Welcome.

Not to be a bummer, but while there may be times the two of you could work together on a project, I suspect that more often than not only one of you will have an opportunity to be employed within a particular company at any given time. It's not that folks wont hire couples, it's just that more frequently they only need one more person to fill the bill. That said, there are times where company X is looking for crew and letting them know you know others who are available could see the both of you employed.

Like everyone else in the biz you just have to keep pressing the phone and email buttons to be employed, single or otherwise.

Cheers and luck,

Richard

I have worked with a lot of CRM couples who were able to pull this off through the years. Most of them seemed to stick with one company instead of bouncing around from firm to firm, as it made it easier than having to explain their preference in accomodations every time they applied for a job. There were a few occasions where I've seen folks run into issues because there was an unequal split of gender on the crew, and a couple didn't necessarily have the chance to room together.

I think a related issue of such an arrangement is that you will find yourself spending more time together than you may have even thought possible in prior arrangements. Some of the couples I've worked with found it to be a bit too much at times, and would often choose to work with a different dig partner during the day so they weren't burned out. Some would argue that this would be a fantastic test of 24/7 immersion for any relationship!

Good luck to you,

I avoid hiring couples but don't have a hard and fast rule about it. In my experience of working with couples, about 50% of the time, both parties are true rock stars, and the other 50% of the time, one person is quite good and the other...somewhat less so.

Also, it presents the appearance of nepotism and therefore undermines fair hiring practices.

At our jobs now, the reset team for this entire district is only Mallory and I, and we have gotten very good reviews from the supervisors and merchandisers in all our travels. They prefer to bring us two in, instead of bringing in the big reset crew from up near Richmond. I guess we both enjoy what we do, and know how to do it well... and we just happen to be a couple!

One very cool thing is Mallory looked up how many hours she needed to graduate and its less than 30... and if we go to a field school this summer that will knock out a great deal of them. Sounds like she will be ready to go a lot faster than both of us thought!

I do have a question about how the crm firms pay our the hotels. Do they normally pre-pay them.. or do I need to pay for them up front and get reimbursed? Also, what happens on the weekends? If I take a contract cross country... would I have to pay for the weekends?

[quote:="coreybarnett"]
I do have a question about how the crm firms pay our the hotels. Do they normally pre-pay them.. or do I need to pay for them up front and get reimbursed? Also, what happens on the weekends? If I take a contract cross country... would I have to pay for the weekends?

Depends. We usually pay in advance via direct billing but sometimes on small simple jobs that come up quickly, the field hand(s) pay and get reimbursed. People get their own rooms unless they actually want to share.

On faraway jobs, we usually keep the rooms booked for the breaks. If it's a longish break and someone is going home or off for an adventure, we'll have that person check out and stash his/her gear in another room...unless we forget. In short, you usually wouldn't have to pay for your room during breaks. But you wouldn't be getting per diem on days not worked, certain weather problems excepted.

[quote:="coreybarnett"]
I do have a question about how the crm firms pay our the hotels. Do they normally pre-pay them.. or do I need to pay for them up front and get reimbursed? Also, what happens on the weekends? If I take a contract cross country... would I have to pay for the weekends?

Everywhere I've ever worked, either the office manager or PI made reservations and people just checked themselves in. I'd be very wary of a company that required employee's to pay upfront and be reimbursed. Some projects do pay a lump sum per diem and require employees to find their own lodging.

As for CRM with your significant other. In some ways it's easier to go out/marry another archaeologist. The lifestyle is rough on relationships and it's hard to explain it to those outside of the field. It's hard to keep a relationship together with that much traveling.

Most of the archaeology couples I've known have been full time staff, which I imagine makes life a lot simpler. The job market know is brutal and I'm sure even rougher for two people looking for employment on the same job. It would be hard to go through several times a year as technicians.

[quote:="KB"][quote:="coreybarnett"]
I do have a question about how the crm firms pay our the hotels. Do they normally pre-pay them.. or do I need to pay for them up front and get reimbursed? Also, what happens on the weekends? If I take a contract cross country... would I have to pay for the weekends?

