Even though many of our graduates will have progressed in their careers since completing a case study, they are still of interest to students who wish to gain an understanding of the world of work.

I look after and enhance our records, answer enquiries, and conduct data searches for a range of users, including commercial archaeological units, academics, local archaeology groups, and general members of the public. I’m also responsible for designing promotion material, such as leaflets, newsletters and display work, as well as maintaining our organisation’s social media platforms.

Each day is often varied. I usually have a list of regular, long-term, tasks to complete but really the job is very reactive to whatever enquiries I receive on the day.

I love being able to share information about the region’s historic environment, especially with local people and communities. There’s nothing more satisfying than hearing someone say ‘oh I never knew that before, that’s really interesting!’

The variety of the material that I’m dealing with – one day I’ll be gathering data on flint tools found in the prehistoric uplands of the Pennines, and the next I’ll be writing a record on a Victorian Music Hall. I particularly like working with historic mapping as you can see how areas have rapidly evolved during the last 300 years or so.

The research and writing skills I developed while at university have proved incredibly useful. Being able to sift through a range of sources and then create and share the information in a clear and accurate manner, so people with a range of archaeological knowledge can understand it, is an essential part of my job.

We use GIS and databases every day, and you need to be a rather organised person who is also flexible, as your workload is constantly changing. You also have to be friendly and patient with people - I often find myself having long conversations with enquirers to try and work out what information they actually want.

Sadly, I think it is becoming increasingly hard to get a HER job without first volunteering at one – I volunteered for a year at both West Yorkshire and South Yorkshire before I secured a full-time paid position. Most HERs are more than willing to accept volunteers or work placement students however, and in fact we have hosted a number of these over the past few years from local universities, including Sheffield.

Being able to drive seems to be becoming an almost essential skill for most archaeology careers these days, and in terms of working in HERs I think a practical knowledge of both GIS and databases is advantageous.

I really enjoyed going on the university-run field schools and excavations. During my degree I spent a couple of summers on a site in north Lincolnshire which had an amazing range of archaeology – from prehistoric barrows to a late medieval manor house – all packed into one small village green. I learnt a hell of a lot from these excavations in terms of practical archaeological skills, but they were always a laugh as well!

Studying at Sheffield has taught me to never underestimate all the fascinating possibilities of archaeology, and to never assume that the most obvious explanation is the right one.