I’m in a senior “jack of all trades” role at a big co. and it wasn’t something I was hired into — though I sold my agility/ability to absorb information and con

I’m in a senior “jack of all trades” role at a big co. and it wasn’t something I was hired into — though I sold my agility/ability to absorb information and context switch in my interview — but it was something I just sort of naturally created for myself. For the kind of work I do, being a jack of all trades/generalist is actually VERY valuable and I would like to think my team sees that value. But it’s definitely difficult to explain to people who don’t know me who see all my peers who have specific technologies focus areas, and then I’m the chick who knows a lot about a lot of things, has seen a lot, but obviously isn’t going to be as strong as someone who has spent years focusing on one area. I might be off-base here, but I often think of people who are jack of all trades types as ideal connectors. Or, at least I am. I can connect the right people/teams together and can often identify problems/solutions by asking the right kinds of questions that can help a specialist hone in on something. That connector/conduit piece is something incredibly beneficial at a large company, when the product engineering teams, the UX teams, the marketing teams, and the sales teams aren’t always in sync (particularly if something is cross product or cross organization). By being familiar with so many different people/roles and being good at identifying where there are opportunities to work together, that’s been a good fit for me, as I get to work on lots of different things and once and spend time with lots of different teams. That said, I do echo what others have suggested, which is to go for a specialized type of role and then either express your strengths for cross-org work or agility in the interview or try to carve out the role once you’re in the job. A good generalist is typically identified early on and in my experience, we get slotted into that role by others, often without trying. The more difficult thing, I’ve found, is getting promoted. I’m close to making principal and I would have already been promoted if I was focused on one area. That’s frustrating, because obviously I can do that, but doing that offers less value to the company. But I want to get promoted, so I’m working out how to play that game, while also still being a jack of all trades, even if my title is more focused/specific.