[moksly]

I think the authors scope is way too narrow. If you’re a react developer who also knows vue, and perhaps enough ops to get side projects to run in Azure/AWS then you’re still a specialist. It’s easy to forget, because development is what we do, but it’s actually a rather specialist skill in itself. I say this as someone who has been part of several attempts at implementing things like RPA or even Sharepoint to non-developers, with a full expectation of genuinely smart people being capable of doing very simple drag and drop programming, and see them fail time and time again. Exactly because software development is a specialist field.

A generalist is someone who does software development, but also does project management and implementation (teaching users how to use software). Three distinct specialist fields, and this is where being a generalist can be valuable for your organisation. Because you get things done. But less beneficial to you, because no one wants generalists, and you’re likely doing 1.5 people’s job for 1 persons pay.

[mooreds]

> But less beneficial to you, because no one wants generalists, and you’re likely doing 1.5 people’s job for 1 persons pay.

People want generalists, they just don't want to hire them. Or rather it's hard to find a company who has a job description that emphasizes a generalist skill set.

But my experience has been once you are in a small to medium size company, they are happy to have someone who is flexible and adaptable and game to do different tasks.

[arcturus17]

I think you're focusing too much on the strict semantics of "generalist" - whether the word is accurate or not will largely depend on context and how much you "zoom out".

I could argue with you that someone who does development, project management and implementation is still a software specialist, and that a real generalist is someone who can sell, or someone who can play piano, as well as do the aforementioned.

I am a freelance tech consultant or run what you could call a microagency... Sometimes I design or code my own projects, whereas others I outsource them and act as a project manager. I deal with my own marketing and sales, successfully so, as I've gotten projects at really big companies by pitching against agencies orders of magnitude my size.

In my case, being a generalist pays well, and it's actually the only way forward in terms of growth. The scenario where I could see myself being useful to others is as a co-founder or as others have said, in certain small or medium businesses.

But I otherwise generally agree that companies of a certain size only think they want generalists but they don't put their money where their mouth is.

I was interviewing for product manager positions some time ago, and I got the impression that interviewers didn't care about my generalist skills (designing, coding, marketing) - they just wanted someone who had done... exactly product management, with very similar responsibilities to the position at stake. I have "Product Manager" in my CV, but some time in the past and often in somewhat different scopes (the role's definition is quite loose) to the hiring companies, putting me at a severe disadvantage in the hiring game.

I always think that being a generalist is entirely possible, but you have to be ready to carve out your place in a world that is mostly built for specialists.

[kthejoker2]

Non sequitur: can we chat about your consultancy? Looking to potentially do the same myself and would love to pick your brain for some dos and don'ts.

If you're willing, email me, username without the 2 at gmail, and no offense if you can't.

[arcturus17]

I've mailed you.

[jonnycomputer]

Being a generalist is hard, especially when fields are changing so rapidly (like web dev)