Re: Experience = skill? (was various other threads)
I'm what I like to call a recovering academic.
Hey, that's my line :-) You didn't base it on Kate Clinton's routine about being a recovering Catholic, did you?
It's this experience thing that's killing me -- that, plus what seems to be an inherent suspicion of the technical capabilities of anyone with a humanities background (pace the few stories I've heard that might give the lie to this attitude). From what I gather from parts of the discussion recently, the skill/experience thing dogs TWs even when they demonstrate both. What's a poor newbie to do?
In a word: persevere. Get what experience you can, and work your way into a more technical postion when you can. That's what I've tried to do, and I was in much the same position as you six years ago - an Arts grad with little techie visible in my background. I don't suppose I'll ever be mistaken for a stone techie, but I've got enough on my resume that I can prove that I can hold my own. In fact, last week, I even had someone interested in creating a position for me because I could straddle both sides of the writing/technical fence.
In a more concrete vein, look at your resume and see how you can emphasize your existing technical expertise. If necessary, even make that a line beneath each job: "technical expertise learned." Maybe, too, this is a case in which an Interests category would emphasize useful points. Or possibly a Skills category?
Your cover letter is also a place where you could address this problem. You could also make a list of points that would prove your technical competence, and then make sure that you mention them in an interview.
In short, treat the job search as a bit of marketing. Think of the impression you want to make, and then set about to make it. Don't go through the job search with the half-scared passivity that most people do; you'll only find a job through luck that way.
--
Bruce Byfield 604.421.7177 bbyfield -at- axionet -dot- com
"The heart ain't nothing but a fibrous lump
And I just wanna hear it pump."
- The Mollys, "Say Nothing"
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