26th August 2010, 05:24 PM
Speaking as someone 'straight out of uni' (or be it after doing post-grad research), and with more field experience than virtualy all of my undergrad 'class', I definatly don't feel confident to enter the commercial world (it's lucky there aren't any jobs at the moment eh!).
I think that I'd probably racked up around four or five months worth of field work on training, research and fieldschool digs when I graduated, problem is though, my local unit don't take on volunteers so I never had chance to do stuff at a commercial pace/level. And I fear that the people running the some of the training digs that I've done would also be fishes out of water on commercial sites. Let's face it, when someone like me is being roped in to help train undergrad students, there is little hope of them being able to hit the ground running on a commercial dig.
Anyhoo, think that any thoughts (dreams?) of entering the commercial world have finally fled my brain now. Just feel sorry for all those young 'uns coming through at the mo - luckily I got through the whole process without racking up huge debts, and can aford to continue as a 'gentleman archaeologist' for a while longer. But talking to the current undergrads, it's depressing regarding just how little many know about commercial archaeology and the prospects, pay and conditions.
Anyone need any shelves stacking?
I think that I'd probably racked up around four or five months worth of field work on training, research and fieldschool digs when I graduated, problem is though, my local unit don't take on volunteers so I never had chance to do stuff at a commercial pace/level. And I fear that the people running the some of the training digs that I've done would also be fishes out of water on commercial sites. Let's face it, when someone like me is being roped in to help train undergrad students, there is little hope of them being able to hit the ground running on a commercial dig.
Anyhoo, think that any thoughts (dreams?) of entering the commercial world have finally fled my brain now. Just feel sorry for all those young 'uns coming through at the mo - luckily I got through the whole process without racking up huge debts, and can aford to continue as a 'gentleman archaeologist' for a while longer. But talking to the current undergrads, it's depressing regarding just how little many know about commercial archaeology and the prospects, pay and conditions.
Anyone need any shelves stacking?