15th March 2011, 09:58 AM
So, where are you ultimately trying to get to in your career?
If you're looking to climb onto an academic path then going for the PhD is obviously pretty much a necessity. If you're looking to enter the commercial world, you'll have to think about what you can do with it - there isn't really a commercial specialism in Neolithic regional studies but you could try and focus in on a consultancy or editorial aspect through transferable skills I suppose, although that is fairly infeasible at the moment considering the number of experienced and skilled archaeologists from all levels looking for work at the moment.
That said, the reality is that if you don't have the commercial grounding to begin with, the PhD probably won't get you into commercial archaeology (as far as I've ever been able to tell, anyway). It may well help you develop skills and knowledge which will become useful as you move on through the profession but the only way in for the majority of people has been through site-work, transience and short-term contracts and a lot of hard graft in the field.
Does that help at all or am I completely off-track?
If you're looking to climb onto an academic path then going for the PhD is obviously pretty much a necessity. If you're looking to enter the commercial world, you'll have to think about what you can do with it - there isn't really a commercial specialism in Neolithic regional studies but you could try and focus in on a consultancy or editorial aspect through transferable skills I suppose, although that is fairly infeasible at the moment considering the number of experienced and skilled archaeologists from all levels looking for work at the moment.
That said, the reality is that if you don't have the commercial grounding to begin with, the PhD probably won't get you into commercial archaeology (as far as I've ever been able to tell, anyway). It may well help you develop skills and knowledge which will become useful as you move on through the profession but the only way in for the majority of people has been through site-work, transience and short-term contracts and a lot of hard graft in the field.
Does that help at all or am I completely off-track?