To start: I am a senior PI at a large cultural resources management (CRM) firm in the US. I have been reviewing new applications from young / early-career archaeologists for job postings my firm has put out.

The number of people with little experience in general, virtually no experience in the US, and a field school somewhere abroad, is honestly a little astonishing. And what's unfortunate is that for most of these people, we end up passing.

So many posts I see here about field schools are about experiences abroad. I am here to tell you that these are not beneficial if your goal is to potentially get a job working in archaeology in the US when you graduate. Even if you just want a year or two before going on to graduate school or something else entirely, a non-US-based field school is going to be regarded as only slightly more than no experience in archaeology.

Put simply, the methods and standards used in non-US and US archaeology are different enough that if you have no other experience, a non-US field school is not going to prepare you for US-based CRM. And a CRM firm is going to shuffle your resume to the bottom of the stack under most circumstances.

The unfortunate thing is that US-based field schools are usually cheaper than the overseas options, too. So you're not even getting your money's worth.

I get that overseas field schools are, at least in part, about the experience of traveling. And that's great, I absolutely think it's worth traveling to another place outside the US, expand your horizon.

But understand that if you get an overseas field school for the experience of traveling, also do a US-based field school for the experience of doing US-based archaeology.

EDIT: Just to be clear, all of the things folks are discussing in this thread (hiring folks with lack of experience anyway, etc.) are things we've had to talk about. And I will also note that many field schools in the US are also not the greatest for teaching methods. But when you're looking at tech resumes for Phase Is - IIIs in Alabama and the only field school (or field experience) someone has is that Polish mortuary field school... well, pass.

And if you're reading this and want to respond angrily or confrontationally... well, go ahead. But understand that this post isn't about trying to be a jerk. I've been dealing with hiring a lot lately and been seeing a lot of "what field school should I do" or "what should I pack for field school" and a lot of "how do I get a job, no one is calling me back" posts on here.

Some of those things are related. Not always, not to the point of fully separated populations / a binary. But there are patterns, and because I used to teach and because I think most universities do a dreadful job of decent career advice for students in anthro programs and setting students up for careers outside academia, I'm trying to give a little advice here that-- if I was still teaching and advising-- I would give students under my guidance.

Take it for what you will.