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My experience is the exact opposite. As a well-educated generalist, I’ve been able to drop into a number of different fields and find great opportunities. By g

My experience is the exact opposite. As a well-educated generalist, I’ve been able to drop into a number of different fields and find great opportunities. By gaining “medium” competence in multiple areas, I have repeatedly been the only person in town who could bring three or four competencies together for a task. I think one of the most obvious ways “jobs are moving” is towards self-sufficiency and small, flexible teams that can jump into new and rapidly changing situations. Generalists wanted!

Jensson 5y ago
And how much does that pay? Being a generalist typically doesn't pay unless you do it as a manager. Compare that to a specialist in some domain in software engineering who make $500k a year. Companies looking for generalists tend to not pay a lot, they do it so they can hire fewer people and save money, paying a lot would go against that.
- Kaibeezy 5y ago
  Mostly OK. I’ve done solo consulting and started up a few things. It’s never been about maximizing income, which always seemed to have too steep a price for my taste, rather about personal freedom and flexibility. My early observation was that if you have a particularly valuable skill, you can easily find yourself on the clock in 6-minute increments and/or under someone else’s thumb. As an inventor/promoter or solo consultant (entrepreneur, I guess) it’s possible to find a sweet spot where the money is enough and the pressure is minimized. I suppose a specialist could do that too, with help from an agent.
- warble 5y ago
  As an engineering generalist I have more opportunity and get paid better than most.
warble 5y ago
Agreed - being a specialist in my experience is far too limiting. I'm pretty good in a more than a few things, and have passing experience in a lot more. I can always find good paying work that interests me.

Jensson 5y ago

And how much does that pay? Being a generalist typically doesn't pay unless you do it as a manager. Compare that to a specialist in some domain in software engineering who make $500k a year. Companies looking for generalists tend to not pay a lot, they do it so they can hire fewer people and save money, paying a lot would go against that.

Kaibeezy 5y ago
Mostly OK. I’ve done solo consulting and started up a few things. It’s never been about maximizing income, which always seemed to have too steep a price for my taste, rather about personal freedom and flexibility. My early observation was that if you have a particularly valuable skill, you can easily find yourself on the clock in 6-minute increments and/or under someone else’s thumb. As an inventor/promoter or solo consultant (entrepreneur, I guess) it’s possible to find a sweet spot where the money is enough and the pressure is minimized. I suppose a specialist could do that too, with help from an agent.
warble 5y ago
As an engineering generalist I have more opportunity and get paid better than most.

warble 5y ago

Agreed - being a specialist in my experience is far too limiting. I'm pretty good in a more than a few things, and have passing experience in a lot more. I can always find good paying work that interests me.