messiah

I'm in the middle of writing a letter and amending my CV to apply for a job. The job description asks for experience with a couple of software packages, 1 I have used (Photoshop) and 1 I haven't (Quark Xpress) - although getting hold of them to practice on won't be a problem if you catch my drift.

Any hints or tips to help me get an interview? Luckily one of my many attributes is being able to learn software pretty quickly so I should be able to get to grips with it OK.

There are 2 other things I need to persuade them about.

1. It's using Mac's rather than PC's - although I am looking to buy a Mac Mini in the near future.

2. I'm from a Architectural background as opposed to a publishing background. The ad said that experience was preferred but not essential, but since both jobs are design orientated I think I should be OK in that one but could do with some extra idea's just to be sure.

Any info you think I should include?

OllyK

TBH you are going to struggle bluffing your way through an OS and SW package you have never seen. Better to be honest IMO and say you are prepared to self train to get up to speed.

messiah

I've included the self training bit - I'll be able to have a good play around with Quark Xpress beforehand but not OS X - I have used a Mac in the past but it was OS 9.something.

OllyK

I'd point out the Mac experience in your CV but perhaps be OS neutral i.e. 3 years experience with Apple Mac, they can ask the specifics in interview

Brother_Will

Dont get a Mac Mini, very sweet but if your just going to be using it for training look at getting a pre owned power mac G4 ive just picked up one with 704mb ram, 80gb hard drive, cdrw and panther (OSX 10.3, i think) all for £165

messiah

bargain! where from?

Actually the idea behind getting a mac mini is to connect it to the tv and for it to be a music & photo store (initially) as well as a permanent place to connect to the web as my laptop is never in the same place from 1 hour to the next.

I've not mentioned which Mac OS, just that I used one at a previous employer.

Brother_Will

Ebay, plenty on there. The only thing i need help with now is how do i transfer my "borrowed" copy of Photoshop from my power book to the new computer?

Dream Weaver

I bluffed my way into a management job quite a few years back now. I was out of my depth and 6 months in I hated it so left.

I wouldn't bother applying if you dont meet the requirements.

angrynorth

Prior to the job I am in now I had only used OS9 for approx 3 days. I started day one here and they had the old G4's and I couldn't even turn the ****** on (no, really I couldn't, I kept on pressing the speaker) let alone use OSX! So yes you can blag that bit no problem.

Potatoshop is a bit harder to blag as its a monster piece of software that genuinely does take time to master but if you can grab a copy for some practice then you may be OK.

Quark is ugleee you could say you are more used to InDesign which is fast becoming more popular and justify your limited knowledge that way.

Good luck anyway

LG John

Quark is a piece of p!ss to use and look able in. So is any mac OS system. However, anyone with half a brain can tell the differece between someone that really knows quark on a mac and someone that picked it up 10 minutes ago. Therefore you may be rumbled if you get the job. I can use both, where is the job and what does it pay