The greatest trick #freearchaeology ever pulled was convincing new graduates they needed #freearchaeology. In case that reference is not clear:
“The greatest trick the Devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn’t exist.”- The Usual Suspects
In Emily’s post, that started the #freearchaeology conversation, The problematic topic of the volunteer culture in archaeology and heritage in Britain she stated-
“It has only become more apparent as I begin to search out jobs and complete application forms from employers who expect a huge amount of experience (both voluntary and paid) from successful candidates. All too often, it is impossible to gain experience in a paid position until you have really rather substantial voluntary experience.”
There is the common belief that experience matters. In my last post I did some quick math to show that a degree does not give a person the necessary skills and experience to be an archaeologist, which would indicate that experience matters even more. However this is not the case and as Archaeology in Tennessee eloquently said on that post-
Have you ever read “What Color is Your Parachute”? I am damn near an expert on the thing. I’ll sum it up for you in the same way Dick Bolles would: “It is not the most qualified person that gets the job. The person who gets the job is the person who knows the most about HOW to get the job.”
Just to be clear, experience does matter but not in the way that most new graduates think. Let me explain what I mean, there is probably only one person, Jennifer at archaeologyfieldwork, who has seen more archaeology job adverts than myself. I have produced annual review of job conditions in archaeology based on job postings and in that work I have read every posting on Shovelbums, years of archaeologyfieldwork, and every BAJR posting since 2005. I can tell you with the full knowledge of 10’000+ job adverts there are only 3 types of job postings, 4 if you want to get very technical. Not knowing the difference it posts can lead one to believe that they need #freearchaeology.
The first type is the emergency hire. These are posts you get that say stuff like, “crew member dropped out and I need someone in St. Cloud on Monday” or “project starts next week and we just got the go ahead, anyone in Inverness looking for work”. These posts don’t require any experience to get them, but they do require luck e.g. living in the location, being the first to respond, etc. These positions practically anyone can get if you have luck.
The next set of job postings, and the ones that mislead most new graduates are your general call for workers. These are either every few months to refresh lists of entry level workers, or in anticipation of a large project coming up. Now depending on how you want to break this up there is a third category or it can be counted in the general call category and that are positions that must be posted. Large organizations, most government departments, etc. are usually required to post every job position no matter what, even if they have someone for the job. I place this in the general call category as they follow the same format, which is they tend to require experience. These are postings that mislead new archaeologists into believing that they need to undertake #freearchaeology. Unfortunately they do this because when you post a job advert on BAJR, shovelbums, etc. you will get up to 100 + applications in a matter of hours. Imagine if someone took 5 minutes to read through 200 applications? That is 17 hours of work and at only 30 secs. per application that is still an hour and half of work. Thus one needs a way to cut down the number of applications and the best way to do that is to put on requirements like 6 months of experience, CSCS card, archaeology degree, a pet unicorn, etc. In the case of organizations that have to post sometimes they use this to get their preferred candidate.
Now comes the third type of job posting- the one that is never posted. Many entry level posts are never posted on a job board (debatable as it could be the majority but since they are never posted we can’t track it). Bill said it best in the comments of my last post,
“I have several suggestions for Emily. They mostly focus on working to create a job for herself BEFORE its posted on the Internet. By the time the job hits the Internet, you’ve got to compete against all the other archaeos in your area which is why job posts have such ridiculously high experience levels for an entry level job. She should get keyed into the local market and get to know every single person that has the potential to hire her. Then, stay on their minds by periodically emailing and calling to see if there’s anything available. It’s tough work, but that’s how it’s done in archaeology.”
You don’t need six months of experience to get an entry level archaeology job, you just need to know how to get a job. How can you do this? Simple, read Bill’s blog, the man knows what he is talking about and can get you a job in archaeology.
