We had a very slow winter and spring.  Our summer is picking up a little, but we haven't hired out of our Eastern office in 6 or 7 months.  Other offices are doing better, but not great.  Still haven't gotten a raise in 4 years.  Looking to get out of the business altogether.  Had a few interviews, but no bites.  

I got really lucky.  I just got my MA (finishing up minor thesis edits) and landed an ORISE position about 2.5 months ago.  If funding is available, I should have it for a least 3 more years.  I think I got it more from networking and knowing the right people through local arch. societies.

Hopefully this will lead to more gov. opportunities.  I sent my resume to about 10 or so places starting in January and not a one contacted me back.

I was just hired for a seasonal archaeological technician job with the NPS. I consider myself VERY lucky, especially since I am limited to local work b/c of family.

Haven't had a single bite since I finished up my MA a few months ago. I'll probably end up going back to bartending in the near future.

I haven't kept an official count, but federal jobs seems a lot fewer than they were a couple of years ago. Lots of budget cutting.

Where I have been working we have been slammed with work and things never slowed down at all during the economic downturn.

I was unusually well employed over the past year after having graduated into the middle of the maelstrom.  I had an active, relatively seamless, and thankfully warm fall/winter (when usually I am just sitting on my but waiting for my tax refund), a consistent spring and even a pay raise.  

I am happy to say that the new federal job I recently accepted, I found on none other than archaeologyfieldwork.com, so I would like to give a very special thanks to Jennifer and the AFW community.

Best of Luck to everyone who is looking!

 

That's great news. Good luck with the new position!

I haven't tried to get in with any for-profit, compliance archaeology outfits; but, my situation is pretty similar to jeffd. I finished my MA last year, and have been working outside archaeology ever since.

I have been shopping myself around to a wide variety of government agencies and non-profit organizations, but no takers. I get a lot of "you were qualified, but didn't make the final list" responses.

I'm still hopeful that the economy will pick up enough that there's a bit of loosening on the purse strings for in-kind grants, with the match coming from non-profits/private citizens, to fund research at one of the sites that was included in my thesis.

Hello everyone, I have been looking at Fed jobs for park ranger and similar fields and came across the arch aid/tech position on USAjobs. My question is this: Is it possible to acquire this position with a History BA? From what I have read here most of you have Anthropology degrees.. I know without experience I would be at the bottom of the point scale, but do you think it is possible? Thanks!

As I understand it, I think that would fall under the category of possible, but not probable. I think the BA in history would make you eligible up to GS5; however, that could be modified upward, depending on "specialized experience." Therein lies the rub. Unless you attended an archaeological field school as undergraduate, or are somehow able to document comparable experience, it doesn't seem likely that any of the projects being run by federal agencies are currently facing a shortage of applicants who do have that type of "specialized experience."

Of course, I haven't been able to get in with any of the federal agencies, so you might want to take my opinion with a grain of sandy loam. Just as a general reference, my BA was in anthropology, my MA was in applied anthropology (public archaeology track), I did my field school as an undergraduate (4 cr. field/2 cr. lab), and spent two years working for a county government at a well-known type site (even if it did end up being rather peripheral to the culture area).

I have managed to get seasonal federal employment for the past two seasons (NPS and Forest Service), and I consider myself lucky (and before that, I had a year and a half long internship with NPS, and did some work with a former professor).  Where I am working this summer, I am the only Arch person other than my boss - no crew.  I am fairly certain I was the 2nd choice applicant and the 1st one ended up declining the job offer.  So again, I consider myself pretty lucky there.  

I basically end up applying for just about every Arch job I see on USAJobs.  I did have two applications out for the BLM (which is a blanket-type application that gets sent all over the place, depending on where you check that you'd be willing to work) and I received several "referred to selecting official" notices and a few calls after I'd already accepted my current position.  I had one call from a CRM firm that has my name on their list, but this was also after I'd accepted my current position.  

So despite budget-cuts and everything else I have managed to do alright - though I suspect in the winter - like many others - I'll be waiting tables again.  I will say that the CRM firms who have called me in the past only have my name because I called them first when they were not advertising any positions.  I just called and asked to be considered for upcoming work - and all they seemed concerned with was that I had a BA and a field school.  


Long winded post.. but hopefully this may help some.  

@Michael_72B- I have worked with GS-5 arch techs before who had degrees in related fields (history, geology). It is possible. If you can pair your degree with some field experience, of course you will be a stronger applicant.

I've heard a lot of folks in the federal government talking about budget cuts to cultural resources. It would be interesting to see the comparative job data. Here on the website it seems that I've been posting fewer lower grade positions than in years past.

This is my 5th season with the  USFS as a GS-7.  This season's funding is tight and I may not be funded for the full season. However my district seems to keep finding money to keep me busy. This has definitely been an interesting season so far and the funding seems to be the tightest this season.  

I graduated with a BA in Anthropology and specializations in Archaeology, Earth Science and Spanish, in May 2011, and so far have had no luck landing a job. I have had very little interest so far.

The market seems to have picked up slightly in the past few weeks. For the field tech jobs in the private sector, you need to check every day, and apply IMMEDIATELY. These jobs are often filled the first day, first come, first served. For government jobs, the announcements will have a closing date, so there's a bit less pressure. As to degrees, History is a related field and should work to get you started with the government. Private sector, you probably will need to also have a field school, which I would recommend anyway. If you are half-way serious about working for government, as soon as you are qualified, start applying for jobs at the next level up. Qualification is a full year in a lower grade position, or its private sector equivalent. BTW, volunteer experience counts the same as work for government jobs. The track you want to be on is the GS-0193 jobs. This is the Archaeologist, as opposed to the GS-102 Field Technician or Social Sciences Aid series. These jobs top out at GS-7; the 0193 ones are career. I have noticed a spate of GS-11 and 12 jobs lately, but they may not actually hire, since they can drag out the process until Oct., when the new fiscal year starts, and then, if the budget situation looks grim, say, "Never mind..."

The bottom line, if you are really serious about making archaeology a career is to NEVER GIVE UP. It's an odd field, driven by economics and politics, with actions taken that we are never aware of that have major effects sometimes months, or even years later.There were times when I was shovelbumming that the time between projects went on for months and I cleaned swimming pools and mowed lawns to make ends meet. BE FLEXIBLE. BE WILLING TO MOVE. Also, be willing to take a few more courses, including a field school if you don't have one, to fill gaps that will make you a more marketable entity. Eventually, things will begin to even out, and many folks have actually made a good, comfortable life for themselves "doing archaeology." But let me repeat: NEVER GIVE UP!

It seems like things picked up drastically this past summer vs. the terrible market of 2009 - 2011.

In our neck of the woods, it seems like natural gas and wind are leading the way but these kinds of projects just aren't bringing in the money or the quantity/quality of jobs that we saw from early 90's through the beginning of the recession. 

It's definitely a different world from the Caesars-era, which seems like a lifetime ago.