Degrees, careers and finances

[Bonesgirl]

At the present moment in time I'm living with my parents and do not have a part time job of any form. Studying full time is hard enough, throw in dyslexia and a part time job and it would be a nightmare. The biggest problem I have is one of the courses I was thinking of doing is a three years one (theres two masters, you need one to access the other) and its in London So thats almost right out the window lol.

I'll start waving my CV about and see where that gets me, thank you

[Unitof1]

good luck when somebody like Jack writes this it means that your degee is worthless in their eyes and you have no chance of a proper job

It takes the average digger 3-6 months (time on site) to become proficient
enough in all the basics of excavation. A digger with experience on commercial
sites is usually seen as better due to the different 'attitudes' and priorities
between research and commercial excavation.

Diggers with 1 or more years
of commercial on-site experience are usually seen as 'a good bet'

But
obviously it depends on the person and their aptitude and
motivation.

I've had diggers with little experience who outshone more
experienced staff in raw talent and motivation...........and conversely had
'experienced' staff who needed serious re-training in the basics.

Having
a car, a mobile phone and being mobile and flexible make you more 'employable'
as you can fulfill a wider variety of jobs.
Sometimes, just being easily
contactable wins you the job!

But overall its the word-of-mouth
archaeological grapevine that will get you most jobs. Archaeologists tend to
respect the views of other archaeologist that they know well as to who is a good
worker.

I imagine its a different kettle of fish for jobs as a
specialist, at a museum, or in a planning authority.

A masters is only
really useful for training in how to do research or as a starting step to
becoming a specialist.


I guess it depends on where you wanna head.
Commercial digging, management, teaching, local government, academia, specialist
analysis, illustration, CAD, surveying/ building recording........etc
etc

[Kel]

If you're interested in the finds side, had you considered the Ceramic & Lithic Analysis Masters at Southampton? You can tailor it to focus on pottery (as I've done), stone artefacts like shale, querns etc., or a mix of both. Gives you a good practical grounding in the basics, and coursework includes turning out commercial pro-type reports, so it contains some good useful experience for a finds person (or "Sherd Nerd" as I apparently am).

However if you have an interest in a particular period, country or pottery type, it's worth double-checking that there's a member of staff with expertise in that area. There's nothing like learning the detail from an expert and existing gurus in commercial units or the self-employed, rarely have the time or resources to train an "apprentice".

[Marcus Brody]

good luck when somebody like Jack writes this it means that your degee is worthless in their eyes and you have no chance of a proper job

Or alternatively, Jack is providing an honest assessment of what an employer may look at when deciding who to employ - after all, in a situation where all the applicants probably have a degree, you've got to look at other aspects when deciding who's going to get the job. This may come down to experience (someone who can hit the ground running, and can do the job without someone standing over them all the time), someone who can drive (can get themselves and others to site, can do small jobs on their own without needing another member of staff to ferry them out and back), or someone who's pleasant to work with (because someone who's a total arse the whole time can make life on site unpleasant for everyone).

Unfortunately for the original poster, it's been a bit of an employer's market for the last few years, with an abundance of archaeologists chasing a shrinking pool of jobs, meaning that at least initially you'd be completing for jobs with people with more experience. For me, Jack's post helpfully provides some indication of other factors that may be considerations when filling a vacancy.

Might be a bit unfair but I've only ever looked at the digging experience bit on people's CVs when going through looking to employ diggers - years of getting a string of post-grad qualifications just looks like years spent avoiding getting wet, cold and muddy for as long as possible.... :face-stir:

I'm afraid I'd also tend to agree with Dinosaur on this - I've seen CVs from people who have spent their twenties gaining a series of ever more impressive qualifications, who are trying to get their first real job in their 30s. Don't get me wrong, I'm hugely envious of anyone who's been able to afford to do this, but I always get the impression that such highly-qualified people view commercial archaeology as something of a last resort - it's what you do when there are no more qualifications to get, and it's become clear that you're not going to get a lecturing post.

[RedEarth]

I'm afraid I'd also tend to agree with Dinosaur on this - I've seen CVs from people who have spent their twenties gaining a series of ever more impressive qualifications, who are trying to get their first real job in their 30s. Don't get me wrong, I'm hugely envious of anyone who's been able to afford to do this, but I always get the impression that such highly-qualified people view commercial archaeology as something of a last resort - it's what you do when there are no more qualifications to get, and it's become clear that you're not going to get a lecturing post.

I'v seen the same thing, CVs with years of high-level experience, often somewhere very exotic, from people applying for fairly standard UK jobs. It's doesn't seem likely that someone with that sort of CV will be very content standing in a rain sodden field watching a machine finding very little. My advice, don't worry too much about exactly what you would like to do in archaeology, unless there is something you are sure you really have your heart set on. If so, go for that with everything you can. Be adaptable. learn from every experience, and find somewhere/thing you feel comfortable. That's probably not a lot of use is it!

