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10th September 2011, 06:15 PM
Started in 1975 as an amateur at a fairly tender age, but been working on 'circuit' sites since '79 and supervising since '83 - is that really 5 decades? -gosh! :0
Think my management would rather I became an office ornament (sadly I can do all those bits too), but know I'm liable to wander off elsewhere for my income if I'm not allowed outdoors occasionally, so compromise seems to be a 50/50ish split - although currently I've been out on sites almost continuously since last November so have a decent tan stored up for the impending long session with my mountainous backlogue and letting a few of the aches, pains and injuries heal a bit
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10th September 2011, 06:22 PM
...oh, and there's plenty of aged and hoary archaeologists around here if he's looking for somewhere to start, but a lot of them seem to prefer to work intermittently (presumably getting older means having a wider range of interests?) so are likely to fall through the cracks in any survey? The advantage of having been around for ever is that firms know to phone hem up when there's work in their area, with of course the occasional surprise that some of them were, in fact, mortal.......
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19th September 2011, 07:08 PM
I think it may also be due to it being really difficult for a new graduate to find a position.
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20th September 2011, 10:41 AM
If only universities gave them, during the three years they've got them, something that looked like useful experience to put on their CVs.... one of the good things about the old 'vol' system was that before/during Uni I'd accrued enough experience (while getting paid, sort of...) that I went straight to a supervisor job out in the big bad world with a proper unit as soon as I'd graduated (actually technically just before, the uni wasn't happy!) - these days presumably a student would have to pay out a fortune to get on enough sites to have racked-up a year+ site experience during uni hols?
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20th September 2011, 12:37 PM
Most contracts these days specify a set number of months/years of "commercial experience". Work on university, community and voluntary digs, no longer even blips on a fresh graduate's CV. There's no way you'd get even sort-of-paid work at that level these days.
Even paying to go on digs doesn't cut it. I've only seen a couple of commercial contracts, but those have specified that only professional archaeologists will work on the site and that volunteers/amateurs will not be used. Would just be more non-commercial work.
Same old same old. Can't get a commercial job, unless you already have commercial experience. Can only get commercial experience by doing a commercial job. Will only change when the pool of available commercially experienced diggers finally fall off their perches.
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20th September 2011, 01:00 PM
I got my first commercial job with a unit by working as a finds washer and pestering the personal manager twice a week until he was desperate enough to send me out on site.
Not helpful for anyone else I know.
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20th September 2011, 06:45 PM
Kel Wrote:Same old same old. Can't get a commercial job, unless you already have commercial experience. Can only get commercial experience by doing a commercial job. Will only change when the pool of available commercially experienced diggers finally fall off their perches.
Long wait then, older diggers seem to be the one's who've passed the 'survival of the fittest/sheer bl**dy-mindedness/never found anything better to do with their lives' exams so just go on for ever despite the bodily/dietery/whatever abuse, sad really, expect we'll all still be gripping our trowels as they screw down the coffin lid, possibly still dripping blood from the fight while the bu**ers were getting us in there.....}
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20th September 2011, 08:06 PM
It will only change when there is enough work going round for companies to risk taking on and training newbies. In the current climate I know if I had to choose a work force it would be the reliable old work horses who can be trusted to get on with the job and manage themselves.
Only if there was plenty of work or high prices paid for the work would I consider training new people. Hard I know and even short sighted but an economic necessity.
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21st September 2011, 06:45 PM
Agree with all posts subsequent to my last!
Main point being that there's nothing the unis can do to sort out the problem. Getting a commercial job is no longer about having uni/volunteer/bought experience on a CV. Organisations don't need to get graduates up to commercial speed as there's a more than adequate pool of experienced diggers to use first.
