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Would you reconsider the stereotyping if I told you I’m a generalist who has worked up and down many kinds of stacks? It’s proving hard to sell generalist-ness

Would you reconsider the stereotyping if I told you I’m a generalist who has worked up and down many kinds of stacks? It’s proving hard to sell generalist-ness to recruiters this round. They often lock on to the most recent specific domain I worked in. If anything, they seem to be filtering for people with very specific experience in a specific layer of a specific stacks - because they are getting so many applications, they can be very choosy.

flashgordon 3y ago
I think it has always been hard to prove generalist-ness to recruiters. I had one recruiter literally wanted react Vx.y.z. Ok I lie. She did not care about minor versions. I have huge respect for recruiters for sourcing but being the front-line for judging is ridiculous. It shows how much respect HMs have for candidates!
eschneider 3y ago
T-shaped is a good way to go, career-wise. Being a generalist with deep knowledge in some specific area (in my case video processing/computer vision/firmware) turns out to be very marketable if you apply to places looking for the area you've got deep knowledge in. The fact that you're ALSO a good generalist make you a very attractive candidate. If you can, look at new jobs/companies as opportunities to get deep experience in a new area since over time, stuff you're good at now will sometimes go away.
- moosedev 3y ago
  Thank you. I think this is actually already me, but I need to get better (and/or more confident) at selling/marketing the “leg(s)” of the “T”. Particularly when it’s something I did more than a few years ago, but I know I still have expertise and good instincts there.
  - eschneider 3y ago
    Sometimes the marketing is looking through the job description/requirements and thinking 'Oh, I know something that'd really help out in this situation' and tailoring your resume to that. (That sort of tailoring is somewhat reusable, too. :) And cover letters are really good for this sort of thing as it lets you lay out some specifics that make you the type of person who can really help them out.

flashgordon 3y ago

I think it has always been hard to prove generalist-ness to recruiters. I had one recruiter literally wanted react Vx.y.z. Ok I lie. She did not care about minor versions. I have huge respect for recruiters for sourcing but being the front-line for judging is ridiculous. It shows how much respect HMs have for candidates!

eschneider 3y ago

T-shaped is a good way to go, career-wise. Being a generalist with deep knowledge in some specific area (in my case video processing/computer vision/firmware) turns out to be very marketable if you apply to places looking for the area you've got deep knowledge in. The fact that you're ALSO a good generalist make you a very attractive candidate. If you can, look at new jobs/companies as opportunities to get deep experience in a new area since over time, stuff you're good at now will sometimes go away.

moosedev 3y ago
Thank you. I think this is actually already me, but I need to get better (and/or more confident) at selling/marketing the “leg(s)” of the “T”. Particularly when it’s something I did more than a few years ago, but I know I still have expertise and good instincts there.
- eschneider 3y ago
  Sometimes the marketing is looking through the job description/requirements and thinking 'Oh, I know something that'd really help out in this situation' and tailoring your resume to that. (That sort of tailoring is somewhat reusable, too. :) And cover letters are really good for this sort of thing as it lets you lay out some specifics that make you the type of person who can really help them out.