Solid tips for any archaeologist, cultural resource management professional, historic preservation specialist, or heritage conservation employee can land a job. This is the exact strategy I use to find work for myself and help other people get jobs. Here is a step-by-step method for landing jobs and creating work from the "hidden job market"

1. How to get your résumé into the
right hands
Solid tips for Archaeologists that need
a job or want a new one
By:
William A. White, III
Research Publications Director
Succinct Research

2. Job hunting sucks

3. You may be
thinking that
your college
education and
years of
experience are
proof that you
can do the job
Think Again!!!!!

4. College education and
experience are not enough

5. Here’s how it’s done

6. Step 1: Identify a target area
•Where do you want to live?
•What’s the cost of living there?
•How much do you need to make?

7. Targeting a particular area will allow
you to focus your search and
networking efforts

8. If there’s nothing going down in your
target area…
expand your search or establish another target
area

9. Step 2: Identify the industry
players
•What companies/museums/universities/government
agencies/non-profits are in that area?
•What projects have these organizations completed in
the past?
•What is the organization’s specialty/niche?
•Who works for these organizations?
•What are these employees’ specialties and research
interests?
•What colleges did these folks graduate from?

10. You need to know who and what you’re dealing with so
you can find a common link that will help you make a
memorable impression. You also need to find
organizations that have work

11. 1. Create a LinkedIn profile
2. Search for companies/organizations on LinkedIn that hire
archaeologists in your target area
3. Search for these company’s employees
4. Go online and search for these employees’ Twitter or
Facebook pages. Find out about their interests and activities
5. Use Google Scholar and JSTOR to find their academic articles in
order to learn about their interests and identify potential
research collaborations
6. Get your contact’s email/work phone numbers from their
company website
Use the internet to your
advantage

12. Do research but don’t be a
creeper
You want to learn about the people that
you will work with in the future. This
stuff is already on the internet so its
public information. Don’t invade
someone’s privacy by calling them at
home or asking to friend them on their
personal Facebook without permission

13. Creepers will be
maligned and
professionally ruined in
a close-knit industry like
archaeology

14. Step 3: Establish meaningful
connections
Once you’ve identified a common interest,
contact some of the employees at the
organizations you’re interested in

15. •Talk about previous projects
•Ask about stuff they’ve done
•Ask about additional reading or similar projects
•Be sincerely interested in their work
•DON’T ASK FOR A JOB RIGHT OFF THE BAT
•You want to establish a cordial, professional relationship that
might result in a job or reference someday
Here’s How

16. Step 4: Use the collected
information to find job leads
You’ve established contact. Now find out:
1. Does your contact know of any job openings in their
company/organization/agency?
2. Do they know of openings at any other organizations?
3. Do they know of any projects going down anywhere in your target
area?
4. Are the jobs they know about at organizations they’d recommend
you work for?
5. If the job isn’t at a reputable organization, which organizations
does your contact think are reputable?

17. Most importantly
Will they let you “name drop”?
This will give you a local “reference” of sorts

18. Companies don’t hire workers
They hire people.
They’ll hire people they know, like, or
think can help the company even if
they don’t have a posted job opening

19. Step 5: Seal the deal

20. Don’t waste time with an email or
applying to a job opening

21. Make sure to
• Explain how you can make or save
the organization money on their
upcoming project(s)
• Name drop (if possible) and tell the
manager what you know about the
local archaeology market
• And, ASK FOR THE JOB! Don’t be
coy. You need work and they need
your skills.

22. This 5-step process will improve
your job search

23. You will be actively guiding your job
search and creating your own
position

24. An estimated 70% of jobs are found
in the “Hidden Job” market
The “hidden job” market is not
posted online or advertised
anywhere.
It’s the place where people “in-the-
know” create jobs for themselves

25. Let’s Recap:
Step 1: Identify a target area
Step 2: Identify the industry players
Step 3: Establish meaningful
connections
Step 4: Use your collected information
Step 5: Seal the deal

26. Wanna learn more about
archaeology job
searching?
Visit my website:
www.succinctresearch.com/blog

27. Figures attributions
• Photographs obtained
from open-source stock
on Wikimedia
Commons
• “Cash for Work” from
the Noun Project
• “City” Rémy Médard,
from the Noun Project
• “City” inna bolenkey,
from the Noun Project

28. Succinct Research
Learn what you never learned in
college
Articles, Courses, and eBooks for
cultural resource management, historic
preservation, and heritage conservation
professionals
www.succinctresearch.com