The best class I ever took at University was Avenues to Professionalism, a course that taught me how to get a job in archaeology. 4 years of undergrad! 4 years of postgrad! and out of all that time only one class has made a difference in my archaeology career. One of the instructors for that class recently emailed me asking me to send a short statement of what I got out of the class and I wrote back- “best class I have ever taken”. She though it was a joke until I told her I was dead serious. That class taught me how to get a job in archaeology. That is the experience new graduates are missing, not six months of blah blah.
Now, you might be thinking alright that is nice and all but all I see are some opinions. Well for those looking for some hard data here it is-
This data is the mentions of certain requirements in entry level positions in USA commercial archaeology from 1999 to last year. It was collected from postings on Shovelbums and archaeologyfieldwork.com. This is across two recessions and one of the greatest boosts in archaeology work. If anything the data indicates that fewer postings are requiring experience, at least in the US.
In my last post I stated that University does not qualify one to be an archaeologists. What I would add to that is that employers know this and to be honest, they have always known this. The only thing that has changed in the last few years is that there are far fewer jobs in archaeology, 1/3 less in the UK than before the recession. Six months, 12 months, a master degree as a requirement in a job posting is not meant as a real requirement but as a way to sift through applications AND they has always existed. Don’t let sift convince you that you need to undertake #freearchaeology.
Undertake #freearchaeology, I prefer the term volunteering, because you want to, not because you want a job. If you want a job in archaeology follow the advice of Bill and Archaeology in Tennessee- learn how to get a job in archaeology. Yeah- universities are going to fail you there but people like bill have written books to help you.
Again, much longer post than I expected and still more to say but it will have to wait till the next post. Those I promised that I would cover certain topics, hoping to get to them soon.
Doug's Archaeology 
Donna
August 19, 2013
Two thumbs up. Many of my various paid jobs in archaeology or archaeology related things have come from employers seeing me do a bang-up job in my previous paid work. Some of these were places created for me. That said, someone gave me a break at the start. Also, at least once, I cold-applied for a public archaeology job with people who had never met me and got the sucker based on experience (and, I like to think, sparkling interview personality).
I think this “place creation” exists in academic archaeology as well and this is something that is rarely (if ever) said to graduate students. Near the end of my PhD I would scour job announcements, applying for anything and everything, and I got nowhere. Not even an interview. Yet, inspired by the creation of a research group I liked, I took a deep breath, banged together some grant applications, and walked out with two spiffy fellowships on top of each other. I created (and argued) my place to both the funding bodies and to the research group. It isn’t job security but it is 3 years of post doc that I didn’t have before.
I fear though that too many people think that the only way for them to create a place is to prove their worth pay-free for a while. I like your suggestion that motivated grads work the scene, be in everyone’s face (sweetly and not annoyingly) and be the person that is thought of when new work comes along. That is why I took a (low) paid, part-time museum job in 2011: I figured no other job could pass me by if I was standing right there.
Gosh, I realise now how lucky I was to get that (low) paid job.
I wonder why this is such a major failing in our archaeo/museo/heritage teaching. Is it because mentoring like this is hard? Because there are just too many students to care for? Is it because we aren’t self-aware enough to know just how we became not unemployed?
Doug Rocks-Macqueen
August 19, 2013
Hi Donna- this was a much longer post. Had some of my personal experiences in it before I took them out- maybe next post. My first arch job was luck too- my second was because of the class I took, the last because I now know how to play the system. I think you are asking all the right questions- “I wonder why this is such a major failing in our archaeo/museo/heritage teaching. Is it because mentoring like this is hard? Because there are just too many students to care for? Is it because we aren’t self-aware enough to know just how we became not unemployed?”
Though even if we could train everyone there are not enough jobs (even for people with lots of paid/free experience). Also, I am afraid some tough love needs to be given too- some people are not nice, poor workers, etc. and there are reasons they are not employed.
Donna
August 19, 2013
“some people are not nice, poor workers, etc. and there are reasons they are not employed.”
Preach it.
Watched my absolute poorest field school student ever (ever, ever, ever! They were SO bad) get a PhD place at a ‘good’ school because they were willing to pay. Those with money (or willing to go into massive debt) will always find a archaeo or heritage degree. Then they will be unemployed and unhappy. OR they will be taking unpaid internships and making everyone else feel like that is what must be done.
