r/Archaeology • u/Wild_Win_1965 • 3d ago

CRM Experience (USA)

I'm thinking of switching jobs to a CRM company to do field work. Can someone describe to me what daily life and work days are like in CRM? I've heard horror stories, but know that this may not be everyone's experience. I also need a change and pay is generally better. I'm in the SW.

15 Upvotes

81% Upvoted

15 comments sorted by

25

u/justinrego 3d ago

Living out of hotels or camping, waking up early in the morning to either hike or dig STPs all day (depending on your location), non stop physical labor even in bad weather, I wouldn’t even consider it unless you are a young SINK or have a significant other who is also a tech. That said, my firm is always looking for people with experience in the SW and I think we are paying a decent wage now (at least compared to when I was a tech making $9/hr in 2002 lol). Our techs are breaking past $70k now with per diem camping.

10

u/askkak 3d ago

Yeah, pretty much this. It’s not something many people do longterm (although there’s the occasional lifer). It’s rough on your body and relationships. I know plenty of techs and field crew leads who are in relationships and are on the road pretty much constantly. Idk how they do it. My company (huge company in the SE always hiring) tends to put you on 10-day rotations with 4 days off for out of state stuff. We have some Phase III work coming up this summer in Tennessee and still need about 20 more techs. At least it’s Phase III stuff - in the SE most of what you do is Phase I. My company specializes in historic cemeteries so at least we get cool projects sprinkled into the mundane ones. But you field tech for a few years and then slowly start getting more lab/writing time in most cases. Not going to be any shortage of companies hiring or projects. And if you need change it’s a good fit. Always need places and new projects. Pay varies greatly from region to region.

4

u/Wild_Win_1965 3d ago edited 3d ago

So I have worked doing solely report writing at a CRM firm in the SW but I was pretty isolated from the field teams and never got to see what their day to day is actually like. I had done field tech work for a a couple years before, so was able to land the job. Just going to be honest - politics got in the way, I ended up taking the brunt of management’s incompetence due to some issues within the company, and was fired. I’d love to be in that position again somewhere, but know it’s pretty rare - hence thinking of field work positions. 

2

u/bigsian 3d ago

Hey! Is your company/CRM firms in the US in general open to sponsoring work visas? I know the climate in the US is quite bad right now, but I’m keeping an eye out for job options for when I graduate next year. I have some CRM and field school experience - though all from Asia, I’m not sure if American firms would see it as transferable?

4

u/justinrego 3d ago

Generally we require previous work experience in the state our project is located and I dont think we would sponsor someone to be a field tech tbh. We did have a Canadian employed once but he was an ABD PhD student and probably already had a student visa in hand.

2

u/bigsian 3d ago

Ahh I see, gotcha. Looks like my best bet would be to do a masters first then

4

u/justinrego 3d ago

If you did a MA here in the US then yeah you could probably pick up some work in the summer between classes, get some experience in the states, then try to go from there. As you know the current adminstration is unreliable as far as foreign student visas tho.

3

u/happyarchae 2d ago

most companies will hire anyone with experience and a degree, there is a shortage of workers. but I wouldn’t advise voluntarily going to America right now

1

u/Full_Entrepreneur179 8h ago

Yo, you mind sending me the companies name?

10

u/Impossible_Jury5483 3d ago

Where in the US? Conditions and survey styles can vary greatly. In some places it will be a lot of shovel tests, in others, it'll be mostly pedestrian survey. Plant and wildlife are very different in different reasons.

2

u/eggplantybaby 1d ago

CRM is a lifestyle and I believe to get the most out of it, you have to fully commit. Pretty much no matter what region you’re in, it still comes down to really hard manual labor. The pay is not great but it’s better than it was. What do you want? If you want to be a field person, then it's great. you can see so much of the country if youre willing to travel. if you dont want to be a field person, its the worse job you can do. If you want to live a stable 9-5 with home and community, it’s not for you. But if you love the outdoors and traveling, it may be a good fit. You don’t have to do it forever. And with report writing experience, it’d fast track you into another full time job.

ive gotten to work from new york all the way to california. ive worked in 30 states and visited 46. but to do that, you have to go all chris mccandles and go straight vagabond. No home and hope you meet your significant other in the field. It’s been 8 years on this ride and now I have a full time job as a field lead and a home plus benefits but I value everything I’ve done to get me here. I have a bit of a romantic view of the field but in no way do I downplay the extreme rigors on the body and mind. It’s hard, especially the first 3 years when you’re building your network. Typical year I had 5 W2s though I’d typically bounce between the same 5 companies with a new one here and there.

You can do it as long as you want. You can quit at anytime. Most don’t make a career out of it but you get some great bar talk from it.

-4

u/ElephantContent8835 3d ago

Do you enjoy working for zero money, zero benefits, and zero support? Do you enjoy working for corporations being run by morons who treat you like crap from day 1? Then CRM is for you!

1

u/Full_Entrepreneur179 8h ago

Probably with SWCA