Getting a good job

My advice for getting a good job (especially if you have a "non-traditional" background, as I do - I don't have a degree either): Network, network, network. Get aquainted with people in the industry you want to work in - lots of people. Make yourself, and your skills, known. I've only had a few jobs since I bailed out of school. In each of my jobs, the manager hiring for the position had already knew who I was, and had decided they wanted me before I even interviewed, and before they ever saw a resume. In each case, the interview was just to make sure I wasn't a total loon, and the resume was just a formality (I never even sent a resume in here - though I was hired 10 years ago [before we were aquired by the large corporation whose globally recognizable three-letter name appears in my email header...] and don't think they could get away with that level of "informality" these days). I know several people who've gotten all their jobs this way, too. --Pat.