How to hire anthropologists and archeologists

Job description template

Copy it, fill in the brackets, and remove anything that does not fit your job. Keep only must-haves you would really turn someone away for.

[Job title] at [Company name]
[City, State] · [Full-time / Part-time] · [Pay range]

About the role
[Two or three sentences about your team, the work and why it matters.]

What you will do
• Apply traditional ecological knowledge and assessments of culturally distinctive land and resource management institutions to assist in the resolution of conflicts over habitat protection and resource enhancement.
• Collect information and make judgments through observation, interviews, and review of documents.
• Create data records for use in describing and analyzing social patterns and processes, using photography, videography, and audio recordings.
• Identify culturally specific beliefs and practices affecting health status and access to services for distinct populations and communities, in collaboration with medical and public health officials.
• Plan and direct research to characterize and compare the economic, demographic, health care, social, political, linguistic, and religious institutions of distinct cultural groups, communities, and organizations.
• Teach or mentor undergraduate and graduate students in anthropology or archeology.
• Train others in the application of ethnographic research methods to solve problems in organizational effectiveness, communications, technology development, policy making, and program planning.
• Write about and present research findings for a variety of specialized and general audiences.

What you bring
• [Required license, certification or years of experience, if any]
• [Education, only if you truly need it. Typical to start in this job: Master's degree]
• Strong speaking, writing, active listening, critical thinking, reading comprehension and active learning skills
• Working knowledge of sociology and anthropology, English Language, history and archeology and foreign language
• [Anything else you would really turn someone away for]

Pay and benefits
[Pay range]. For reference, the U.S. median for this job is $34.02 an hour ($70,770 a year).
[Benefits, schedule and anything else candidates should know.]

How to apply
[Apply on JAI Bot. Every applicant hears back.]

Copy the template Check your finished job post

Interview questions for anthropologists and archeologists

Ask every candidate the same questions, in the same order, and write down what they say. Questions about past work show what someone has actually done.

1. Tell me about a time you had to apply traditional ecological knowledge and assessments of culturally distinctive land and resource management institutions to assist in the resolution of conflicts over habitat protection and resource enhancement. What did you do, and how did it turn out?
2. Tell me about a time you had to collect information and make judgments through observation, interviews, and review of documents. What did you do, and how did it turn out?
3. Tell me about a time you had to create data records for use in describing and analyzing social patterns and processes, using photography, videography, and audio recordings. What did you do, and how did it turn out?
4. Tell me about a time you had to identify culturally specific beliefs and practices affecting health status and access to services for distinct populations and communities, in collaboration with medical and public health officials. What did you do, and how did it turn out?
5. Explain something technical from your last job as you would to a new coworker.
6. Describe something important you wrote at work, such as a report, notes or an email. Who read it and what happened next?
7. Tell me about a time you had to understand a request or problem that was explained poorly. How did you make sure you got it right?
8. Why this job, and why now? What would make you stay here for the long term?

Good answers name a real situation, what the person did themselves and what happened. Avoid questions about age, family plans, religion, health, national origin or anything else unrelated to the job.

What anthropologists and archeologists do

• Apply traditional ecological knowledge and assessments of culturally distinctive land and resource management institutions to assist in the resolution of conflicts over habitat protection and resource enhancement.
• Collect information and make judgments through observation, interviews, and review of documents.
• Create data records for use in describing and analyzing social patterns and processes, using photography, videography, and audio recordings.
• Identify culturally specific beliefs and practices affecting health status and access to services for distinct populations and communities, in collaboration with medical and public health officials.
• Plan and direct research to characterize and compare the economic, demographic, health care, social, political, linguistic, and religious institutions of distinct cultural groups, communities, and organizations.
• Teach or mentor undergraduate and graduate students in anthropology or archeology.
• Train others in the application of ethnographic research methods to solve problems in organizational effectiveness, communications, technology development, policy making, and program planning.
• Write about and present research findings for a variety of specialized and general audiences.

Skills that matter most

SpeakingWritingActive ListeningCritical ThinkingReading ComprehensionActive LearningSociology and AnthropologyEnglish LanguageHistory and ArcheologyForeign Language

Education, experience and outlook for anthropologists and archeologists

• Typical education to start: Master's degree (BLS)
• Job outlook: +6% over ten years, faster than average · about 800 openings a year (BLS)

What to pay anthropologists and archeologists

Pay depends a lot on where the job is. Highest and lowest median yearly pay by state:

See anthropologists and archeologists pay in every state

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Job duties and skills: O*NET 31.0 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA), used under the CC BY 4.0 license; O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. JAI Bot has modified this information; USDOL/ETA has not approved, endorsed, or tested these modifications. Pay: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics OEWS, May 2025. Interview questions and the job description template: JAI Bot, based on the duties and skills above.