Just say, “I have an eclectic background because I’m always seeking new challenges and I like being on top of whatever is cool, which of course keeps changing.”

And be open about what makes you happy or unhappy in the workplace… there’s no real incentive to hide that you need flex time because you sleep at odd hours… if you need flex time and sleep at odd hours. What’s the point of hiding it and then discovering later on once you’re hired that you can’t handle it.

(Or substitute any other issue.)

The salesman’s goal is to close the deal and move on to the next one. My goal, and presumably that of the buyer in these cases, is to find common ground. Of course in the current job market the buyers seem to be pure immune response.

Zack has revealed a full recipe for job searching. R. the question at hand his advise to stop confusing the buyers by preparing a clear area of common interest is good. I do that. It is a bit frustrating that they always seem a bit bewildered to discover that I’m also interested in Victorian era transportation to the colonies and how it effected the starfish populations.

Step 2: apply for jobs at organizations that might have some plausible connection to at least one of your listed interests, and that issue paychecks regularly for doing work.

Step 3: Before interviewing for a specific job, read the company’s mission statement, and re-read the listing for the job as it was posted.

Step 4: When asked what you are interested in, describe the smallest possible circle of subject matter that includes one of your listed interests from Step 1 and the duties of the duties of the job listing as posted. Buy yourself time to think by spewing a list of synonyms for words found in the company’s mission statement.

Thus, if you applied for a paying job which would involve putting RFID tags on horseshoe crabs which wash up on Maine beaches, for a company with a mission statement that read, “Our mission is to document the current state of wildlife to establish a standard so that future conservation efforts have something to refer to,” you might say:

My interests involve studying New England invertebrates, because I think it’s important to understand the natural status quo if we want to enable any future preservation efforts.

The key thing is talking about that circle which is just big enough to encompass one true interest of your own, and the duties listed in the job description.

What if you interview for a position which involves cataloging paintings of African-Americans which were painted during the American civil war? You are interested in the role of historical minorities in Anglo-Western arts, both as creators and subjects.

I know it sounds like I’m describing a game of bs, but if you’re doing an emotionally sincere job search, then you should probably naturally end up doing some of this bigger-circle-drawing.