[Bodger51]

we few, we happy few

but to be honest who the heck is brother
I've seen people show such concern, but really they just want the goss, for their own interests

[Bodger51]

when it comes to want you want to do I think its probably best to just play it by ear rather than set your heart on anything.

but then the criticism you'll get from that is based upon not having anydrive and determination.

so in end, carry on till you get whatever the result is.

thats as much as anything

there are no guarantees and there is no right to have any better chance.

chose your path, make your bed and go for it.

not much point moaning about it or asking other people to resolve the unresolvable dilema, that we all face.

no will thank you for it and neither would they remember it, in either case.

your destiny, your career and there are more people reading these posts,than are partisipating so the real question would be, do you think this is thek ind of leadership that can shine through to the right level at the right point at the right time?

grammar be dammed, its a blog-a-sphere of the few,

Archaeogenetic linguistic cognition, be dammed, its just another social media profile.

history was written by the victors, but probably no more, unless propaganda viral prgrams enabled to define too closely to start selecting into discrimination.

circularity is now closed at the inn.

If your concerned over discrimination of opportunities, the law stands by yourside, but you wont be loved for it unless you think you can get the right people hired, but then I would suppose that the hierarchy would be inverted,and we would then be working to your pleasure.

equally unhealthy, but to be crass is to say 'ever was it thus'.

so all i'd say is

good luck

[Bodger51]

The issue I would suppose is whether you would consider how you would go about determining a brother

Some could say that a life exchanged for something has a value, whilst others would say what impact can one have within a world of many.

On these terms a multimedia world is the only way to propagate that concept, but this works upon the basis of a continuum of constancy, but that constant is beyond the control of interest, or guile of a selected few.

So really the notion of an event, or manifest point only really works upon the basis of wider analysis and co-ordination, but then that is not so much a few, but a many.

And to ensure a balanced examination of intent, accountability and outcome is really something that works beyond events and incident occurrences.

On these grounds then you would wonder how to work and live within a system which enables the opportunity and fruition of potential to be a real outcome.

I would presume to suggest that it requires continued activism which works within any system, where expectations remain realistic, but also continuous in the determination of realisable goals.

When it comes to those expectations becoming realisable then it stems from the need to depend upon those who make up the actionable and interested process.

It would be these that define that 'brother' whilst gender is really irrelevant outside of the nature of when it was written and of whom it refers.

Henry V,

Nell is also Mistress Quick, who partners with Pistol and knows well of Falstaff.

You would imagine Elizabeth, calling out guards, guards.

Quickly and irreversibly, an absolute outcome could be the issuance of treachery to that absolute power, which we could probably safely affiliate with Saddam Hussein, who held such power, and probably placed such demand of agreeable responses, that the reality of that process would be most effective in the operation and application of inaccuracies and inflated governance.

In such a paradigm, you would hope that whether the power resides within the scenario of Hawkes’ technological ladder in either polarised states would be balanced rather than in the application of absolute influential outcome determinations.

For those whom do not know Hawkes' Ladder stems from ideology to technology in a critical assessment of structured societal indicators, where critical mass within the skill base or a valuative and potentially dominant 'ideology' holds the principle influences.

But in an integrated global networked environment these polarities become insufficient to meet the logistical economics of decision making, and how to move forward aside from political posturing within a pair, or multiple, fighting scorpion scenario.

As such capacitance and logistics determine the potential to work through, and from here the real issue is whether the multimedia medium is utilised to amplify critical junctures throughout decision trees.

The absence of effective communication becomes critical to the degree of self awareness, whilst the nature of the awareness can amplify into coalesced capacitance functions, as externally assessed manifestations.

How can you qualitatively value multi scalar complex numbers or human beings in permanence?

One would hope through the application of stable factors, but those coalesced factors serve only function purposes, and whence, undertaken become the grotesque manifestation of the how to assess 'the barometer of brother'

But Agincourt actually operated as a ideological governance models where the French were manifest as heredities, whilst the English worked upon the hundreds freemen of the counties, or climbing influence barons.

One would hope that the cafe culture finances, are beyond the interests of singular cafe business models, whereupon the utility of supplying a given sector of privilege and prestige, that merrily has Falstaff surly to follow.

'I know thee not' (False staffing), surely absolutely not.


Anyways

Now for something entirely different in/on :face-topic:

[RedEarth]

Maybe posting things at 1.26am isn't such a great idea, perhaps try and get some sleep. Still, killed that discussion off pretty quickly, well done.

[Wax]

Ah to be young again lying awake full of that good old existential agnst instead of kicking the better half who is snoring
So what was the topic again?