This has been filed under “stuff to blog” for almost a month, but Signal vs. Noise posted a link to an interview with Jared Spool, the founder of User Interface Engineering, on why he likes working with people who have a background in theater. Namely, because we intrinsically understand things like iterations (rehearsals), unchangeable deadlines (the show must go on), and the difference between the presentation and what’s running it (onstage/backstage). As I’ve been poking around the job market recently, these are things which more and more people, especially in the tech industry, seem to understand are valuable skills.

I used to have to explain why my directorial ability to tell a story and move things around in space or my stage management abilities to bring organization to chaos and keep a bunch of people on schedule was applicable to non-production-related jobs, but more and more people just seem to get it. Nevertheless, it might be a good link to keep handy for all you theater types who are looking for non-theater jobs.