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Micah Smith - Ep75
98 Plays6 years ago
Profiles in CRM features short interviews with CRM professionals from all experience levels and educational levels. I ask a standard list of questions and see how each person answers them based on their experience.
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Transcript
Introduction to Episode 75
00:00:01
Speaker
You're listening to the Archaeology Podcast Network. This is Micah Smith and you're listening to Profiles at CRM.
00:00:13
Speaker
Welcome to Profiles in CRM, Episode 75. I'm your host, Chris Webster. Profiles in CRM asks CRM professionals nine simple questions. The answers vary widely depending on their education and experience. Because of the nature of contract archaeology and how small this field really is, some people choose not to reveal their name or the company they work for. It's been a little while since we had one of these episodes, but I'm kicking it off again. If you'd like to be interviewed and share your experience with CRM professionals in the world, please contact me at chrisatarchaeologypodcastnetwork.com.
Micah Smith's CRM Journey
00:00:40
Speaker
All right. Welcome to profiles and what is your name and who do you work for? My name is Micah Smith and I work for a small CRM company in Albuquerque called Oaken Consulting Solutions. Okay. And what's the highest degree you've earned? I have a bachelor's degree. All right. And how long have you been working in CRM? If you total all my experience, it's about six years. It's been off and on since 2010.
00:01:05
Speaker
where have you worked besides where you're working right now? Like regionally, like what states have you worked in? I've done CRM in Illinois, Arizona, and New Mexico. I've been pretty lucky not to have to bounce around all that much. It's funny in this job where, you know, like four different states is not bouncing around all that much. Other people be like, what?
00:01:25
Speaker
All right, so what is the position you usually have on a CRM project and what is the highest position you've ever held? And, you know, I mean, field tech, crew chief, stuff like that. I've almost exclusively been a field tech. I only finally finished my degree this past May. And so now I am a crew chief and that's new and great.
00:01:48
Speaker
Okay, so we've got a newbie in the field. That's awesome. Sort of. All right, so those first questions, since we haven't done an episode of this in a while for the new listeners and for people who are rejoining us after a while, those first questions are to set up education and training.
Exploring New Mexico and Beyond
00:02:03
Speaker
And it kind of frames the way the next questions are answered, depending on how much experience you have and what your education level is. So we're going to go into those right now. What is the best thing that's happened to you that's related to being a CRM archaeologist?
00:02:17
Speaker
And that can be personal or professional. One of the things that I always really appreciate is that I get to go to all these different parts of the state where I live. So I've been to areas of New Mexico that people have lived here their entire lives haven't heard of, haven't been to, didn't know existed, and just getting to be there and appreciate not only the places, but the archaeology there, of course. And even when you're somewhere new, you get to just get a
00:02:46
Speaker
different appreciation of the place. So obviously the work itself is amazing and I love it and I can't see doing anything else, but the getting out and see what's around you, I think is one of my favorite parts. Nice. Okay. And what is the biggest thing you would change that would make being a CRM professional better?
Advocating for CRM Education
00:03:08
Speaker
I could go a long time on this, but I think one thing is the education requirements.
00:03:14
Speaker
Um,
00:03:18
Speaker
I feel like being a field tech is a trade rather than something that requires a four year degree. And I've recently found out about Pima Community College's certificate program. Right. And they have courses teaching you first the basics and then how to lead excavation survey, how to do lab things. And I think that is more what we should be focusing on for CRM because it
00:03:48
Speaker
Seems to better prepare you for the realities of the profession. Like when I was in school, the first time I did two runs at university, my bachelor's, and I didn't ever hear that CRM was a thing in school. It wasn't until I was on staff at a field school in Ecuador that some of the other staff members said, Oh, I do CRM. And I said, well, what's that? And that was my third year of school. Um, so.
00:04:16
Speaker
I think one thing that we need to do is make younger folks more aware that CRM is an industry and find a way to get them that education to do this as opposed to letting everyone think, as I did, that academic archaeology is the only archaeology.
00:04:42
Speaker
So that's basically my main thing. I think that would make things better.
00:04:47
Speaker
That's good, and I'll just make a comment there. It's a little bit of a mind shift with the current people that are doing all the hiring, the serum company owners, because there's only a handful of project types where a degree is actually required. It's kind of industry standard that we require a degree, but it's only really government jobs and certain, I guess, state and possibly local jobs, but also require a certain educational standard for the people working there.
00:05:13
Speaker
But aside from that, it's kind of like they don't want to have two standards. And you're right, currently we only have very few programs like Pima that actually offer really kind of a certificate and a more of a trade certificate like this. So maybe once more companies start recognizing that and recognizing the validity of it, we'll get more programs like that. But we'll just have to see.
The Importance of Public Outreach
00:05:36
Speaker
Okay, so what is your career goal in CRM? Where do you see yourself in 10 years question?
00:05:42
Speaker
That's a terrible question for me. I mean, honestly, I have no idea. I just want to keep being in the field as long as my body will let me. And well, OK, never mind. I found something. So CRM in general, once the work is completed, the work tends to be so closed off from the public and we do.
00:06:11
Speaker
That leads to a lot of misunderstanding from the public who don't like what we do because it seems like we're being secretive. And I understand the need to not publicize where every site is because people will exploit that and all that, but we need to find a way as an industry to do better public outreach to say not only what we're doing and what we're finding, but why it's important and why it should matter to them.
00:06:40
Speaker
because so much of it is from money that comes from the public. It's on public lands and all that. They need to be involved and have access to what it is we're doing. That's why I started my blog and eventually the Archeology Podcast Network was to do just that. So I'm glad you said that.
Advice for Aspiring Archaeologists
00:07:01
Speaker
All right, so final question. If you could give an undergrad thinking about a career in CRM, assuming they've even heard about it, one piece of advice. What would that be? Do your field school right away. I did my field school after my first year of undergrad.
00:07:15
Speaker
did a second field school and then I was staff on other ones after that. And especially in a program that did not teach me about the CRM existing, that's how I got so much experience that allowed me to get six years of experience, actual work experience before even having a degree. Because I had enough experience that several companies said, okay, you do know what you're doing, you don't have a degree, that's okay, come on and work for us. So getting that experience and also
00:07:45
Speaker
If it turns out you don't want to be a field archaeologist, then you'll know early on and figure out something. You can focus on lab methods and still be involved in archaeology, but have a better idea of what it is that you want your career to be.
Credits and Contact Information
00:08:06
Speaker
This show is produced and recorded by the Archaeology Podcast Network, Chris Webster and Tristan Boyle, in Reno, Nevada at the Reno Collective.
00:08:15
Speaker
This has been a presentation of the Archaeology Podcast Network. Visit us on the web for show notes and other podcasts at www.archpodnet.com. Contact us at chrisatarchaeologypodcastnetwork.com.