Everywhere I've ever worked, either the office manager or PI made reservations and people just checked themselves in. I'd be very wary of a company that required employee's to pay upfront and be reimbursed. Some projects do pay a lump sum per diem and require employees to find their own lodging.

As for CRM with your significant other. In some ways it's easier to go out/marry another archaeologist. The lifestyle is rough on relationships and it's hard to explain it to those outside of the field. It's hard to keep a relationship together with that much traveling.

Most of the archaeology couples I've known have been full time staff, which I imagine makes life a lot simpler. The job market know is brutal and I'm sure even rougher for two people looking for employment on the same job. It would be hard to go through several times a year as technicians.

I wouldn't say be "very wary" of them. There are several good companies, usually engineering firms, who require you pay up front and get reimbursed. They do usually set up the reservations for you.This is just an accounting requirement to keep track of all money going out.

[quote:="Classarch"]

I wouldn't say be "very wary" of them. There are several good companies, usually engineering firms, who require you pay up front and get reimbursed. They do usually set up the reservations for you.This is just an accounting requirement to keep track of all money going out.

I guess I can understand it being safer with a big company; however, way back when I was on the road I really didn't have enough funds to even contemplate such a job. It was bad enough that some companies wanted receipts for per diem reimbursement (these were mostly faked though); I can't imagine fronting money for a hotel room. That's essentially an interest free loan to your employer.

However, back in the late 90's I had several good friends who got burned by companies that played games with per diem & hotel reimbursements. It took months to get any money back and the excuse was the money was waiting on the client's payments. There were several lawsuits regarding this, as well as issues with pay (regularity and lack of prevailing) while on big projects in the SE.

Then again, I knew people who had the same thing happen when their employer was covering their rooms. During an especially rainy season, their employer (I'm assuming we can't name names) was bleeding money from so much downtime, so they started docking already meager paychecks for hotel costs during rain days (where they got paid $0 for those days).

Stories like this make me very happy that I landed a full time job early on in my career...

(I'm assuming we can't name names)

Just to interject: yes, it's archaeologyfieldwork.com policy to not criticize individual firms by name here in the message forums. This policy was adopted here quite some time ago. I do appreciate your understanding and cooperation in this regard.

I share in the frustration as I was in the same situation years ago and got the shaft from more than one company when it came time to pony up for the hotel and per diem bill. I also heard the same excuses on payday when the checks did not manifest. There are good firms and bad firms out there, and I found that in many cases the bad apples were quite often small mom and pop outfits run by good archaeologists who are otherwise terrible businessmen/women. The firms that have consistently done this over time have made a name for themselves. It may be a good idea to ask opinions of various firms from folks who have been working in CRM for awhile, and if you hear certain names consistently pop up as employers to avoid, it's worth making a note of that info.

I found that in many cases the bad apples were quite often small .... outfits run by good archaeologists who are otherwise terrible businessmen/women.

Jennifer - /exac/

That is exactly a major point in my chapter coming out in a new book (expected for Spring 2010 from SAR Press) that Lynne Sebastion and Bill Lipe are editing. Archaeology & Cultural Resource Management:Visions for the Future. Among other things that hurt the image and success of CRM firms, I spend some time trying to raise awarenss about the need for CRM archaeologists to realize that they need to be business people as well, to insure that they are planning for all those non-archaeological related details that impact your ability to do good work (insurance, book keeping, etc.).

Hopefully the book will be a success and provide food for thought on a number of issues that face CRM archaeos today,- some of which were around since the beginning and others which are relatively new. Lynne Sebastion pulled us together to write it and her vision was that since it had been over 30 years - to redo the process that led to the Airlie House Report (something everyone in CRM should have at least heard of - is it still required reading in intro courses?) in light of CRM today. This is not an official notice - we are still waiting for publicity material to be developed - but here is a sneak peek for the archaeologyfieldwork.com community on what will be in the book. Hopefully it will prove to be a useful tool for up and coming students as well as folks that have been in the field for years.

