Dear All,

The Society for Medieval Archaeology would like to invite you to attend a Careers Day held at the University of Leicester on the 10th November.

Following on from the success of the Careers Question Time session at the SMA Post Grad Colloquium in February, the Society decided to organise a day that will specifically discuss careers in the heritage sector during this difficult time. During the session in February, students raised concerns about several key issues that are troubling them, namely a lack of job opportunities and poor wages. Lively discussion about the situation ensued, and advice was offered by the panellists, who represented a wide cross-section of careers from the archaeological and historic profession.

The Careers Day in Leicester would like to open this discussion out further, and offer practical advice and support to students and recent graduates. This is will be achieved by running three sessions:

Session 1: Careers Question Time

This will follow the same format as the session in February. Like its name sake Question Time, a panel of experts will face questions put to it by the audience members. In this case it is professionals in the heritage sector facing questions from students, and will be chaired by the SMA Student Rep Jill Campbell. Students can either submit questions with the booking form or ask them on the day. Please visit the society website for a list, plus career biography of all those participating in this session.

Session 2: Personal Development

This section is designed so that students are able to have some one-to-one time with professionals in both the field they are interesting in pursuing, but also to get the opportunity to learn about careers within the discipline that they may never have considered. Academics, finds specialists, museums, historians, county and commercial archaeologists will all be present, alongside representatives from the IfA, English Heritage and BAJR who can discuss bursaries and other such opportunities. The University of Leicester Careers Service will also be present to discuss more practical issues such as writing covering letters, C.V.’s and getting work experience. There will also be stalls present for organisations and booksellers.

Session 3: Key Note Lecture – Carenza Lewis, University of Cambridge 

Please visit http://www.bajrfed.co.uk/content.php?233-Archaeology-Careers-Day-Leicester and soon the SMA website http://www.medievalarchaeology.org/ for more details.

Best wishes, 

Jill Campbell
SMA Student Rep