What are the chances of actually making a good career out of archaeology?
Maureena♪ asked:
I’ve heard of people spending years in school for archaeology but never getting a job in that field.
Its always been my dream career since I was in Jr. high.. but seems very far from true especially hearing that a lot of ppl dont even start a career in that field even after all the schooling.
I’ve heard of people spending years in school for archaeology but never getting a job in that field.
Its always been my dream career since I was in Jr. high.. but seems very far from true especially hearing that a lot of ppl dont even start a career in that field even after all the schooling.
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This entry was posted on Saturday, March 28th, 2009 at 12:00 am and is filed under Anthropology. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
March 28th, 2009 at 7:44 pm
Are you prepared to work for schools outside the US? How important is money? How often are you willing to relocate? Get busy and do the research to answer the questions pertinent to your goals.
April 1st, 2009 at 1:30 am
Archaeology and Anthropology as a whole is a very competitive science. 50 percent of students will fail to make a successful career after schooling. However, Archaeology is still a very viable field and not too hard to get into. You have to make sure that when your doing your schooling your doing things to separate yourself from other students such as volunteer lab work, co-authoring papers with your professors, going to conferences, writing little papers of your own, and so forth. You can always become a professor and do some research of your own, there is still room for people in teaching. The other big route archaeologists take is CRM work, CRM some people will say doesn’t pay much but it pays fine depending on where you are and who your working for. There is alot of CRM work for those who want it.
Remember, to be able to get a job your going to need at least a Masters.
April 2nd, 2009 at 3:54 pm
I think the same goes for making a good career out of any area - work hard, keep your mind on your goals and most importantly, don’t give up! If you really want it, you can do it. Just be prepared for lots of studying, researching and writing. Traveling and having an open-mind are also essential. I agree with the person who mentioned schooling outside the US - I had to go to grad school in Europe to better my archaeological standing. You will need at LEAST a masters , if not a PhD to have any kind of decent shot. Good luck!!!
April 5th, 2009 at 1:01 am
you will either be working for a museum or a school with a lot of grunt work and low pay until you get your PHD in the field
then it is still a long long road to get anywhere in th at field
that’s why when you see anyone on TV that has found something new, they are very old…it takes most of their lives to get anywhere
god for it if it is your dream, stick with it and do better t han everyone else and maybe you will have a great life doing what you love
good luck
smile
April 6th, 2009 at 5:28 pm
You could probably get a CRM job (for which you need a Master’s) but CRM (Cultural Resource Management) is non-academic, so you don’t choose where you dig or what you study–if you live in the US, you will dig Native American or American historical settlements. If you want to work outside your home country, study an outside culture, and do all the Professor Archaeologist stuff, you need an academic job, for which you need a PhD, which takes forever to get (around 7 years of graduate school in the US, in addition to the 4 undergraduate). These are the jobs you heard about, which are incredibly difficult to get and very unstable, but possible.
It’s a matter of how badly you want it, because if this is the one and only thing which will make you truly happy, it’s worth the risk and job insecurity and financial difficulty. That stuff shouldn’t matter, if this is your one passion.
For me, after four years of being an archaeology major in undergrad, I decided that there were way more things that make me happy that did not require as much mental torture, and I could find other ways to travel and enjoy archaeology without doing the whole academic collegiate thing (which I discovered I hated; it was driving me nuts). For me, it wasn’t worth it. But for some people, it is; for some people, academia is a haven, and if you are one of those people, it might be worth pursuing. Just be absolutely sure you know what you’re getting yourself into; it’s a huge commitment. Do A LOT of internet searching on what it takes to get these jobs, what jobs are available, what grad school is like, what the jobs themselves are like, and decide for yourself.
No matter what you decide, though, I would recommend going to an archaeological field school at some point. Because nobody teaches you how to excavate in undergrad (that I know of), it will give you hands-on experience and show you what it’s like before you go all the way to grad school. Even if you decide not to go for a career in archaeology, it’s an awesome experience, and you at least get to travel and do something new and exciting. (To see some available at the moment, go here: and make sure you check the box that says “field school”.)
April 7th, 2009 at 12:56 pm
Very slim, certainly in the UK, most who get a degree in archaeology don’t get work which is directly related to their degree. It’s a good all round training though for many types of work that need an analytical mind. If you are determined, then you have to be up with the best, and (in field archaeology especially) that means years of dedication, often on low pay. But it’s a great life.