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Investigating the Profession and Research
Browsing All Posts filed under »Archaeology the Profession«
Refugees are not just for Christmas – how “advocacy” is going to cause harm
This is a story about how the war in Ukraine was used to gain attention, without apparent regard to the harm it is/will cause. While I do share some information obtained while working as the Deputy-CEO of FAME, everything presented here are my own thoughts and not that of any of my employers. Bad Ideas […]
UK Archaeologists STOP, STOP right now, advocating to bring archaeologists from war torn countries to the UK to work – its a really bad idea
March 22, 2022
On Twitter, several people have started a pressure campaign on CBA (Council for British Archaeology), CIfA (Charter Institute for Archaeologists) and FAME (Federation of Archaeological Managers and Employers) to do more about Ukraine. I am going to side step lots of issues around that idea e.g. the racism involved in only advocating jobs for “white” […]
RIP Theresa O’Mahony
September 24, 2019
I have just got in from the field to discover that Theresa O’Mahony passed away on Sunday. She was a tireless advocate for disabled archaeologists and for the inclusion of those with disabilities into archaeology. She created the enabled archaeology foundation https://enabledarchaeologyfoundation.org/ fought so many battles I don’t think anyone has be able to count […]
Jobs in American Archaeology: Pay for CRM Archaeologists
September 23, 2015
This is a paper I wrote. As a believer in Open Access I have posted it here (with permission from Springer to wave the year embargo on Green Open Access) . Here is a PDF version Pay for CRM Archaeologists. Title: Jobs in American Archaeology: Pay for CRM Archaeologists Journal: Archaeologies Volume 10, Issue 3 , pp 281-296 […]
How Many People Have US Anthropology Degrees? – The number might surprise you, or not.
July 17, 2014
We have just passed an important milestone in the life of an Anthropologist, graduation season. Starting in May and running through June universities in America will harvest a new crop of Anthropology graduates (Archaeology is a part of Anthropology in the US). Some of these new graduates will be apprehensive about getting a job, some […]
How Many People in the US Have Archaeology Degrees? Significantly more than a bakers dozen
July 11, 2014
‘How many people have got an archaeology degree in the US?’ People ask this question for a variety of reasons, like knowing how many people you have to compete with to get a job, how many people might be very interested in Archaeology, or they are practicing for a quiz style game-show like Jeopardy, Who […]
With each passing year your degree means less and less and less and less…….
November 18, 2013
‘A Bachelors is the new high school degree. Soon you will need one to get a job at McDonalds’ – unknown I remember several years ago that someone told me that. Unfortunately, it has come to pass for archaeology that this is true. Continuing on my examination of the Profiling the Profession data, the last […]
Jobs in British Archaeology 2012-13 (draft)
October 28, 2013
Just finished up remaking the figures for the annual Jobs in British Archaeology article. Hopefully at some point in the near future it will be in an issue of The Archaeologist. I have redone the figures with a table-graph?. I am not sure what to call it. However, it really captures the distribution of pay […]
I, for one, welcome our new female overlords in Archaeology
October 24, 2013
Archaeology, it’s a women’s world. Ok, slight exaggeration but not by too much. For years there has been concern about the male domination of archaeology, especially when other professions quickly gained more equal gender ratios following the women’s rights movement and archaeology did not. The latest Profiling the Profession report (which I will be posting […]
Archaeologists, the Whitest People I Know
October 15, 2013
Archaeologists are probably the whitest people I know. Last week I mention the Profiling the Profession report came out and that I would be going into more in-depth analyzes of the results over the next couple of weeks, maybe months. To start that off is this chart- The problem it highlights is not a new […]
#freearchaeology- How do you know you really want to work in Archaeology?
October 8, 2013
If you have a spare moment I recommend reading ‘& Even More Thoughts on Getting a Job in the Cultural Heritage Sector‘ over at Archaeology, Museums & Outreach (http://rcnnolly.wordpress.com/2013/10/07/even-more-thoughts-on-getting-a-job-in-the-cultural-heritage-sector/). It is an interview with Carol Ellick about getting work in the Cultural Heritage Sector. It is an excellent piece to read. Full disclosure- I took the […]
Profiling the Profession 2012-13 is Now Out!
