Expert: Ralph Salier - 9/7/2007

Question
What am I able to do this a PhD in Archaeology? I was talking to my friend telling him i wanted to go to college and get a PhD in archaeology, and he said why, you cant do anything with  that kind of a PhD, so i thought i would ask someone with that kind of a Phd

Answer
Hi Kenneth,  

I hate to tell you this but I don't have a PhD in Archaeology.  I have a Masters in Business Anthropology and a BA in Archaeology.  There are some things you can do with a PhD such as teach at the college level, If you also get a teaching certificate, you can teach history, anthropology etc... in the public or private school systems around.(I would recommend that you get a teaching cert as this will always support you in a time of need).  Make sure that you get field experiance, that you get all of the CRM courses you need and then you can get work with a lot of the envronmental consultantcies and a number of the Archaeological ones as well.  BUT make sure that you carefully read what these job require and entail so that you prepare yourself appropriately.   

It would also behoove you to take a minor in some other field so that if you can not find work as an archaeologist, you will have the qualifications to do work in other fields.  My business anthropology has allowed me  to become an international negotiator which has been critical over the years when I was unable to find work as an archaeologist.  In fact today, it pays most of my living where archaeology is only 1/3 of my over all income.