3rd September 2012, 05:10 PM
Hi all, as I said before, I wasn't saying a degree was a bad thing (got several meself...), just that it WASN'T vocational training for the intellectualised navvying that is commercial fieldwork. Mine were great background, as well as training in research, synthesis, writing, and other useful skills. But if we want it to be a way into commercial field employment then uni degrees will need to include a very large dollop of dedicated site work (6mos min?) and also incorporate the risk that those who can't pass muster in the dirt will get pushed out to non-field career paths. But to do that, we'd need some kind of chartered status in the profession in order to require appropriate training (like plumbers, HGV drivers, plant operators etc) so nobody could reach the job market without having the basic skills and experience attested by a certificate. And regardless of how IFA feels about itself, it isn't a chartering body or even a trade union...
The point is that would-be diggers have to be made aware of the harsh realities of the process, especially at a time of fewer jobs to go around. I certainly didn't learn enough about the dirt during my academic education, and it took a full year of almost continuous post-grad exploitation - sorry, volunteering! - before I was able to secure paid employment in the digging trade. It was rough, and back then we had access to the rump of the old Circuit - large digs funded directly or indirectly from Gov't, often via uni depts. It is the absence of these opportunities that mean we are now debating some kind of vocational training. And back then we didn't even have the albatross of fees to repay...
Sorry, I know this doesn't get us any closer to sorting out a way to get on-the-job training from commercial units. But then I'm not sure there is an answer with our current quasi-required status in the planning system. Anyone for an RICFA?...
The point is that would-be diggers have to be made aware of the harsh realities of the process, especially at a time of fewer jobs to go around. I certainly didn't learn enough about the dirt during my academic education, and it took a full year of almost continuous post-grad exploitation - sorry, volunteering! - before I was able to secure paid employment in the digging trade. It was rough, and back then we had access to the rump of the old Circuit - large digs funded directly or indirectly from Gov't, often via uni depts. It is the absence of these opportunities that mean we are now debating some kind of vocational training. And back then we didn't even have the albatross of fees to repay...
Sorry, I know this doesn't get us any closer to sorting out a way to get on-the-job training from commercial units. But then I'm not sure there is an answer with our current quasi-required status in the planning system. Anyone for an RICFA?...