Specialist VS Generalist
I’ve been looking around for jobs nowadays and I just got the news from one of my recruiters that I failed my interview this morning. It’s really not easy to find jobs nowadays especially due to my working experience.
I came from a consulting firm and my company encourages people to be flexible and able to adapt to a situation FAST. Due to the nature of our business, we cannot really focus on specific technologies since at any given point, we will just have to take whatever that comes. That’s why in this field, we need people with very good working attitude and also people who are very flexible. In other words, a generalist.
But what proves to be our selling point, happens to be our biggest weakness when we go out for job interviews. Most companies are looking for specialists and not jack-of-all-trades-but-master-of-none. This is a reality that I’ve faced.
However, when you come to think of it, do you think a company should hire someone who is a generalist or only pick someone who is a specialist? Here’s a brief overview about the pros and cons of each.
Generalist
- Flexible, has good attitude and willing to learn.
- Dedicated to serve and contribute to the company no matter what has been asked from him.
- Has good technical exposure and knows what kind of technologies (or skills, if you’re not talking about IT) to use based on requirements and needs.
- Salary will not be high but easier to find a ‘normal’ job since he can just move into any role. Most companies will hire such people as junior or medium level roles.
- Is not expert in the technical side of things. Will not know the very low level kind of stuff.
Specialist
- Is expert in his field or even in a particular technology/skill/product. Can be the lead for that knowledge.
- Only certain companies can offer positions for these individuals because the skillset requirements might not match. But if there’s a position, it is usually medium to senior level.
- The salary is normally pretty high but not as easy to find a job since certain companies might not require his specialty.
- Might have good technical exposure to other technologies but his priority is to focus on his specialty. Anything too far away from that, will be ignored.
- Can be quite not-so-flexible and not willing to pick up new technologies as the project requires. This is because picking up something different will make his existing skill to become rusty. He will become a generalist if this continues.
I’m a generalist, and I’ve met some specialists who would just refuse to do anything outside their scope. If you try to force it to them, they will quit. Simple as that.
This is quite similar to the football world. If the manager asked you, a striker, to play as a midfielder……will you do that? If yes, it proves you are loyal to the club but your overall value will drop. If no, it just shows you are not flexible enough and does not want to commit to the club. They will just try to sell you off.
So pros and cons actually. It really depends on what you want and who you are.
As for me, I still prefer to be a generalist even if I’ve failed 2 interviews in a row. In my opinion, if a company really wants me, then I should be fully committed and do whatever they need me to do. It can be my biggest weakness, but it can also be my strength.
So for now…just wish me luck. LOL.
P/S….. I’m actively looking for freelance projects. Do let me know if anyone of you have any. 
Thanks in advance.
what job are u looking out?
brian
28 Mar 09 at 10:38 am
Sorry to hear that you’re still looking for job. I think it also depends on the job nature of a company is looking for. If they’re looking for a specific skills that you don’t have, they will not hire you.
Sometimes it also depends on years of experiences you have. For example, if you have 7 years or more working experiences, the expectation of the skills matching will be higher as compared to young (2 years of working of experiences), then the company may can consider looking at your capability to learn the skills rather than that skills that you have already acquired.
Good luck! Alvin!
ChampDog
28 Mar 09 at 6:59 pm
@ brian
IT programming job
@ ChampDog
I failed 2 interviews, not that many yet.
Yeah, I do understand that. Maybe it’s because of my working experience and my current working culture that don’t really encourage us to lock down to a certain technology or skill set.
Ah well, if nothing works out, maybe I really have to start my own business.
Alvin Lim
28 Mar 09 at 8:12 pm
Have you thought about taking up a generalist position in systems architecture, project management, software marketing, training or customer support. These positions don’t require hardcore programming skills. Howevere if programming is still your choice, you’ll have to compete with the specialists which could be tough.
Damien Tan
29 Mar 09 at 3:54 pm
@ Damien
Yeap, I’ve thought about that before but as of now, most of the open vacancies are related to programming. :T But if there’s such an opportunity, I don’t mind. I still do my own programming research during my free time anyway.
Alvin Lim
29 Mar 09 at 5:20 pm
I think Generalist is much better…ability to adapt shows the ability to think . A growing organisation would be more appreciative of such talent than one that has hit stability.
Then again, certain positions required pure in depth technicality that generalist are not suitable.
Freethinker
29 Mar 09 at 5:56 pm
@ Freethinker
Generalist is of course better but from outlook, generalists do give a higher risk for potential employer since a generalist can be someone who is good in everything, or someone who is good at nothing.
Alvin Lim
30 Mar 09 at 3:34 pm
Hello alvin
I agree. Specialist are definitely more sought-after by employers.
Of course, there is nothing wrong with being a generalist. But the reality in the employment market is that having a specialised skillset makes one more attractive and viable as a prospective employee. It’s the sad truth.
My cousin who graduated with 1st class [Bac Soc.Sci, Econs] from NUS only got offers from stat boards and GLCs. Another senior of mine with a 1st class honours arts degree in economics is working in CPF board. All public sector. Private sector are looking for those with professional degrees like accountancy or law, or at least a degree like business with certain niche [exp in acturial or marketing].
don
18 Apr 09 at 5:31 pm
@ Don
Hi Don, welcome to my humble blog.
The demand for specialist is there, but it’s pretty limited actually. The more specialized you are, the harder it is for you to change job because there might not be many companies out there who need your expertise.
But I do agree that it is still important to have at least 1 “better” or more “specialised” skill even if one is a generalist in nature. Generalist tends to be more open-minded when it comes to learning new things but when you want to appear attractive to your potential employers, you still need to show that you are good in something, besides being open-minded.
Well fortunately for Singapore, the public sector is actually quite good – unlike the one we have here.
Alvin Lim
18 Apr 09 at 9:04 pm