Over a 25 year career I've worked on most key Microsoft technologies, but started out my work life as a Sys Admin for DEC VAXs using VMS. I'm also conversant wi

Over a 25 year career I've worked on most key Microsoft technologies, but started out my work life as a Sys Admin for DEC VAXs using VMS. I'm also conversant with Linux, and can pretty much pick up anything IT orientated quite easily - I can design and build almost anything if I put my mind to it. I see myself as an IT generalist, but in the workplace I have to specialize. Currently I focus on making Single Identities work across systems for large Corporates. It's quite niche, and at times monotonous work (the design is pretty much the same wherever you go), however in order to be GOOD at whichever specialism I'm pitching at the time I heavily draw on the cross knowledge I've gained over the years. This extra knowledge has ended up being invaluable in separating myself from the herd in the recruitment marketplace. So in short. Early on you should generalize and learn as much about stuff that interests you; later on (10+ years) start to specialize based your preferences (or mortgage size, or whatever).