October 7, 2013
It took several more months than expected but the whole Profiling the Profession 2012-13 report is now out. You can download it here- http://www.landward.eu/2013/10/archaeology-labour-market-intelligence-profiling-the-profession-2012-13.html. For those unaware, PP is a sort of census of Archaeologists working in the UK. It happens every 5 years and gathers data like pay, age, gender, etc. It is 230 […]
#freearchaeology- unpaid internships are worse than you thought
August 22, 2013
Over the last week I have been trying to show new graduates that they do not need to undertake #freearchaeology to get a job. I have tried to show numbers that indicate that experience is not really what is required for entry level work. Unfortunately, I have had to show that there are not enough […]
Why I do #freearchaeology and maybe a reason why you should too
August 21, 2013
I do #freearchaeology and I do it all the time. This is not some sort of trick statement like I do #freearchaeology, its called a degree, ha ha ha. I have literally done months and months of #freearchaeology. Why? Because I like to do archaeology. I like the people I do it with, shout out […]
#freearchaeology- Maybe it’s not everyone else, maybe it’s you
August 20, 2013
When my wife was younger, like 10, she complained to my mother-in-law that people did not like her. To which my mother (I really don’t add the in-law to often) responded, “Maybe it’s not everyone else, maybe it’s you”. My wife took that to heart and changed her ways. In my opinion, the #freearchaeology debate […]
#freearchaeology- The greatest trick the Devil ever pulled
August 19, 2013
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 […]
#freearchaeology- Great Expectations
August 16, 2013
To continue my thoughts on #freearchaeology from my last post, I would like to explore the topic of #freearchaeology and expectations of new graduates. To be fair to all that has been written about #freearchaeology the topic is wide and encompassing. However, I would like to focus on the catalyst that started #freearchaeology, Emily’s post […]
#freearchaeology- Devil’s Advocate, an intro
August 12, 2013
Sam has been running a serious of amazing posts on the topic of #freearchaeology (well a few months ago, it has taken me a few months to get this out). Seriously, he should get a Pulitzer for all the research and work he has done on the topic. Check out some of his posts: free […]
English Heritage, Death of a Thousand Cuts- Actually, just 10
July 4, 2013
English Heritage just announced the impact of the most recent spending cuts, a 10% reduction in their support from the government in 2015/16. English Heritage, bless their hearts, put a positive spin on the problem, ‘Last week the future of the National Heritage Collection was secured following the announcement of a one-off Government lump sum of […]
The decline in archaeological excavation in Ireland has stopped!- Charles Mount
July 3, 2013
Reblogged from http://charles-mount.ie/wp/?p=1068 New data confirms that the decline of archaeological excavation in Ireland has stopped! In the second quarter of 2013 there were 139 excavation licenses issued by the National Monuments Service in the Republic of Ireland. This is an increase of just under 7% on the number issued in the same period in […]
What Might Be Cut in English Heritages’ £121m Loss of Funding
June 27, 2013
Yesterday it was announced that English Heritage was getting the ax and the government was cutting all funding. This was put with a slightly nicer spin of look at the good bye money we are sending. The press release is pretty bad but it does state that, ‘Under current plans, the new charity will be […]
The Kiss Goodnight for English Heritage
June 26, 2013
For months now the Heritage Sector in England has been bracing for the budget news for English Heritage and it has finally come. It might be one of the bravest faces being put on by EH I have seen as the government has done more than cut the budget, they have cut English Heritage. Here […]
Academic Archaeology Jobs in UK- 4REF is King/Queen
June 19, 2013
I have been seeing a very disturbing (in my opinion) trend in job postings for Archaeology Academic jobs in the UK. Here is a new job posting (warning, link my not work when job closes) and the first requirement under essential criteria: ‘PhD in Archaeology or cognate discipline at the time of application’ OK not […]
Less Archaeology Work- Duh! but still interesting to see the numbers
May 2, 2013
As work on the Profiling the Profession is progressing I have had to look at a variety of different data sources. One source I have looked at is planning applications for construction in England. Raw number of applications do not capture the nuances of work for archaeologists. For example, building a single house will not […]
McDonalds = Archaeology Profession?
