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Recently I find this to be the case for me. I consider myself a generalist: engineering (a few stacks/languages), product, business, marketing, leadership and e

Recently I find this to be the case for me. I consider myself a generalist: engineering (a few stacks/languages), product, business, marketing, leadership and education. Recruiters tell me to focus on one thing on my CV and I feel employers don’t believe I could be even two of those things. For example with my blend of skills I was able to double the traffic, increase leads and social engagement by 5-6x at the last place I worked after my first quarter. My boss didn’t understand what happened and when I recount the steps and results to other people they don’t believe me. After winding down my own startup a few months ago I’ve struggled to get hired. People don’t advertise for generalists and as I remove certain skills and roles/duties from my CV I’ve found the hiring process gets easier. I’d love some advice, even more I’d love to put my skills to work.

kartickv 8y ago
A possibly silly question: did you counter with "Why don't you test my engineering skills if you don't believe me? Give me a fair chance. And then, if I'm not good, by all means reject me." That's assuming you've applied for an engineering job. Another question: as https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18484883 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18484883 says, would it help to rewrite your CV to highlight what the job is looking for? Again, if it's an engineering job, talk about your eng accomplishments in great detail, with perhaps only a bullet point for other skills at the bottom of the resume? As https://www.kalzumeus.com/2012/01/23/salary-negotiation/ https://www.kalzumeus.com/2012/01/23/salary-negotiation/ says: > Did the solicitation for the job say “We are seeking someone with strong skills at scaling traffic in a fast-moving environment”? Pick out the key words. Scaling traffic. Fast-moving environment. “Scaling traffic” doesn’t sound like how I’d phrase it if I were writing or speaking for myself, but if you’ve just described your need to me as scaling traffic, by golly I will tell you how great I am at scaling traffic.

kartickv 8y ago

A possibly silly question: did you counter with "Why don't you test my engineering skills if you don't believe me? Give me a fair chance. And then, if I'm not good, by all means reject me." That's assuming you've applied for an engineering job. Another question: as https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18484883 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18484883 says, would it help to rewrite your CV to highlight what the job is looking for? Again, if it's an engineering job, talk about your eng accomplishments in great detail, with perhaps only a bullet point for other skills at the bottom of the resume? As https://www.kalzumeus.com/2012/01/23/salary-negotiation/ https://www.kalzumeus.com/2012/01/23/salary-negotiation/ says: > Did the solicitation for the job say “We are seeking someone with strong skills at scaling traffic in a fast-moving environment”? Pick out the key words. Scaling traffic. Fast-moving environment. “Scaling traffic” doesn’t sound like how I’d phrase it if I were writing or speaking for myself, but if you’ve just described your need to me as scaling traffic, by golly I will tell you how great I am at scaling traffic.