> > > As a field service person who also is trying to do my own contracting I > guess I am a hybrid between the two. In some positions and jobs just > explaining what > I have done has been a big win. Others they wanted to see certs or > licenses. > > It is interesting that I have gotten a lot of jobs based on the fact that I > am an amateur radio operator (ham radio) and that I have published some a > few > times in the amateur radio networking conferences. > > Also there are other jobs where the fact that I am HACCP certified has got > me in the door also. > > What I have found out is you can never tell what the sweet spot is but if > they advise you that it is to your advantage to have a certain type of > certification in the job descriptor and application requisites then it is > best to try to > have those pieces of paper to back you up, just as when they say you need > a passport > and the available time to travel, having the passport and being willing to > travel causes some of them to perk up. I have a passport and a Global > Access card, > and am used to 95%+ travel. The down side is some of them will then think > that you are over qualified and back off. > > So if you can have a well rounded set of creds and background and figure > out > just how much to tell so as not to go under or over you will get the job. > > I must say Chuck that I'm a bit envious of what you're doing. It's a direction I've tried to go in for many years, but haven't been able to pull it off yet for various legitimate and lame reasons.
I have a background in radio as an Avionics Tech but I never got my ham radio license and it's somethng I've thought a lot about lately. I used to travel quite a bit as a contract Network Engineer. I've also run into the over-qualified claim, but most often that was for perm/f-t positions. Currently, my interest lies more in Linux and privacy/security. Unfortunately, I rarely make to a PLUG meeting but maybe someday I'll make your acquaintence and we'll have an interesting chat. Cheers, Mike _______________________________________________ PLUG mailing list [email protected] http://lists.pdxlinux.org/mailman/listinfo/plug
