'What has IFA ever done for us...?'

[Odinn]

So it seems that the drift is... people complain about the IfA not doing anything, but tehy are not sure what it is they do either... but whatever it was they do they don't do it well?

That sounds rather like the situation vis-a-vis the different job roles in archaeology too.}

What would you expect the IfA to do? What would it take to get you to join...?

I am already a member. I would hope that they could gain chartered status and contribute to the common weal by ensuring that suitable standards of work were maintained. Influencing pay would be good too, especially if they managed to get the wages increased in line with other professions. I was asked once some years ago by a new staff member's mother "Is this really what you pay a graduate?" The shamefaced answer was, of course, "Yes". Perhaps chartered status could help remedy that. Ensuring continuous professional development would be another good thing. The IFA's recent drive on this is commendable, although their response to unemployed archaeologists querying how they are meant to afford any level of training was appallingly poor. Someone snarkily commented about CPD earlier in this thread (I think) because they were happy at the level they were at in terms of job role. CPD is not just about getting training to get promotions. It is also about ensuring that your skills are up-to-date in your current role and that you are aware of the newest research and methodologies so that you can apply them where appropriate. This means that it is all about making sure that you are the best post-hole expert you can possibly be, not just about getting new skills so that you can get a job higher up the food chain. There, that's a few ideas to rip apart.