Experience is of course valuable, but it doesn't entitle me to much more than some extra consideration. Entitlement really should come with Good Work and Good Results. It's earned. A portfolio, or a degree, or both, shows persistence and discipline and passion, but good work and good results -- whatever impresses clients and employers -- is what should net you the steady job and moneymoneymoney. I've sung all my life, probably starting with Sunday school and cartoon or advertising themesongs (mmm, O-S-C-A-R and I made some tuneful and tasty sammiches together)... Does that 30mumble years of singing experience warrant me a record deal? God no. Hooo, god, no.
If one has a history of half-assery or jackassery, one shouldn't expect to gain more of an employer's consideration. (Of course if one were such a juvenile, they'd probably wail "Why me?" when chastised instead of gleaning anything from introspection.) Sure, lots of other variables figure into an employee review, some one can control, some beyond one's direct influence. There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio. But the bottom line is, well, the Bottom Line -- it's a business, and is Horatio benefitting the business? Is he earning this entitlement? Or is he wasting time(=money), poisoning morale, never chipping in on birthday cakes?
I have a brief cover letter on my resume page. Expanding:
I left UGA after 4 years and co-founded a production/post-production company in Middle Georgia. We began as convention videographers, eventually partnering with a Macon production company, Storey Communications, providing them with graphics and FX for their TV commercials and concerts. [clip here] My work was already getting on-air! From there I moved to Atlanta to continue freelance graphics, writing, and silly video bits that may yet land on YouTube...
To paraphrase Tim Miller's article "Variety Is The Spice of (Artistic) Life", Creativity thrives on variety. Each project has unique rewards -- and unique problems -- that keep it all interesting. Everything I did honed problem-solving skills. And taught me. Boredom is for the unimaginative.
I've worked for small companies and large... One had a basic office-y front, but behind was a great warehouse space with low cubicle walls, cables snaking all over the dark concrete floor, and a disco ball hanging from the girders. (When they were acquired they offered to move me to Virginia, but I decided to stay in Atlanta.) Another small-yet-international company began in a drafty trailer parked on Crawford Communications' property,
and ended (abruptly) in a nice high-rise in offices we designed. It even had its own breakroom!
The Weather Channel was still in its old tiny studio when I joined them, and I got to follow its move into huge, swank new digs, too. A couple years later I was hired at Endeavor just as it was angioplasty ballooning into WebMD.
Some jobs paid cash, some I filled out invoices or timesheets for checks. They've all supplied valuable experience, and instilled equally-valuable appreciation.
And helped keep me in belt-onions, which were the style at the time.
