[eyelidlessness]

As a “generalist”, the way I’ve been able to “sell myself” is to develop a reputation for:

- Distinct talent in problem identification/discovery (i.e. see problems other people miss before they cause pain)

- Consistently producing designs that address the core problem in a general but extensible/flexible way (i.e. design to solve a class of problems rather than a particular one)

- Deliver [r]evolutionary value (i.e. produce solutions which amplify/multiply the value the rest of the team can deliver)

- Being confident out of the spotlight (i.e. trusting that my contributions will be valued and recognized by my peers and leadership even if it doesn’t show up in end user release notes or investor decks)

All of that adds up to my career increasingly being focused on library development, process optimization, tooling, plumbing, etc. It’s personally more gratifying to me than a lot of shiny feature work, and it improves the lives of my teammates and in turn the work they can produce.

[bhub]

Thanks. It is really helpful to see the generalist skills described in these ways. I've never been very confident and hated "selling" myself on a CV because I could never saw what I've done as particularly sellable.

[eyelidlessness]

I’ll add that being able and willing to communicate these is crucial for job seeking. It’s been years since my resume included a list of responsibilities or products; instead I list achievements and the value they provided/enabled/enhanced.