Archaeology & Cultural Resource Management:Visions for the Future - Expected Spring 2010 from SAR Press - edited by Lynne Sebastion and William Lipe.

Foreword, by Charles R. McGimsey

1. The Future of CRM Archaeology - Lynne Sebastian

2. Archaeologists Looked to the Future in the Past - Hester A. Davis

3. Archaeological Values and Resource Management - William D. Lipe

4. The Process Made Me Do It: Or, Would a Reasonably Intelligent Person Agree that CRM Is Reasonably Intelligent? - Pat Barker

5. Deciding What Matters: Archaeology, Eligibility, and Significance - Lynne Sebastian

6. Innovative Approaches to Mitigation - Susan M. Chandler

7. The Challenges of Dissemination: Accessing Archaeological Data and Interpretations - Julia A. King

8. Improving the Quality of Archaeology in the United States through Consultation and Collaboration with Native Americans and Descendant Communities - T. J. Ferguson

9. Is the Same Old Thing Enough for Twenty-first Century CRM? Keeping CRM Archaeology Relevant in a New Millennium - Douglas P. Mackey

10. Archaeology and Ethics: Is There a Shared Vision for the Future? - Sarah T. Bridges

11. The Crisis in Communication: Still with Us? - David Colin Crass

12. Perspectives from the Seminar - William D. Lipe and Lynne Sebastian

That sounds great, Douglas. I really look forward to checking out the book when it is published. Please keep us in the loop.

As far as hotels and per diem and some of the bad situations that can arise, here is a bit of advice that is applicable to not only field technician couples, but everyone. It is always worth finding out exactly what a company's policy is when you are first hired on (or more importantly, are still considering coming on board) so there are no surprises down the road. I have been involved in the hiring process at a few firms and was shocked at how few questions many techs wanted to ask when they were in discussions with a potential employer. It's often helpful to have a set of these questions written down so you can check them off during the conversation, as you may understandably forget something during a phone interview.

[quote:="admin"]It is always worth finding out exactly what a company's policy is when you are first hired on (or more importantly, are still considering coming on board) so there are no surprises down the road. I have been involved in the hiring process at a few firms and was shocked at how few questions many techs wanted to ask when they were in discussions with a potential employer.

I've also been both sides of the ball and completely agree. That might make a good FAQ...

It seems like many companies have wildly varying policies regarding rain days; whether they're paid or not, if you get paid for being "on call" (ie, "let's wait until 10:00 and see if it clears up"), how it impacts per diem/hotels. As well as how per diem is handled, project letting dates, potential for raises, etc.

I think part of the problem is many people don't want to sound too push and simply accept whatever offer is given. With the bad economy, I can't believe it's getting easier.

This may get a little long...
I have had one major company tell me I'd have per diem as soon as I got to the hotel. When I drove across the US and got there, I was told by my PI that I'd have to wait 2 weeks to send in my perdiem form, and that they would send me a check back to the hotel, which would take an additional 2-3 weks. I would then have to pay to cash my own perdiem check, AND I still work for them, because they are better than the other major company that I worked for that kept trying to leave us stranded without caring at all (long story). Most companies aren't like that, but that's begining to change. The catagory that we are lumped into by these companies is called 'Temporary, Full-Time' employees. We are, according to this IRS designation, to be paid per diem in accordance with GSA per diem rates, as seen here is this hyperlink:
http://www.gsa.gov/Portal/gsa/ep/contentView.do?contentType=GSA_BASIC&contentId=17943.

This is a maximum rate by which our employers may go by, without further documentation needed from us that we were there (for their IRS records). They usually pay around 60 percent of this rate. It is also what we may write off as a standard deduction, as long as we have one receipt per week to prove that we were there, to the IRS. Our receipts may cover anything from toilet paper, to rental movies, to clothes, to shampoo, NO beer or cigarettes, AND these usually are not any of the receipts required by a few of these companies that want us to itemize our per diem. SO...Send them their receipts (if they itemize), keep what they won't use (but are supposed to, by law), Count every day that you are there (except for the 1st and last days, those are at a reduced per diem rate), multiply it times the maximum per diem allotment for your location, and BAMM... that's your writeoff. It doesn't matter how bad they nickle and dimed you to near starvation, you WILL get it back at the end of the year. Even if you only get paid a $26/day perdiem, that's not what your writeoff is. I know this all sounds a little too good to be true for a tax writeoff, but it IS the way the legislation is written. This is not an absolute for all instances, but it covers 95-100% of the way my year is set up.

