I can’t say that I have only just noticed this today, I kind of realised that this may have been the case when I made the decision to return to the UK to further my career a few years ago.
I get the feeling that the ‘jack of all trades’ may still work in smaller companies, but it definitely doesn’t appear to be the case in larger organisations.
My first company was a small one, I set up a small repair centre for TV, video, Hi-Hi and satellite systems. It was a small business and I had no choice but to learn about a lot of different systems, it seemed the only way forward and the only way to make money. I made it my business to know how to repair things, how to install satellite systems, how to build and re-build computers.
After this I went into commercial radio and made it my business to make sure that I always knew exactly what everyone did, in detail! I felt that I couldn’t allow myself to be in a situation where someone went off sick or didn’t turn up to work one day and everything would fall apart. So I made it my business to learn about production work, recording techniques, audio processing, studio equipment, ITÂ systems even presenting radio shows! The technical aspect I already knew pretty much inside out, but I just couldn’t imagine not knowing every aspect of the business.
After this came an internet business and the same thing happened. I felt I had to know exactly what was going on at all times, in great detail, for exactly the same reasons. What if I found myself in a situation where someone left the company, or didn’t turn up for work. What would I do? What would happen to the business?
Don’t get me wrong, I wouldn’t change any of it as I learnt a lot of things about a lot of things. But… this is the problem and the point of my post today.
Right now, where I am in my ‘career path’, is there any value about knowing ‘a lot about a lot’ or being a ‘jack of all trades’ in the technology industry? The answer would appear to be ‘no’! As I said at the beginning of my post, this hasn’t come as a great shock.
It would appear that the only way to move forwards and upwards is to know ‘everything about one thing’. Becoming a specialist seems to be the way to go. The problem is, from all the things that I enjoy doing, which way do I go now?! I like computers, I like programming, I like building, re-building and repairing PC’s, I like writing programs and writing scripts. But I also like radio… As people involved in radio will confirm, once you have that radio bug it never really goes away.
I think the brutal realisation came when a recruitment agency recently said to me ‘I’m struggling to put you in a box’. That was when I realised that the nagging feeling of being a ‘jack of all trades’ was not really working became quite real. There appears to be no need for someone that ‘knows quite a bit about a lot of things’ but instead knows ‘a lot about one thing’.
Unfortunately, if you have managed to read this far(!), there is no end to this post at the moment as I am not sure what the answer is. I’m still trying to figure it out…