5th January 2011, 12:47 PM
MSC - variable, depending on when - there were various types of government job creation scheme. A lot of my contemporaries got into museums through 6 month MSC funded placements after graduating, others spent several years supervising (entry for a lot of graduates in the late 70's early 80s was through supervising on schemes). Workers varied from bright, interested and keen to illiterate thugs who were only there to get their benefits. Standard of work varied, depending on staff and how much experience suprevisors had (most graduates with me had months of experience on graduating, having spent two ro three months each summer for four years digging on the big research excavations - Wroxeter, West Heslerton, Wharram Percy, Crickley etc as well as theri own university excavations. The money wasn't great - five grand a year when I started (compared to 16k when an acquaintance of mine was looking for a starter job in dentistry) but a lot better than circuit subsistance of 35 per week or thereabouts. Biggest problem, as far as I could gather, was that it was for immediate reduction of jobless numbers, with no post ex budget, no budget for research, limited for consumables and equipment (so if one of your site cameras got dropped you were a bit stuck for a replacement unless the director was prepared to do some fiddling of figures - and rumour had it that one unit director was cought and prosecuted for doing this very thing).
Oxbeast, I agree absolutely with the Scott thing - Amunsden did the job and survived becasue he was prepared to use the expertise and equipment of the professional arctic inhabitant (and to sacrifice dogs as food for other sledge teams as their sledge load was used up) - success at limited cost (unless you were a dog!) rather than cock up and ultimate grand failure by the use of amateurs with notions of "sportsmanship".
Oxbeast, I agree absolutely with the Scott thing - Amunsden did the job and survived becasue he was prepared to use the expertise and equipment of the professional arctic inhabitant (and to sacrifice dogs as food for other sledge teams as their sledge load was used up) - success at limited cost (unless you were a dog!) rather than cock up and ultimate grand failure by the use of amateurs with notions of "sportsmanship".