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In craft as in other professions, specialization is required - but nothing works without generalists
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Guido Mieth / Getty Images
Kai, 45, asks: »I've been in the job for many years and have worked in various industries and positions. I am satisfied with my career, but every time I change jobs I have the feeling that I am not really good at anything compared to applicants with special expertise. Should I specialize in one subject? "
Dear Kai,
with this feeling you are in good company.
In coaching 90 percent of all cases, generalists like you sit across from me.
Because they are so interested in not knowing which jobs are made for them and how and when they are looking for a job they do not see the forest for the trees.
And because the red thread of their résumés that is too colorful is difficult for HR managers to recognize.
All generalists are plagued by the dull feeling that they never know enough and that they are ignorant when compared to their specialist colleagues.
They feel it in their jobs when they are not asked about specialist topics and should rather organize the next team event.
When the technical expert is promoted to manager or the specialist with a straight résumé wins the race for the new job.
Being a jack of all trades is also a strength
Many all-and-nothing-experts find it difficult to appreciate their own strengths.
As generalists, they are full of strengths!
They can quickly adapt to new demands, they are everyday wuppers and balls-in-the-air keepers.
It is easy for them to think conceptually and to look curiously outside the box.
They enjoy bringing new perspectives into conversation and connecting people with one another.
They are moderators, designers and creative idea generators.
While specialists have distinctive strengths in one direction, for example as creative inventors or exact inspectors, generalists combine many strengths from different directions as thinkers, communicators, organizers and controllers - a little bit of everything.
Specialists look for jobs, generalists find employers
When I talk to job changers about suitable target positions, then for all generalists there is no such thing as one job that determines success and satisfaction in the job, but rather a work environment that matches their personality and strengths.
You need a high degree of freedom with decision-making and creative leeway.
You want to be managed with trust and want more of a sparring partner than the controlling boss.
A strong team that pulls together is important to them.
A corporate culture in which real doers are not only tolerated, but change is explicitly desired.
I therefore recommend all generalists, instead of just looking for vacancies on job exchanges, to specifically find employers whose industry or products interest them and who offer them the working environment that suits their personality - and only look there for positions that relate to their training and the experience gained over the last few years.
Anyone who accepts themselves as a generalist arrives at the job
It is your own inner attitude that determines how successful you are in your job and in your role as a job changer.
Do you continue to believe that you are weak as an all-and-nothing real expert or do you allow yourself to be proud of your versatility and flexibility as a generalist?
In the future, we will need more generalists than specialists in our working world. It will be increasingly important as a person in an organization to be able to adapt flexibly to new topics and different team situations. Cooperation in projects, agile work as well as the temporary change between management, project and expert roles will increase. Generalists find this flexibility easy, they love variety and so they enjoy getting to grips with new topics.
It would be stupid to forbid yourself to be the generalist in you and to bend as a specialist.
Find employers with whom you have a wide range of experience and are broadly valuable.
Make yourself really tangible with your real strengths, because as a generalist you have so much more to offer than just the specialist knowledge of a specialist.