Expert: Ralph Salier - 11/20/2009

Question
QUESTION: what type of job can you get with a master degree or with a PhD?

ANSWER: Hi Kenny,

Well, good question.  There are a lot of consultancies that are looking for people with an MA in cultural resource management.  Some require a PhD but not many do.  You can teach with a PhD but those jobs are hard to find.  

If you are not yet a memeber of www.shovelbums.org, you should join.  Also SeekerSupport@gojobs.com is also a good jobs web site for archaeology.  You should go to both and read the job descriptions and see what these jobs require and then make sure that you have the needed qualifications by the time you graduate.  

But be aware, the jobs are tough to find and land.  They also don't pay well. The best not much more then 50K.  SO, if you are carrying heavy loans, it is something to think about.  On the other hand if you get a Masters in Business or Anthropology, your options are much broader.  Speak to your current Archaeology profs and find out how difficult it was for them and ask their advice.  PhD does make a little more money but not much.

Hi again,  

You gave me a score of 8 for knowledgeability.  If you could give me more information, such as what your BA is in or what cultural area you are interested in, what kind of MA or PhD you are interested in, then, perhaps I could be more specific as to career opportunities.  I look forward to hearing from you so that I can be of further assistance.

Ralph

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: hi Ralph

i'm just a junior high school student doing a career project for English
I'm stilling trying to figure out what type of job I'm interested in
but I'll give you more info
i have a certification for computer networking
i want to get a BA in anthropology but hopefully get a master
I'm knowledgeable in ancient Rome, Greek and Egypt
what type of job opportunity can i get into?

thank you for your help
and you are very knowledgeable


ANSWER: Hi Kenny,

Oh! what a difference it makes to have more information!  You've got a long way to go.  Well you have a lot of options. There is a new field of Archaeology called Archaeological informatics.  This is tied into both archaeology, museology, anthropology, modern cultural studies etc... and of course computers.  It takes all of the data collected archaeologically and creates a "3D" view into the archaeological remains being excavated based on existing information and then extrapolating it into a 3D matrix.  

GIS is another area becoming important to archaeology and anthropology.  Geographic Information Systems or Geospatial Technology relies on computer data systems to understand land forms and is not being used in conjunction with AI (Above) to gain a better understanding of why sites are located where they are and how the site is oriented relative to its surrounding geographic locale.  

Both combined your interests in archaeology/anthropology and computers.  Both are growing in importance and  there are jobs in these fields.  What is good about GIS is that it can be a cross over job too.  Energy companies are always looking for people who have this skill.  It is used in oil and gas exploration, locating solar farms and wind mills and ocean current data.  

Something similar to AI is used in urban planning and architectural engineering so  this can cross over as well.  It is very important to have cross over skills these days since finding work in 6 or 12 year may be difficult so you will want to have a good skill set that works for either.  

If you give me more information about your likes and dislikes, I can point you at a university that may cover both well.  By the way, it is never to early to start looking at scholarship money.  You should join www.fastweb.com and www.scholarships.com and fill out the profiles.  There is literally billions of dollars that go un-given because no one applies.  So, start helping your folks out and start applying.  There is no guarantee that you will be successful but if you don't try you won't get any thing that is for sure.



---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: I don't really dislike anything about it. I'm interested in everything.
I still have some question

1) Do you go to work anytime you want or do you work everyday?

2) What are the fringes?

This might be personal, so you don't have to answer

3) What do archeologist do on there spare time?

thank you for your answers
you were very helpful

Answer
Hi Kenny,

1) Well, today I work as a consultant and can basically work as much as I want but it took me nearly 30 years to get to this point.  During my early career, I basically only found work as an archaeologist during the summer months.  Today, there are a lot more jobs and more during a more of the year because of changes in laws since my early days.  www.shovelbums.org lists most of these kinds of jobs.  I also travel to sites all over the US and Europe working with museums and archaeologists who need the expertise I have in stone tools and tool manufacturing technologies.  
So, I don't work for any one but I am hired by many different organizations for jobs that may last several weeks or just a few days.  

2) I have NO FRINGES!! My wife works and provides heath insurance etc... But if you were to work for one of the big consulting companies like Berger they do have fringes like health insurance and vacation and perhaps even 401k.  But that is for full time work.

3) what do we do with spare time?  Well I have several hobbies.  I have an N gage railroad set up which keeps me occupied ( I also have a dig on the set up), I work with hot glass and make things out of glass, and finally, I read a lot.  Mostly site reports, work being done by archaeologists around the world and often I am working on reports of the materials I am investigating for the people that hire me.  I also volunteer on digs and do other volunteer work like for meals on wheels and court room mediation.

The key for you is to try and figure out what you are interested in.  I realize that you are interested in every thing but I am sure that there are things that interest you more then other things.  Did the things I described above sound interesting  to you??


Ralph