One problem about not defining the field is that recruiters will do it for us - and they can make mistakes. For example, there are already jobs out there that demand a BA or MA in a design related discipline as part of the qualifications. This means that all the artists, the engineers, psychologists, people with bags of experience but no direct qualifications etc, are left out regardless of their competence. This is no problem for the gurus but for most of us, it presents a real challenge to even get a foot in the door because the initial criteria filter us out.
Having said that, it is a hard field to define because it is so multi-disciplinary. The beings an outstanding issue: many recruiters don't realise this and assume that IxD is uniquely associated with one particular approach. So some will say they want an interaction designer with X years flash experience and a fine arts degree; others will want business analysis skills; and yet others will want 5 years of programming GUIs in C . All of these can be relevant, but they focus too hard on one approach and don't seem to realise that while our current jobs are similar, our backgrounds are strikingly different. I' m quite lucky. I have a good job now where I was taken on for my research skills and this should give me the experience I need to grow and be able to prove it, but I had an awful lot of rejections on the way without getting past the first stage of recruitment. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Posted from the new ixda.org http://www.ixda.org/discuss?post=40375 ________________________________________________________________ Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ....... [email protected] Unsubscribe ................ http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines ............ http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .................. http://www.ixda.org/help