April 30, 2013
Sam Hardy has an excellent piece on free archaeology: job insecurity and the need for an archaeological minimum wage. I have been meaning to build off of it for some time now but have been very busy so this is a bit delayed. First, go read Sam’s post- it covers so much and is very good. […]
Irish archaeology recovery around the corner?
April 4, 2013
“New data suggests that the rate of decline in archaeological excavation in Ireland is slowing. In the first quarter of 2013 to the 31 of March there were 112 excavation licenses issued by the National Monuments Service in the Republic of Ireland….” you can check out the rest at Charles Mounts blog.
Archaeology CVs / Resumes for New Archaeologists (and the old too)
February 26, 2013
Occasionally, I post some advice on how to write a CV for archaeology jobs. Well, just a few days ago Chiz posted an article he wrote in 2010 about archaeology CVs (British CV e.g. same as North American Resume): Traditionally-formatted CVs look great and they work well for traditional industries, but for archaeological jobs the […]
There is a Crises in UK Academic Archaeology BUT it’s not the one you think
February 20, 2013
All of yesterday and now most of today I have seen this Guardian article making the rounds on social media sites, forums, etc.- Will the study of archaeology soon become a thing of the past? It was written by a historian, Michael Braddick who also happens to be the pro-vice-chancellor for the faculty of arts […]
The Economics of Archaeology Part 3: Why Wages are Low and Why you Boss in Not a Heartless Bastard(maybe)
February 18, 2013
In part one I talked about how lowering wages will not stop under cutting and in part two of this series I discussed why unions are not the solution. In this part I will discuss why your wages are so low. Yesterday, I mentioned some readings on the topics of heritage laws in England and […]
The Economics of Archaeology: Some Readings
February 16, 2013
I have been on a bit of a tear lately about the economics of doing commercial archaeology. A nice coincidence is that the PIA (Papers of the Institute of Archaeology) just published this years volume. In it is a section of articles deal with the change laws that govern commercial archaeology in England and Wales […]
Which of the following is the most different from the others?
February 15, 2013
Inspired by something I saw on facebook and me being cheaky: It’s not that bad but I thought I would have some fun this Friday. 🙂
The Economics of Archaeology Part 2: Why Unions Won’t Save You
February 14, 2013
In part one of this series (rant?) I discussed how loosening up wage controls will not prevent undercutting, mainly because under cutting has nothing to do with wages and everything to do with not finding any archaeology. I am quite happy as some people have already commented and made some suggestions, a good one was: […]
The Economics of Archaeology: Part 1
February 13, 2013
About two weeks ago, the IfA agreed to no longer make its registered organizations abide by its recommend pay minimum for salaries. However, they will no longer advertise positions below that threshold on their Jobs Information Service. A bit of a mixed bag result. I am not going to really talk about the actually decision […]
How Much Archaeologists Make (USA, 2012, Senior Positions)
January 29, 2013
This is the forth part (part 1 on field tech pay can be found here, part 2 here (crew chief), part three- project manager) of the yearly review of how much archaeologists make in the US. Without sounding like a broken record: again, apologies to Canada, not enough data to include you This is a snap […]
How Much Archaeologists Make (USA, 2012, Project Manager)
January 21, 2013
This is the third part (part 1 on field tech pay can be found here, part 2 here) of the yearly review of how much archaeologists make in the US (again, apologies to Canada, not enough data to include you). This post deals with the position of project manager, aka project office, aka Principle Investigator, […]
Pregnancy and Field Archaeology
January 20, 2013
I help run open access archaeology. One, aspect of this job is that I get to read a diverse range of open access articles relating to archaeology. A particular one that has stuck a cord with lots of our twitter followers is Pregnancy and Field Archaeology, an article at Assemblage. It is two anonymous women’s […]
How Much Archaeologists Make (USA, 2012, Crew Chief)
January 16, 2013
This is the second part (part 1 on field tech pay can be found here) of the yearly review of how much archaeologists make in the US (apologies to Canada, not enough data to include you). This is for the position of crew chief. Previous years findings can be seen here. Now, this is a […]
