site tech role

[Dinosaur]

I am thinking that Portfolios compiled by the individuals during their career are the only realistic way to go....returning AGAIN to the issue of creative ownership and copyright...

Have noticed over the years that an awful lot of diggers have rather over-inflated ideas about their abilities (probably me included, am certainly no longer the digger I once was due to body falling apart...), hence the need for some level of 3rd party assessment?

[P Prentice]

still waiting dino

[Dinosaur]

You'll have to remind me what it was I was going to respond to, many pages, days/weeks ago b4/during the server-change shennanigans, and frankly I can't be *rsed to back-track that far, don't you have anything more constructive/up to date to do? :face-stir:

[P Prentice]

You'll have to remind me what it was I was going to respond to, many pages, days/weeks ago b4/during the server-change shennanigans, and frankly I can't be *rsed to back-track that far, don't you have anything more constructive/up to date to do? :face-stir:

that's ok - we can guess what you wil say before you actually post it

[thalinor]

Interesting discussion regarding skills and training. A few observations and points which may seem a bit rambly and repetitious but I have been diggerupping today.... zzzzzzzzzz :face-thinks:

* Training often seems to be haphazard. But it is tied to funds and the needs of a business (yes, that can seem short sighted)
* Some people have a ego-busting idea of their self worth and see other people's development with envy. They want training is something but aere not prepared to do something else to help an organisation.
* A skills passport would need to be measured against what somebody should be able to achieve after a given amount of time in the profession, for example planning. However this is of course dependent on whether they have been given enough opportunites. And has been said, some people really should not be allowed near a planning board and permatrace!
* I do not agree with the old system of supervisors recording. It does not help the development of the field archaeologist and besides the person who dug the feature should know what is going on and should be able to communicate that. And the old system does not suit this current trend of the need to rapidly record archaeology. i an see how the need for a supervisor or one person dedicated to doing the planning would be necessary (consistency of the archaeological record)
* Risk of bias in assessment
* Skills passport supplemented with a realistic set of goals for personal development.
* If there is a central database... how do you cut out the risk of defammatory comments being made about a person?

hmmmmm:face-thinks:

Hostie-- I would be interested to see your Skills Passport model

[dmama]

"like a circle ever turning no beginning and no end," and so we go round and round and round and............. when skills are ignored or repressed there is no way forward, however... skill passport.... hmm can dig hole but refuses to record d-, can shift x amount of dirt (exceeding expectations but mainly contains finds) v finding microliths... tough eh??? what do you consider a skill? shifting stuff or finding stuff. digging holes or recording them??? doing it or doing it right! again i quote."like a circle ever turning no beginning and no end," the job we do is to record the past in the present for the future. so we need the best and not be reliant on the rest... every one should aspire to be the best at what they do, professional pride, and not rely on others to do the job for them. that is the best skill there is. dead wood has no place in any respectable profession but enthusiasm and talent can =skill and should be encouraged. bullshit should be eliminated at every turn yet questions an inquisitiveness should be encouraged. no one knows everything and anyone who thinks that they do belongs with the thatcherite yupies of the 80's. beware the over confident. the maxim i go by is the more i learn the more i know i don't know.... and that goes for skills... i know that i know a lot but it will never be enough... stay curious

[Dinosaur]

Over the years I've worked with a fair number of people who were bl**dy useful on site and liked being there and doing the physical side of the job but who had no knowledge/interest in archaeology - like an urban job back in the 80s that involved a lot of jack-hammering and lo!, we had a guy from the job centre who'd been training people to use the things. And another guy who, at the age of nearly 50, fancied a change of profession so I got him a try-out as a digger because I had a feeling that his background (off-shore and construction) would fill in an awful lot of skills-gaps in the setup, and blimey was I right! Well useful! - worked out pretty well since he's also since got into archaeology and I believe is on the circuit down south currently...not sure where I'm going with this...oh yes, having a degree/MSc/PhD/whatever and being able to do all the recording doesn't necessarily make you a more attractive site-employee, there are other skills....get a full machine licence and you'll be so high up my list I'll have to Sellotape an extra couple of pages to the top (other brands of sticky-tape are available)