22nd January 2011, 05:50 PM
Potential non-archaeology employers will only see you as a long-haired hippy waster, if that's how you think about yourself and how you present yourself. Want an office job for a while? Buy a suit, get a haircut, polish your shoes and ditch the facial hair (s'pose that's ladies and gents if we're being politically correct about it...).
My non-archaeology CV contains the sort of transferrable skills that the Grey Suits Full Of Bugger All really appreciate, without actually mentioning the arch*****gy word at all:
- Working as part of a team (digging)
- Team leadership (managing diggers)
- Working systematically within project plans, costs and timescales (even if all you do is lug spoil around, you're still doing this)
- Gathering data according to established standards (filling in context sheets)
- Analysing and interpreting data from a range of sources (trying to figure out what it is you're digging, even if it doesn't appear in anyone else's final report)
- Liaising with clients, contractors, third-party companies and members of the public at all levels (these could pop up on pretty much any site)
- Report writing (if you've done it, sing it out loud)
Conversely, my archaeology CV condenses a 20+ year IT career to half a dozen bullet points. Strangely, pretty much the same ones as above, just expressed as they'd apply to archaeology.
Value what you do. Express and present your skills in a professional way that non-archaeologists can understand and map directly onto the vacancy at hand. Speaking as a former GSFOBA who has recruited for a couple of non-arch organisations, a scruffy covering letter or appearance will scupper you, as will a CV peppered with technical jargon alien to the job you're chasing.
My non-archaeology CV contains the sort of transferrable skills that the Grey Suits Full Of Bugger All really appreciate, without actually mentioning the arch*****gy word at all:
- Working as part of a team (digging)
- Team leadership (managing diggers)
- Working systematically within project plans, costs and timescales (even if all you do is lug spoil around, you're still doing this)
- Gathering data according to established standards (filling in context sheets)
- Analysing and interpreting data from a range of sources (trying to figure out what it is you're digging, even if it doesn't appear in anyone else's final report)
- Liaising with clients, contractors, third-party companies and members of the public at all levels (these could pop up on pretty much any site)
- Report writing (if you've done it, sing it out loud)
Conversely, my archaeology CV condenses a 20+ year IT career to half a dozen bullet points. Strangely, pretty much the same ones as above, just expressed as they'd apply to archaeology.
Value what you do. Express and present your skills in a professional way that non-archaeologists can understand and map directly onto the vacancy at hand. Speaking as a former GSFOBA who has recruited for a couple of non-arch organisations, a scruffy covering letter or appearance will scupper you, as will a CV peppered with technical jargon alien to the job you're chasing.