[logfromblammo]

It is very possible their work experience was irrelevant. I have worked in enough different companies--some that I chose, and some that bought my employer--to see that no two of them were similar enough for more than a fraction of my technical experience to be relevant.

I consider my aptitude and adaptability to be my most valuable work qualities. My experience only comes into play when I see my current company about to make a mistake that I have already seen at previous companies. Like gratuitously adding a stand-up meeting to the dev process.

My experience with two previous attempts at cargo-culting the stand-up meeting led me to caution against a third attempt, at a third company. And then I got "at will" fired for not being "enthusiastic" enough about the new dev process. So now my experience tells me that only power can speak truth to power. In the absence of a union, I will not warn a manager whom I do not trust when they are about to do something stupid. I will instead send out resumes, and ghost the instant I get an offer from a less-bad company.

My current company is gutting the health care plan. That's fine. Everything is fine. No, I have no problems with it. I am updating my resume for completely unrelated reasons.

So in some sense, "irrelevant work experience" might actually mean "experienced enough to call us out on our bullshit".