Ehh, not being honest to spare someone’s feelings is a pet peeve of mine.
John Lowe
August 20, 2013
As a quick note on job postings and experience, some CRM contracts (especially with state and federal government agencies) have specific experience requirements for various job levels. So, for example, the lowest level of field tech (let’s say Archeological Technician I) might only be required to have attended a field school (and more specifically one through a university program), while the next level up (Arch Tech II) might have a minimum 6-month of relevant experience. This continues on up the chain, and for different titles. As an example, I could not be called a “Senior Lithics Analyst” on State bids/scopes/proposals until I had conducted three analyses published in reports meeting certain state standards.
For non-State contracts, I suspect it’s much more up to the company to decide, and I’m sure that meeting certain experience standards is one of the “weed out” techniques.
I can also confirm that many jobs are not listed. I was originally brought in straight out of my thesis-work field school by someone who was a PI for a CRM firm who conducted personal research in Belize; I had helped out in my spare time. He specifically asked my professor if I wanted to work, and then asked me if I knew anyone else. My local office of this particular firm almost never had open calls, but relied on word of mouth, references, and calling people who had worked on other projects.
Networking is tantamount in the CRM world, followed by your reputation as a worker.
Doug Rocks-Macqueen
August 20, 2013
Yes-very true. Thanks for bringing that up. Too much to cover in too little space. I sort of briefly touched on that with required to post type posts but it does deserve more detail. I would say federal level is a little more realistic with their GS4/5s (or whatever they are being called these days) and not requiring too much experience. Also- this was meant as entry level work only. It does without saying that the MA requirement for federal permits is not a soft requirement. Also, some people want six months when they say six months. I mean to touch upon it in another post, soon.
Jeffrey Baker
August 20, 2013
As someone who has worked in both academia and CRM (and done hiring in CRM), several comments. First, when I’m looking at resume’s, my first criteria is location. I work in the western U.S., and when I’ve posted jobs on shovelbums, half the applicants are located east of the Mississippi. I don’t care how much experience you have, I’m very reluctant to hire someone who will have to travel three or four days just to get to the project area. After that I start looking at experience, and volunteer experience ranks below field schools on the experience level. Unless, I know the person who was in charge of the volunteer experience. I’m aware of too many volunteer “opportunities” in which the volunteer might help screen artifacts, but often aren’t allowed to do any actual digging.
As far as why this topic is not discussed in academia, most professors have very limited experience in how CRM works. They don’t know how to get a job in the CRM world, and they don’t know what skills are needed to survive in the CRM world. Not to mention, that many in academia still look down upon CRM archaeologists.
If you are interested in doing archaeology, odds are you will end up doing CRM work. Start meeting people as an undergrad, and get experience before starting a grad program. If I have resumes from two different people I’m thinking of hiring, and one has a bachelor’s degree and a field school or two under their belt, and, the other one an M.A. with 3 or 4 years of field school under their belt, I’ll hire the person with the B.A./B.S. The person with the B.A./B.S. will not come onto the job thinking they know everything there is to know about archaeology.
If you have an M.A. and are looking for a job with no real experience (field school is not real experience), in your job letter and the interview, you need to make it clear that you are willing to learn new ways of doing archaeology.
SuccinctBill (@SuccinctBill)
August 21, 2013
Killer post, Doug. It’s all about who you know and how you position yourself in the market. However, it is possible to get a job by submitting an app or responding to an online post but your odds of success diminish greatly.
Jeffery Baker knows what he’s talking about. Field school and college “experience” will never trump paid experience. Students, if possible, take field school your second year in college and spend all the rest of your time building your network by doing summer compliance work and take paid work whenever you can. Most jobs don’t actually require a degree. Like Doug said, employers put that out there to weed out as many applicants as possible. You can get a temporary tech job by making a good impression with a Principal Investigator and keeping in touch even when they don’t have work.