— Having given for a time the idea of full-time employment, I now find myself, like many Americans, cobbling together a series of freelance and contract jobs. I am perhaps uniquely suited for this type of life as my working history has been so varied that I'm qualified – at least vaguely – to do pretty much anything.

Though I fancy myself an editor and a writer, I make most of my money these days as a public relations person, marketing guru and Internet consultant. Until I started doing this in February, I had never actually done any of these things, though I'd dabbled in all of them at various stops along my non-linear working past.

I've run magazines and Web sites aimed at hip young men, middle-aged housewives, high school band and orchestra directors and rock star wannabes to name a few. I've also sold ladders and scaffolding, edited newspapers, fact checked TV Guide articles and (very briefly) sold greeting cards, fancy soaps and expensive chocolates to specialty stores.  

As most likely the only former toy store general manager who once worked for a Web site that was bought by Playboy, I never consider myself unqualified for any job. I mean, I'm not applying to be a brain surgeon or a refrigerator repairman – or anything else that requires actual skill – but if it seems like someone smart and resourceful might be able to do the job, then I go after it.

I'm always looking to do new things and have a pretty strong sense of confidence that I can figure out most jobs. How different could running a cruise ship be? And, do you really need an ice cream background to run a frozen desserts factory?

I always assume I can do the job and that my odd mix of past experience represents exactly the perfect mix of skills that qualifies me for positions when my actual history in no way matches the job description. Through the years I'm sure this has led to my resume being put on the throwaway pile many more times than it has gone in the callback stack.

Of course, when your qualifications match nobody else's then it takes a special breed of hiring manager to select my resume.

"Well, he's never done this type of work, but I'm guessing this guy could run a dairy farm," would essentially have to be the thought process from anyone considering bringing me in for an interview.

Fortunately, those types of people do exist and while many, many jobs I (and perhaps only I) believe I would be good at, pass me by without a thought, just enough people  consider my mostly preposterous resume an asset to keep me solvent. Instead of a career, I've chosen to have a series of careers that are not entirely related.

That may not be so good for the bottom line, but it make me eminently employable for any job that nobody would be specifically qualified for. I can do just about anything because I've done just about everything. Hard to put that into a cover letter, but true nonetheless.



Daniel B. Kline's work appears in over 100 papers weekly. He can be reached at dan@notastep.com or you can see his archive at dbkline.com or befriend him at facebook.com/dankline. Follow him on Twitter, @worstideas.