1st Edition

Field Archaeologist’s Survival Guide Getting a Job and Working in Cultural Resource Management

By Chris Webster Copyright 2014

    Chris Webster’s handy, informative guide outlines what it takes to become an archaeological technician, a field worker in cultural resource management (CRM) archaeology. Based on his popular blog feature, Shovelbums Guide, Webster offers young archaeologists useful advice about CRM work, including writing, cooking in hotel rooms, hand-mapping, surviving unemployment, life after archaeology, and more. It provides tools new CRM archaeologists need to get hired and to live life on the road in a fluctuating job market, as well as details on how to succeed as a field archaeologist. Appendices cover sample job hunting documents and checklists for fieldwork. If you will be pursuing a position in this dynamic, challenging field, this book is a must-read both before you apply for that first job and once you get one.

    Introduction; Part 1 Getting a Job; Chapter 1 Education; Chapter 2 The Curriculum Vitae & the Rèsumè; Chapter 3 The Cover Letter; Chapter 4 Job Hunting; Chapter 5 The Interview; Part 2 Shovelbumming; Chapter 6 Essential Gear; Chapter 7 Types of Projects; Chapter 8 Job Positions; Chapter 9 Lodging; Chapter 10 Hotels; Chapter 11 Cooking on the Road; Chapter 12 Camping; Location, Location, Location; Chapter 13; Chapter 14; Chapter 15; Chapter 16 Mapping; Good to Know; Chapter 17; Chapter 18; The End, for Now; Chapter 19 Unemployment; Chapter 20 Preparing for the Winter; Chapter 21 Coming Back;

    Biography

    Webster, Chris

    "Overall, the book is a useful read for someone just starting out in archaeology or who is curious about the industry...For anyone administering a consulting or industrial archaeology class, chapters in this book would be valuable. Certainly for any student, would-be field technician or even graduate-level archaeologist looking toward the forthcoming field season, reviewing the chapters on CV and cover letter preparation could be the difference between applying for and getting a job."— Kenneth R. Holyoke, Canadian Journal of Archaeology