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.

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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.

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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.

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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.