I just finished week two of a three week project where I had to hire my first employee. It’s an interesting arrangement all around. DIGTECH was subcontracted to do the fieldwork for this project and they needed two people. So, there’s me, and someone I’ve worked with on excavations before, RC.
On post #236 I talked about all the pay and per diem troubles I was about to have so I won’t go back to that here. What I want to talk about here is the silver lining on all this stress: being a job creator.
Creating Jobs
We always hear about jobs in the news. Around election time, people up for the big offices talk about how many jobs they’re going to create. Their policies might bring in companies that will hire people but they are not real job creators. I gave a friend a job. That’s an amazing feeling. Even if it is just three weeks, he has work because of choices I made. Oh, and I’ve only been in CRM for about 9, almost 10, years. Up or out, I always say.
During my time in CRM I’ve worked with a lot of people. I’ve also argued with a lot of people. Most of the time I can only sit by for so long while leaders above me continue to make bad, or inefficient, decisions. At some point I call them on it. Early in my career I call them on it in a way that made them resent me. I tried to learn from those instances, but, the result was always the same no matter how hard I tried to help. Those people are still toiling away for someone else. I hope they’re happy.
So, I started my own company. It’s been a long and difficult road, but, things are starting to change for the better. There are big things in the works right now and if it all goes well it will mean creating jobs for a lot more people. I don’t want just any field tech, though. I want the best.
When I put out a job posting, I’m going to want to see your LinkedIn profile with recommendations. You’re going to be paid well for your time and you’ll be respected. Because of that, I expect to deal only with true professionals. If you plan to get drunk and high every night after work you can work for someone else.
For leadership positions I’ll also want to see what you’ve written. This doesn’t just mean technical writing, either. I want to see what you’ve written to support your passion for archaeology. Show me your blog, your Twitter feed, your Instagram feed, or your contributions to LinkedIn and Facebook groups. If you aren’t writing and talking about archaeology with your peers and the world then you won’t be a Crew Chief of Project Manager with DIGTECH. I’m pretty deeply entrenched in online archaeology so if I haven’t heard of you and if we aren’t already connected online then we probably won’t have much to talk about when you call to ask for a job.
I have very simple requests. They are difficult for some people to comprehend and some might say that I won’t find anyone that fits the bill. I say fine. If those people don’t exist then I’ll go to universities, get new graduates, and create those people. I have a passion for archaeology and a respect for what we do. I don’t care about making a million dollars or saving $2 on my next project. I care about giving good, honest, people a chance to help make the world a better place by doing good work and good science.
If you want to join me, then, get your online persona together and let me know you exist. I’ll be adding to my very small list of people to call soon and I hope I can give each and every one of you passionate professionals a place you can be proud to work and contribute to.
Thanks for reading and I’ll see you in the field!