Second this--you're ahead of the game in American archaeology if you can
work on a year-by year basis.  Any employer who wonders why an
archaeologist of ten year's experience is "still a gypsy" need look no
further than the fact that said "gypsy" is an archaeologist.

David Babson


At 09:05 AM 2/6/2001 +0100, you wrote:
>> And by the way, a lack of lots of archaeological field experience is not
>>  necessarily a negative -- strange to say, sometimes a huge resume filled
>>  with years of experience with ten different companies looks worse.  One
has
>>  to wonder why a well-qualified person is still a gypsy....
>>
>
>i thought permanent contracts were a thing of the past...
>        although we've been living in one city for the past 6 years, i've
been
>the only one with anything like permanence: 3 1/2 years with one company
which
>laid me off about 2 years ago (i might go back in april), but other than
that:
>on a project-by-project basis - my wife, although working on the same project
>basically for the past 6 years, has not had quite as much stability: laid off
>by the state service when her contract ended and waiting to be allowed to
work
>again; one period where she was paid an "honorarium" (which saved the state
>from having to pay her unemployment or health insurance); right now she's
doing
>the pottery but not being paid...
>        basically a gypsy existence is the norm here; one archaeologist once
>complained about being expected (ie obliged) to work overtime in the office;
>said he had a wife and kid at home; the state archaeologist is reported to
have
>asked "what right do you - as an archaeologist - have to bring a child
into this
>world?" -
>        is it any wonder that those with any brains quit and go into
something
>better paid and more stable (surveying, website design, mcdonald's...)?
>
>
>geoff carver
>http://home.t-online.de/home/gcarver/
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