Making a career in archaeology

[carlazai]

I want to hear people's advice, opinions and experiences of archaeology as a career.

The preamble: I'm currently doing a PhD in toxicology. In the evenings I’m doing a a-level in archaeology at Bedford college. Now the PhD is really getting on my nerves for a few reasons. I hate the PhD but now it will lead to a good job. I really enjoy the archaeology i do in the evenings and was wondering whether i could make a career in it.

Firstly i spoke to my cousin who has a fellowship at a university and he worked hard for 10 years for virtually no money. Secondly i spoke to a friend’s brother who did archaeology at Uni but didn’t want anything more to do with it. Thirdly I've been reading up on it and the view is that a career in archaeology is very competitive but with determination and luck it can be done.

I was wondering whether anyone on the forums had done archaeology at Uni? Whether they made a career in it? Was it too competitive? Would i need to go back to Uni or could i get a job with a chemistry background?

 

[Greenlizard0]

I hope this doesn't put you off, but I knew two people who studied it at uni, and both are currently employed in professions that have nothing to do with it. As you've already stated, it will be tough. One of the lads I knew said that jobs are not very numerous. And since Oxbridge do both courses they'd be first pick at the jobs..

 

[Father Ted]

As long as your not expecting it to be like Bonekickers.

 

[Bill101]

My daughter is doing Archaeology and really enjoys it. The job prospects are not brilliant as jobs in museums and Universities are very competitive and do not pay all that well. I'm trying to get her to do a PhD so that she has more of a chance getting a position that she wants.
Could forensic toxicology on ancient remains may be a position for you?

 

[carlazai]

LOL at the bonekickers, i caught it in passing on my housemates TV and laughed my head off at the craziness.

Yep the Oxbridge competition is tough plus the number of jobs is so limited that people have to volunteer for years, not something i would like as i'm quite used to an income in my life.

 

[carlazai]

My daughter is doing Archaeology and really enjoys it. The job prospects are not brilliant as jobs in museums and Universities are very competitive and do not pay all that well. I'm trying to get her to do a PhD so that she has more of a chance getting a position that she wants.
Could forensic toxicology on ancient remains may be a position for you?

While i was in madagascar i met some underwater archaeologists and they mentioned a conservatory job to me. They told me there were never enough for all the digs going on. They mentioned that once i have a phd the community wouldnt mind it not being in archaeology as long as i was prepared to get expierence in the field. It requires a hard science background which is a good thing for me.

 

[z0mbi3]

I hope this doesn't put you off, but I knew two people who studied it at uni, and both are currently employed in professions that have nothing to do with it. As you've already stated, it will be tough. One of the lads I knew said that jobs are not very numerous. And since Oxbridge do both courses they'd be first pick at the jobs..

Just to echo this my friend is a Tax Consultant and he did biology at Uni. Go figure.

 

[Mr Jack]

If you're good and hard working there's careers in Archaeology, but it's not a well paid career if you care about such things.

 

[voodooGT]

A few recent projects I have worked on have had to call on teams of archaeologists who investigated ancient cave dwellings / roman sites.. etc prior to large building development. Many of the larger engineering consultants have in house teams dealing with these types of issues. I'd say if thats your bag then theres no reason why you should write of a career in this field.

 

[carlazai]

I was looking at going to a Uni openday and seeing if i could get some advice from people there.

Money isnt such a concern to me, i have my own money now.

 

[RDM]

It isn't a career, it is a vocation with all the disadvantages that come with that!

 

[carlazai]

It isn't a career, it is a vocation with all the disadvantages that come with that!

I think that describes the situation perfectly.

 

[manic_man]

Go and speak with some fellow PhD students in your university who are doing archeology or related subjects! They wont bite (probably), should give you some insight if nothing else.

Given you are currently doing a PhD though, im quite suprised money motivates you in any way. It doesn't really matter what area you go into, its extremely unlikely it will pay as well as going out into industry or at least private research facilities.

Im quite happy with the fact that I will probably be on 25-28k postdocs for a good 3 or so years after I have finished my PhD and typically speaking, I should be on somewhere near 45-50k by the time I am into my 40s with a prof cap of around 65k (all not including external consultancy). For me, these figures are all comfortable living wages and the freedom the academic life gives more than makes up for any fiscal pitfalls for me.

