Hi all,

A couple of questions to put to the readers here.

I have a degree in psych and a PhD in HCI both from good universities
and want to get a steady position in this field. I've done industrial
work (human factors multi-company collaboration into commercial
aircraft cockpit design - assessment and some design) and commercial
work (workflow apps both desktop & web-based, scientific desktop app,
oil exploration app - design, assessment, development) and educational
(commercial VLE - assessment). This last one was a 3 year project
though it also involved research into other professional learning
issues (CPD etc) which was a good learning experience. The scientific
app's project lasted for about 5 months, the aircraft for about 2-3
and the rest were for a few weeks each. It's not a vast deal of work,
but it's varied and I think I have learned a lot more than if I just
did e-commerce webapps. Besides, I took this work because I really
enjoy working in this field and want to gain as much experience as
possible.

But when ever I apply for a regular job, I am always told that I am
too academic and am turned down for interviews. IMHO, only my degree
and phd are academic (and then the phd was applied research). The rest
have all been for profit-making organisations except for a participant
in the aircraft project (a government organisation).

What am I doing wrong? In IxD, is being seen as "too academic" a kiss
of death for an applicant? If so, the only experience I can get are
projects like these so what's the best way to break out and get
something substantial to prove that I can do this job well? I can't
afford to retrain and go back and take a masters.

All the best,

Bob Dickson
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