Review of Navigating the Field: Education and Employment in a Changing Job Market
January 11, 2013
I am at the Society of Historical Archaeology conference in Leicester, sorry have not had a chance to post more jobs info. However, I did attend a very interesting panel yesterday, Navigating the Field: Education and Employment in a Changing Job Market. Of course lots what said but a few highlights: Jobs in Archaeology- Most […]
How Much Archaeologists Make (USA, 2012, Field/Lab Tech)
January 7, 2013
This is the yearly review of how much archaeologists make in the US (apologies to Canada, not enough data to include you) you can see last years here, along with data from other years. The data is based off of job postings on the websites archaeologyfieldwork.com and shovelbums.org. Methodology is discussed at the end e.g. […]
Open Archaeology Data: Jobs in British Archaeology
November 6, 2012
In the interest in following the ‘Open’ ethos of Open Data, Open Access, etc. I have put all of the data I have from the Jobs in British Archaeology series. Well not all, this year’s data is not up as I am still collecting it. I have posted the data for 2008, 2009, 2010, and […]
Archaeologists and Anthropologists Degrees Most Recession Proof – Unemployment Rate of 5%
November 5, 2012
Data provided by the Census Bureau of the United States shows that in the heart of the Great Recession (2010) those with Archaeology and Anthropology degrees only had a 5% unemployment rate. They also made on average $55,000, with many making six figures. Because of this low employment rate and high pay I would recommend […]
Jobs In British Archaeology Website
October 18, 2012
In the last few days, I have been putting up a new website, Jobs in British Archaeology- http://jobsinbritisharchaeology.weebly.com/ This website will contain all of my data on job conditions in British Archaeology. It will also have some publications, tools for calculating wages, etc. The move of all this from my current page on this blog […]
Finding a Job in Archaeology
October 17, 2012
David gave a very good talk yesterday about getting a job in archaeology. I have embedded it below. The first few minutes are probably the best explanation about why we do what we do e.g. bad pay, hard work, most fun you can have with your pants on (trousers for non-americans). (IF you are reading […]
Is it getting better? Inflation and Archaeology Wages II
October 16, 2012
A few days ago, I posted the first half of a paper I was writing about inflation and archaeology wages in the UK. This is the second half to that work in progress: Some decades have been kinder to an archaeologists purchasing power than others. Those archaeologists that started in the 1990s and early 2000s […]
Is it getting better? Inflation and Archaeology Wages
October 11, 2012
I am currently writing up an article for The Archaeologists on inflation and wages for UK archaeologists. I am a big fan of peer review (in the sense that people give constructive feedback, not the your cool enough to publish in our journal kind of review) so I thought I would give a sneak peak […]
Anthropology (includes Archaeology) Academic Jobs
September 27, 2012
Stephen Chrisomalis has been keeping track of anthropology job postings at the AAA website, which includes archaeology, for the last couple of years. He has just posted the numbers from 2006 through till sept. of this year: 2006: 190 2007: 186 2008: 168 2009: 78 2010: 112 2011: 117 2012: 109 He breaks down the […]
It’s not what you know, but who you know- The RESEARCH SHOWS
September 18, 2012
Today, I read this great article ‘It’s not what you know, but who you know: The role of connections in academic promotions’. It is a very short article about the role relationships play in obtaining a job in academia. I suggest everyone read it. A quick highlight- In a recent paper, we analyse the extent […]
Fair Wages in US Archaeology
June 5, 2012
A few weeks back a survey was posted in the Archaeo Field Techs Facebook group asking what people though a “fair” wage was. A total of 54 field techs responded to the survey and here is what they thought (note- not my survey): (Note: responses frequently included a range of values. I used the lower […]
Tips for an Archaeology Resume/CV if you just graduated or are about to
May 21, 2012
In the past, I have posted about making an archaeology resume/CV. This has led to people contacting me about making their resume/CV better because they are about to, or just did, graduate with a degree in archaeology/anthropology/history and are looking to get a job. To share some of the insights I tell people here is […]
