>> Having skills is a vastly different thing than /proving/ you have
>> skills. Therein lies the problem.
>
> Not for the right employer.

Yeah, well, there aren't too many of those around.

You would /think/ that the abundant evidence that I'm an intelligent 
person with a large capacity to learn and the necessary drive to do so 
would be worth more than a thousand paper qualifications. You would 
think this would be the most valuable thing /ever/.

And yet, the vast majority of companies will simply say "do you have 3 
years of commercial experience with product X?" If the answer is yes, 
then they will speak to you. If the answer is no, suddenly you stop 
existing. Don't give a damn about any other qualities you may have. If 
you don't already know X, you're no good to us.

Because, let's face it, a guy with a weak knowledge of X is far more 
desirable than a day with the capacity to learn everything there is to 
know about X, Y, Z, Q, W, V and R and then some. Right?

> What's been working for me is to do contract work with companies I'd like
> to work with.  That lets them see you work and see what you can do.  I've
> impressed every company I've worked with AFAIK, and three of them have
> talked about wanting to hire me - but with the economy the way it is,
> everyone is hesitant to hire over here.

I don't see how that makes it any easier to find companies, make them 
actually speak to you, and ultimately hire your services. It also 
appears to provide no financial security whatsoever. Instead of spending 
two years unemployed and then getting a job and being able to stop 
looking, you end up having to /permanently/ search for jobs...

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