13th September 2004, 02:12 PM
The problem with training is that units expect to have people working for them that are able at the job and can be a useful member of the team when carrying out evaluations, excavations etc. These projects are done in a private sector environment and to fairly tight budgets and deadlines etc. Rare indeed are the occasions when you have the time or the money to provide structured training and tuition to a fresh graduate with virtually zero experience. Units of a small to medium size generally require staff to do evaluations, watching briefs with the occasional small excavation thrown in. They need people to hit the ground running so to speak. In this situation training really has to be done on the job "hold the shovel this way, finds in here, draw the section like this". Proper "structured" training seems to me to be more easily undertaken by the mega units like Oxford and Wessex that have large projects on with the requisite budgets and site staff which enable them to do the job but "carry" the trainees until they reach a specific standard. To a small unit the graduates can be nothing but a distraction and waste of time on a tightly budgeted small project. Harsh I know, but true.