I found the advertisement on the right (click for full size) via my RSS reader and marked it as something to share here. It was designed by a Dubai based advertising agency to promote a job hunting website based in the Middle East. There are two further examples here and here via the Ads of the World website.

What I like is the simple way it points to the fact that the majority of us have a large skill set that often the careers we end up with (rather than the ones we pursue) abandon by the way side.

Sometimes it's difficult to recognise these unexercised skills as being important and frequently they get sidelined as hobbies, if used at all.

This week I'm mostly pulling together visual ideas for a proposed TV show so that the powers-that-be will have an idea of the direction the show would go in if green-lit. Fun and exciting stuff, but in real terms this means I'm calling on knowledge gained from digesting a lot of media that over the years often got in the way of what others regarded as 'real work'.

Those doodles you make in meetings and mad ideas that come to you at 3am? Throw nothing away.

Have a think about the stuff you enjoy doing outside of work and especially the things that come easily to you. Not only you, but also others may have dismissed these abilities as useless. You'll be surprised at how many different ways there are to put these skills to good use out there. If you can start a blog to talk about them and show them off then all the better. There's never been a more perfect time to use a 'hobby' as a springboard for a more interesting career.

Always remember that there's an audience for everyone.