeology paying good money to loads of people), but merely trying to find out whether it was easy for a newcomer to start work in Ireland.


On Troll's other point. When I spoke about BAJR and other generalities at Cambridge University last month, I was asked if BAJR could give more information on working abroad (although to be strictly accurate, the context of the question was whether BAJR could provide advice for US archaeologists wishing to work in the UK).

I have considered whether it is feasible to write a guide to working abroad in archaeology and decided it is nigh on impossible for three main reasons.

Reason 1: no two individuals can ever have precisly the same criteria when it comes to deciding whether you qualify to work in nay country. Even within the EU or EEA, different countries have different rules for nationals of other states and in different professiona areas (try for example as a UK national, discussing the Schengen-rules with a Norwegian immigration officer).

Reason 2: Immigration and work control regulations are liable to short-notice changes and often individual interpretation, making the likelihood that any guide will quickly be out of date.

Reason 3: For some strange reason, qualifications in archaeology do not seem to travel well across borders and some countries seem to require archaeologists to be licenced, qualified and/or 'locally registered' irrespective of their competence, experience and qualifications from other countries. (BAJR-ites may have noticed a spate of recent UK archaeology job adverts for example, which ask foreign nationals to have 6 months experience of UK contract archaeology. How you gain that experience without working in the UK isn't addressed....)

However, there seems to be a way forward. Google, for example, 'Working in Ireland' and it brings up a host of web sites, some official and some more on the lines of Lonely Planet advice. I wonder if the answer to working abroad in archaeology advice isn't just to collate a list of useful web addresses perhaps attached to a general intro to the archaeological employment scene in individual countries.

In which case I would be happy to be counted in as collator of a guide to working in Scandinavia. Any idea where to put this guidance, Troll?

[troll]

Not you Mr Wooldridge-just a general scan of some posts on this thread.Just in from work so will post on "workin abroad" guide after injection of caffeine........

..knowledge without action is insanity and action without knowledge is vanity..(imam ghazali,ayyuhal-walad)

[BAJR Host]

Have been starting to collate... based on the fab lucy post.. (and other peeps)

So will post here for editing. perhaps Sat Sun?



"No job worth doing was ever done on time or under budget.."
Khufu