This designation is also specifically defined further by the IRS and was standardized throughout the US, within all businesses, in accordance with the 2002 truck driver's per diem legislation. (I HAD that actual, original photocopy of the US legislative document on a hyperlink, and now can't seem to find it. I looked for 30 minutes on the web, so if someone wants to read it, it's out there and it's written on purpose so that real people can understand it. It's even worded in the beginning that it is going to be written that way, for the rest of us to not have any questions. lol. I had to read it 3 times before I could accept it). In that legislation, It CLEARLY states how we are to be paid apon arival at our destination within a select amount of time (I think I remember it was 24 hours, but it absolutely was NOT longer than 3 days). The only problem in all of this is that none of us get paid enough to fight these companies to pay us per diem on time. Because of THAT, they continue to switch over to paying us several weeks later. 'Give them an inch, and they'll take a mile'. We are being used and walked all over by these larger corporations, but what can we do? If we fight it out with them, we get black-balled and someone else gets our jobs. I've walked right off into fights with companies about this, ignorantly at first, just by asking nicely about the legalities of not paying me per diem for 5 weeks. One accountant at a mega-corporation in the North East actually demanded I should go get a credit card to charge all of my expenses on during that month. That wouldn't be quite such a bad idea if they didn't have a habit of not paying per diem on time, which would then give me late fees that they wouldn't be paying. That, in turn, would lower MY credit score (both not their problem...lol). When I mentioned if they were going to pay my late fees if they didn't pay me on time, she started hollering at me about it, and how I was being difficult. I guess that meant, 'No'? Many different tax attorneys and tax preparers have no idea the in's and out's of the specifics of this law, so you can hardly believe anything from them. I have personally made this mistake with trusting them for a few years now. I have done an extensive amount of research on this subject, since it appears to be one of our only tax writeoffs, and now use the tax professional that does all of the drivers, pit crew, and support staff for ALL of NASCAR. I won't name-drop this person on here, but you should know that NASCAR people get paid per diem EXACTLY like we do (CRMers). They are considered Temporary, Full-Time employees EXACTLY like us. They also have to file their taxes EXACTLY like we do. Because of these similarities, we have the same writeoffs as them (which aren't many). Our previous certified tax attorney last year made a $1500 mistake on our tax return (which we fixed this year with the new person), mainly due to not inputting the per diem correctly on the forms, and this year we got back somewhere around $4500 (That's with a child tax credit too). That's a HUGE amount of money that can be found within this writeoff and I feel everyone should pay close attention not to EVER 1040EZ. Might as well set your money on fire and throw it out the window on the innerstate....lol. Next year our tax person will be living in Indiana, and you can bet we're driving all the way there. Someone who knows what they're doing in taxes is PRICELESS, and worth the drive...

As far as being a couple, crews hate couples that can't just be employees. If you can't split ways for a few months and work on seperate projects, IF YOU HAVE TO, then it's just a pain for the rest of us. I've seen some great couples in the field, but only one EVER that worked together on every job. They stayed with the megacorporation I mentioned earlier, and didn't surf around. Nice couple, young, I enjoyed working with them, and they amounted to more than two people when they worked together. That's rare. Most of the time couples bring down the moral of a crew with any fighting, bickering, etc. On a hot, nasty day, tension between anyone at all is amplified loudly enough for everyone to be affected. Doesn't matter if it's just body language, everyone will know and it's taxing on the crew's spirit. There is NO WAY I could work with my wife. I love her, and always will, but we could not do this type of work together. Put on a metal roof, sure. Build a custom home from the ground up, absolutely. Wander through swamp together in 100+ degree heat...lmao..eh..no...


DD