24th August 2011, 07:47 PM
Over the years I've worked with a fair number of people who were bl**dy useful on site and liked being there and doing the physical side of the job but who had no knowledge/interest in archaeology - like an urban job back in the 80s that involved a lot of jack-hammering and lo!, we had a guy from the job centre who'd been training people to use the things. And another guy who, at the age of nearly 50, fancied a change of profession so I got him a try-out as a digger because I had a feeling that his background (off-shore and construction) would fill in an awful lot of skills-gaps in the setup, and blimey was I right! Well useful! - worked out pretty well since he's also since got into archaeology and I believe is on the circuit down south currently...not sure where I'm going with this...oh yes, having a degree/MSc/PhD/whatever and being able to do all the recording doesn't necessarily make you a more attractive site-employee, there are other skills....get a full machine licence and you'll be so high up my list I'll have to Sellotape an extra couple of pages to the top (other brands of sticky-tape are available)