Some people say, if you are hating your PhD, then stop doing it. My advice however would be, stick with it. Stick it out. A good test of a persons character is how they deal with doing something they no longer enjoy. If you quit your PhD then starting another would be difficult to say the least, it also reflects badly on you for the rest of your life. People who have started PhDs but never finished them are often looked down upon far more than people who have never even started I tend to find.

Try and bend your PhD towards archeology somehow, try and get a collaboration going, even if it is only a small side project. This will have the effect of giving you a foot in the door of archeology departments once you have completed the PhD. Similarly, I find cross departmental collaborations are beneficial for all parties involved as one discipline tends to bring skills another might lack and vice versa. Collaboration is also currently in vogue with the people who hold the money I am finding (I am a comp scientist but work closely with Earth science through my PhD), they literally throw cash at you for projects etc when you mention more than one department will be involved!

Out of interest, where are you doing the PhD? de Montford? If so my supervisor within CS spent a good few years there!

 

[manveruppd]

Try and bend your PhD towards archeology somehow, try and get a collaboration going, even if it is only a small side project. This will have the effect of giving you a foot in the door of archeology departments once you have completed the PhD. Similarly, I find cross departmental collaborations are beneficial for all parties involved as one discipline tends to bring skills another might lack and vice versa. Collaboration is also currently in vogue with the people who hold the money I am finding (I am a comp scientist but work closely with Earth science through my PhD), they literally throw cash at you for projects etc when you mention more than one department will be involved!

Best advice in thread, start a side project for a short article or two in collaboration with some archaeologists, and stick it out till you've finished your PhD. A friend of mine's doing archaeology in Germany and he says people in the field don't really take you seriously unless you've got a PhD, so if you quit then it'd be twice as hard to get a job in archaeology.

I imagine that there'd be quite a bit of demand for science graduates to work in big digs, though I don't really know. Definitely don't drop your phd, as, if you do eventually manage to get a job in archaeology, you might find you're not enjoying it as much as you thought you would (everything is more interesting when you're just dabbling at it imho), and in that case you'd be glad to have the phd to fall back on.

 

[carlazai]

Thanks for the great reply. I'm at cranfield which is a very strange Uni. I understand your feelings on carrying on the phd. I've only quit one thing in my life and i dont want to do it again (Mcdonalds). As for changing the direction of the phd its impossible as i'm fully sponsored by a company and i dont think they have any interests in archaeology. We have no sort of humanities at the Uni, all science and engineering. Thats what my thinking was on attending an open day.

NB. I think you misread an earlier statement, i'm not at all worried about money in a given job. Academic pay is enough for me, i'm not at all greedy

 

[manic_man]

Just got round to coming back to this thread.

The thing I have found with my PhD is that (with some extra time put in) doing the odd side project away from the main focus of the PhD is entirely possible without annoying your sponsors. I am sponsored by NERC, but have done side projects with people from Aerospace and have been on a few Earth science field trips that are only loosely linked to my specific work, but they were informative and useful for other reasons (general geological practice etc).

At the end of the day, as long as you do your PhD work to the best of your abilities, who are they to complain if you also strike up a few working relationships with a different department, indeed don't just limit yourself to your own institution. Science is a big, huge subject and offers you the opportunity to collaborate with people from around the world. Find an archeology department who may be interested in working with a Toxicologist. At the very least, attend a few Archeology conferences.

You may find your sponsors won't pay for you to go, so you may need to find the money yourself, but you will get to meet people from the area. As long as it does not impact your work, I haven't met a supervisor alive that wouldnt be pleased to see their student taking an active interest in other areas of science along with their chosen area.

Archeology tends to fall within Arts, History and Culture departments, certainly it does here at Manchester. Find some contact details on University websites and send off a few emails enquiring about upcoming events. I know we often hold smaller seminars on campus. Certainly within CS I have attended 3 reasonably high profile ones right here on campus, even presented a paper at one of them, that was an easy trip!

There is certainly a tangible link between Toxicology and Archeology. It may even be the case that once you finish your Toxicology PhD, you then move on and do a 1 year MSc in Archeology to bridge the gap, or you may find something suitable as a Postdoc.

Are you bound by contract to work for your sponsorship company once your PhD is complete for a set period? If so, then this could make things harder for you i suppose.

Either way, your PhD is just that, yours. Make it what you want it to be!