Another Look at the Archaeology Resume / CV
May 16, 2012
I have written couple of times in the past about making an archaeology CV. Today Whitney Rose Petrey posted here fully visual CV on her blog. I have say it is a bold CV. I do think it works just as well as your traditional word CV. Here timeline is much better than my attempt […]
Sneak Peak at 2011-2012 Jobs in British Archaeology: Consulting
May 11, 2012
This post gives a more detailed break down of consulting positions (both commercial archaeology and SMR/CRM) in the Jobs in British Archaeology series. You can see the methodology here on how these numbers were collected from job postings. In total 15 job postings are represented here. Average pay– £ 29,563 Lowest pay offered– £17,523 Highest […]
Sneak Peak at 2011-2012 Jobs in British Archaeology: Conservation
May 10, 2012
This post gives a more detailed break down of conservation positions (both commercial archaeology and SMR/CRM) in the Jobs in British Archaeology series. These are your GIS techs., osteologist, surveyors, etc. You can see the methodology here on how these numbers were collected from job postings. In total 40 job postings are represented here. Average […]
Sneak Peak at 2011-2012 Jobs in British Archaeology: Specialists
May 9, 2012
This post gives a more detailed break down of the specialists positions (both commercial archaeology and SMR/CRM) in the Jobs in British Archaeology series. These are your GIS techs., osteologist, surveyors, etc. You can see the methodology here on how these numbers were collected from job postings. In total 58 job postings are represented here. […]
Sneak Peak at 2011-2012 Jobs in British Archaeology: Junior SMR/CRM
May 7, 2012
This post gives a more detailed break down of the junior SMR/CRM positions in the Jobs in British Archaeology series. You can see the methodology here on how these numbers were collected from job postings. In total 226 job postings are represented here. Average pay– £ 21,122 Lowest pay offered– £13,000 Highest pay offered– £35,549 […]
Sneak Peak at 2011-2012 Jobs in British Archaeology: Field Officer/Project officer
May 5, 2012
This post gives a more detailed break down of the field officer / project officer position (commercial archaeology UK) in the Jobs in British Archaeology series. You can see the methodology here on how these numbers were collected from job postings. In total 30 job postings are represented here. As mentioned in methodology postings that […]
Sneak Peak at 2011-2012 Jobs in British Archaeology: Supervisor
May 4, 2012
This post gives a more detailed break down of the supervisor position (commercial archaeology UK) in the Jobs in British Archaeology series. You can see the methodology here on how these numbers were collected from job postings. In total 16 job postings are represented here. As mentioned in methodology postings that don’t specify how many […]
Sneak Peak at 2011-2012 Jobs in British Archaeology: Excavators
May 3, 2012
To give more detailed information on pay for different positions on the Jobs in British Archaeology post here is a break down of advertised jobs for excavators/site assistants/Fieldwork Staff/Assistant Archaeologists (Site Assistants) etc. You can see the methodology here on how these numbers were collected in total 40 job postings are represented here. As mentioned […]
Sneak Peak at 2011-2012 Jobs in British Archaeology
May 2, 2012
Last year I did the newest version of Jobs in British Archaeology, a annual review of archaeology pay in the UK through job postings. The fiscal year ended at the beginning of April so I have spent the last few days doing some mind numbing work of copying, pasting, and crunching numbers from archaeology job […]
The Effects of Higher Student Fees on Archaeology in the UK
April 24, 2012
I recently published an article in The Archaeologists on the looming higher fees at UK universities (mainly for English students) and what it means for archaeology. The Archaeologists puts its issues, older than a year, online for free, Open Access (cough cough AIA). Though you have to wait a year if your not a IfA […]
Revisiting the Archaeology Resume/CV
April 23, 2012
By request I am revisiting some of my older posts on the archaeology resume/CV and updating what new things I have gone. {Note- resume is a North American term for a 2 page summary of your experience while a CV is a list, many pages long, of all your experiences. While in the UK a […]
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