7th April 2005, 07:52 PM
alot of what's been said rings very true.
i've been digging for five years. archaeology was, and still is, the only job i've ever wanted to do, however, somewhere along the line real life and self-respect kicked in and i've recently left - hopefully, to pursue dentistry (not totally capitalistic). i reached that terrible stage of actually wanting to buy a house, have a home and start a family (weird, huh?) and 200 quid a week and no stable employment won't let me do that.
add to that the galling fact of being expected to guide and instruct new graduates for the same pay and same position on the career ladder. no thanks, i'm worth more than that.
it's a crying shame, and i'm not the only one who feels like this. yet the profession as a whole seems content to watch this steady drain of expertise and knowledge and takes no steps towards rectifying the situation.
how hard would it be to increase tenders? as has rightly been said, developers can more than afford it, in fact the construction industry views archaeologists as something of a joke, given the low prices and lack of professionalism.
what's more the ifa could actually do something constructive (god forbid) and co-ordinate some short additional professional courses, that would give people something official to show their progress up a career ladder (actually, any sort of career ladder would be good), for example, surveying (civil engineering, really) or site recording -how many new graduates can fill out a context sheet adequately or keep a running matrix?
as regards wages, it's not a question of whether archaeology is affiliated with the construction industry or not, but that archaeologists are skilled workers and should be paid as such, not as site labourers. it's not capitalistic, it's not selling out, it's standing up for yourself.
i've been keen for some time to actually do something about this, i've left the profession and don't care about being blacklisted, but i feel like i'm spitting into the wind. any thoughts?
i've been digging for five years. archaeology was, and still is, the only job i've ever wanted to do, however, somewhere along the line real life and self-respect kicked in and i've recently left - hopefully, to pursue dentistry (not totally capitalistic). i reached that terrible stage of actually wanting to buy a house, have a home and start a family (weird, huh?) and 200 quid a week and no stable employment won't let me do that.
add to that the galling fact of being expected to guide and instruct new graduates for the same pay and same position on the career ladder. no thanks, i'm worth more than that.
it's a crying shame, and i'm not the only one who feels like this. yet the profession as a whole seems content to watch this steady drain of expertise and knowledge and takes no steps towards rectifying the situation.
how hard would it be to increase tenders? as has rightly been said, developers can more than afford it, in fact the construction industry views archaeologists as something of a joke, given the low prices and lack of professionalism.
what's more the ifa could actually do something constructive (god forbid) and co-ordinate some short additional professional courses, that would give people something official to show their progress up a career ladder (actually, any sort of career ladder would be good), for example, surveying (civil engineering, really) or site recording -how many new graduates can fill out a context sheet adequately or keep a running matrix?
as regards wages, it's not a question of whether archaeology is affiliated with the construction industry or not, but that archaeologists are skilled workers and should be paid as such, not as site labourers. it's not capitalistic, it's not selling out, it's standing up for yourself.
i've been keen for some time to actually do something about this, i've left the profession and don't care about being blacklisted, but i feel like i'm spitting into the wind. any thoughts?