After discussing what pay is like for crew chiefs/senior techs it would be good to mention what it takes to get such a job. For this I used the the requirements listed in job postings same as I used for pay rates. As with field techs there is over lap so some categories do not add up to 100% e.g. some posts said a MA preferred but BA acceptable in which case both were marked down as both could get someone a job. The results were:
2011- Graph Requirements for Archaeology Crew Chief
I left the graph as practically indistinguishable to illustrate that point that because the crew chief/senior tech. position is sort of an in-between position, not every company has such a position, there is a very mixed bag in what skills are required. What stands out though is the need to at least have a BA and a MA would not hurt. After that regional/local experience is the next most important asset to have. Everything else tends to fall under 25% though having 5 years of experience would qualify or over qualify a person for 80%+ of jobs while 1 year of experience in archaeology would only qualify one for 35% of jobs.
The raw data is here-
2011- Requirements for Archaeology Crew Chief
Chris Webster
January 10, 2012
These data fit for what I’ve directly experienced. I’ve also noticed that you can generally get to the top of the pay range with minimal experience if you negotiate for it. No experience gets you the bottom, some gets you near the top. I’ve almost never been in the middle. (typed on my iPhone in the SoCal desert…sorry for typos)