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16th August 2008, 11:03 PM
Finished my degree... got a 2:1 which I'm pleased with.
Trouble is now there's no flamin' jobs. I am thinking of doing a masters as there is simply nothing about at the mo but will i end up in exactly the same position when I've done that - except a few (more) grand worse off??
Dammit I just want to dig...
Or do something even vaguely trowel-related....
'There is no great genius without some touch of madness'... that's my excuse and I'm sticking to it
\'Peace is having a bigger stick than the other guy\'
Austin Ainsworth
Unregistered
16th August 2008, 11:18 PM
stonecirclegirl, there are four job advertisements for site staff on BAJR at the moment. Keep on sending your CV out, you never know.
![[Image: OzinLondon.jpg]](http://i248.photobucket.com/albums/gg189/boltonsquanderer/OzinLondon.jpg)
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16th August 2008, 11:28 PM
I'm looking again at those jobs.... up until now I have been thinking some of them are too far away to go for (fiance may not be too pleased if I keep buggering off and leaving him with my parents). Then again maybe its time to say sod it and go for anything! (Well anything that doesn't require months of commercial experience that is...)
'There is no great genius without some touch of madness'... that's my excuse and I'm sticking to it
Austin Ainsworth
Unregistered
17th August 2008, 12:11 AM
I understand the desire to work near to where you live and sympathise with how your partner might feel but unfortunately if you want to pursue a career in field archaeology you may have to move from company to company in order to build a level of experience which matches your qualifications, (btw, congrats on your 2.1).
Some companies will take you as a trainee digger, (it is widely perceived that a degree or Uni training digs are no substitute for experience in the commercial sector), or you might be lucky and be employed as a site assistant on full diggers pay, (still a pittance but better than being a trainee).
There are no hard and fast rules to gaining a foothold in archaeology after graduation, what I would say is if this is what you really want to do then keep on sending your CV out, don't be disheartened by the rejection letters (if you get any - coz most companies won't even bother to reply to your application).
When you do eventually get a job, if you are ever in any doubt about what you should be doing on site then ask. One thing I will guarantee is that any site manager worth a damn will prefer you to ask a thousand questions a day and get the job done properly than be somebody who never asks and gets it wrong, that just leads to a whole load of problems for them in post-ex.
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17th August 2008, 10:49 AM
I feel like we have been with you through Uni.. and now onto your first job... <sob> congrads on the 2:1
Austin says it all - check your local units and ask them to keep you in mind...
good luck and keep us informed...
"I don't have an archaeological imagination.."
Borekickers
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17th August 2008, 11:56 AM
One of the things about the archaeological 'job-cycle' (and I guess at present we are reaching the bottom end) is that, however depressing at the time, it always seems to come back, sometimes stronger, sometimes adapted to changing economic conditions. I am sure many BAJRites will remember 1990/91 when it seemed that the whole of the archaeology community was either out of work or on the brink of losing their jobs and somehow it survived. I hope the same will happen this time round and maybe SCG it is just a question of hanging in there and keeping yourself available for the
better times.
One piece of advice I can offer is to never, ever jeopardise your personal relationships for the sake of archaeology. No job is worth that much.........
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17th August 2008, 01:17 PM
never, ever jeopardise your personal relationships for the sake of archaeology.
very true... very true indeed... something I should have thought about myself back in the old days!
"I don't have an archaeological imagination.."
Borekickers
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17th August 2008, 01:54 PM
It's not fair is it? Some years, units are falling over themselves to hire undergrads with no experience, then the economy wobbles and you guys suffer the crunch. I started out in the mid-nineties, when it was also pretty dire. MoLAS weren't hiring anyone with less than 6 years experience; hardly any of my mates even tried to get a job. I did volly work and went to work in an Elvis theme restaurant. There was an up-side though; a lot of people left, including the most talented ones who could excel in other fields. By the time I was going for supervisory and (especially) PO jobs the economy had recovered and there were a lot of projects around but a serious shortage of people with my skills. There's always a reward for tenacity.
Speaking of which, here's my advice.
Send CVs to everyone (see BAJR for addresses), regardless of whether they are advertising. Wait a few days and phone up everyone, ask to talk to the head of HR, ask them whether they got your CV and whether they need someone with your talent, drive, enthusiasm, or whatever skill you think they might most like. If they can't hire you, ask them to keep your CV and let you know if something comes up, and ask them (a) when would be a good time to contact them again (b) what skills or experience would improve your chances of being hired in future. If they seem nice and not too keen to get off the phone, you might ask for leads; they might have heard that the unit up the road is hiring. As long as you are charming, don't be afraid to hassle people (I hate to sound mercenary but if they can't help you, you can risk irritating them). How often to use this tactic is a tricky question. I once worked with one totally unqualified guy who phoned his local unit every Monday at 09:15 until eventually they gave him a job. Overkill perhaps, but it worked.
One thing about this: prepare yourself for everyone to say 'no', sometimes quite rudely. It may well be that everyone will say no; that doesn't matter, you are advertising yourself for future work as well as current vacancies. In other words, just making the call is the first indicator of success, not hearing them say 'yes'. Most importantly, keep your fiance on hand to periodically remind you of how marvelous you are. That will make it a hundred times easier than sitting alone for a day or two on the phone to strangers telling you that they don't need you. This is soul-destroying. You will need a hug.
Kev's last point is well made; and he's been married for about 75 years now. It's not something that I ever considered, and I lost a few good women that way. However, if you get offered a job in Swindon (for example) and hubby is just kicking his heels with not much going on, then he can move to Swindon too, and might find a wonderful and fulfilling new job there himself (ring any bells, Oxbeast?). If you can get non-archaeological work near 'home' where he's got something good going on career-wise, that's good too; there's no law saying you have to be an archaeologist and nothing wrong with having a few non-dig jobs on your CV, as any employer knows how the economy goes. However, if you and hubby are both doing jobs you hate just so you can stay in your home town, that's time to consider both of you upping sticks to somewhere random just because you can dig there. Furthermore, if you think the strain of your being apart for a few months isn't worth it, get out of archaeology or move to London, because almost all companies will want you to work away from home some of the time.
Hope that helps.
Tom
freeburmarangers.org
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17th August 2008, 03:04 PM
Excellent advice from all the above-especially the bit by Tom about having other jobs on your CV,if it tides you over and helps pays the bills then so be it;i've all but lost count of the variety of jobs i've done in-between digging one's over the years (from brussel sprout picking to window cleaning-even a short stint as a labourer on a building site,which didn't last long as they gave me the boot as soon as they found out I was an archaeologist!probably thought I was there to sabotage the job),hang in there and good luck.
Sooner or later you will find a cloud with a silver lining-they are not all mid to dark grey ones!:face-approve:
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17th August 2008, 07:20 PM
If you are generally interested in staying and in working in the area that you are in it helps if you've got any particular experience or knowledge of that area. If you've got minimal or little fieldwork experience (as already pointed out Uni work is probably going to be discounted by most employers) then emphasise anything you've done in the area. However, this is only likely to be any help if you're applying to smaller companies as the larger ones would probably just send you on a job on the other side of the country, which would make any local knowledge pretty worthless. It might make you stand out from other applicants otherwise.
