h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

As I've said on my Personal Space, I was born under a wandering star and this applied to jobs as well as life (the universe and everything). So, just a couple of personal ideas.

First off, I've found most employers are more interested in what you can do more than what you may know about.

That is, if you can show a track record of whizz-bang success at, say, Visual Basic programming, the Assistant Teamaker To The Vice-Personnel Undersecretary who's glancing over your CV is more likely to sit up than if he finds you ace in your knowledge of the socio-economic complexities of Botswanan politics.

Second, although it may cost, it might be worth having a psychometric profile completed. This doesn't entail and arm-and-a-leg appointment with an neo-Freudian analyst but a professional measurement of your attitudes,aptitudes and abilities.

I was given the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) test (admittedly based on theories of Carl Jung) which measures Dichotomies - Extraversion/Intraversion. Sensing/Intuiiton, Thinking/Feeling and Judging/Perceiving.

The direction, rather than the degree, of preferences is considered more important in 'scoring' the test - being thinking rather than feeling takes precedence over ver clearly thinking or slightly thinking. The tests return th same values repeatedly for most (75-90%) of adults so are regarded by many (though not all) as scientifically valid.

For info on Psycho metrics: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychometrics#Instruments_and_procedures