> 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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