22nd August 2011, 01:02 PM
What I most wanted and couldn't get (so left the profession) were two things not in the poll; job security and steady local work.
I would put job security over a higher wage. I could budget to live on ?15k if I knew I had that coming in all year and next year too..
The real financial problems come from insecurity - having to move house, waiting for housing benefit to be processed and so on. This is what makes it impossible to save and leaves you with mounting debts. Obviously a higher wage is needed for archaeologists, but I found the inability to plan financially due to not knowing if my current job would end next week or go on for years was worse than the low wage itself.
Second I'd like to have steady work locally, it becomes very hard to have any permanent family or social life when having to travel all over the place to stay away for weeks or months at short notice.
I would put job security over a higher wage. I could budget to live on ?15k if I knew I had that coming in all year and next year too..
The real financial problems come from insecurity - having to move house, waiting for housing benefit to be processed and so on. This is what makes it impossible to save and leaves you with mounting debts. Obviously a higher wage is needed for archaeologists, but I found the inability to plan financially due to not knowing if my current job would end next week or go on for years was worse than the low wage itself.
Second I'd like to have steady work locally, it becomes very hard to have any permanent family or social life when having to travel all over the place to stay away for weeks or months at short notice.