31st August 2012, 03:38 PM
monty Wrote:Nine times out of ten fresh graduates are less than useless on commercial jobs..............and there is rarely any time/funds allocated for training....wtf will happen when all us old hands descend into decrepitude and retirement ??????????
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I'm intrigued as to what used to happen? How did the old hands learn? I graduated 20 years ago from a university with a relatively high requirement for field work but I was like a headless chicken when I first started with a commercial unit, presumably this was true for anyone under 40 (and quite a few over that age). Like most people I picked it up as I went, with the help of supportive supervisors and asking other diggers. Was there ever a time when a UG degree genuinely prepared people to dig? (genuine question).
I suspect that in the past the vast majority of training was on a fairly ad hoc basis. Not ideal, but it has produced the older skilled field archaeologists we have today.
cheers
David