23rd May 2012, 01:52 PM
Carrickavoy Wrote:P. Prentice, Jack and Wax I presume the type of volunteering you are talking about is research/community sector? HammerOfThor said that most companies were looking years of 'commercial experience''.
I sincerely hope, although nothing would surprise me, that commercial companies are not taking on volunteers as A. this is displacing paid work and B. if you can lift the barrow/empty the bucket you can and should be paid for it.
Which leaves HammerOfThor, and even myself (graduated for 2 years, 3 years professional experience) in the same place. Need 'commercial/professional' experience to get the jobs but can't get the jobs to get the experience.
The terrible thing is, that without new recruits learning the ropes for a prolonged period of time archaeology and many other professions/crafts face a challenging future. Retirement will mean that corporate knowledge will be lost but no one will be coming up behind to fill the skill/knowledge gap. Meanwhile a generation rotted on the dole, emigrated or became accountants if they could.
apart from a very few exceptional cases, freshofftheboat diggers generally take more time to train than they are worth on a commercial excavation. the only way to train them to a reasonable standard is to put them next to people who know what they are doing and who like to show off a bit. whichever way you cut it, resources are stretched. the only point in offering voluntary places is to make sure freshfaces get some proper training. if all you are doing is emptying barrows you are not an archaeologist and you ar not being trained but you should be paid as a labourer.
If they can get you asking the wrong questions, they don't have to worry about answers