Slashdot Mirror
Marketing Yourself as an IT Jack-of-All-Trades?
ultimatemonty asks: "As an IT professional looking for a new job, I'm trying to figure out how to market myself as a 'jack-of-all-trades' IT worker. I'm currently employed at a medium sized university as a video conferencing specialist. I'm good (competent) at many IT related tasks (Linux server management, programming, Windows/Linux desktop support, video conferencing support, etc...), but specialize or excel in none of them, sort of like the lone IT manager in a small shop. What kinds of jobs would the you look for with this kind of work experience, and how would you market yourself (design your resume, cover letter, and so forth) to prospective employers so they get the full-breadth of your capabilities, without over-stating your abilities?"
as a generalist, you could qualify as "sysadmin" at a smaller shop, which because of their IT budget, usually means "guy that knows how to do everything for us". I'd emphasize creative problem-solving abilities and a drive to arrive at good solutions quickly.
Of course, you'll want to avoid coming off too arrogant -- no one wants to hire an I.T. jackass-of-all-trades, but we all know a few!
stuff |
I found myself in a similar situation, and found a place that suits me perfectly. It's a small development shop. I'd definitely recommend trying to find a smaller company; the smaller, the more freedom you have to use all your skills. Seems the larger the company, the more specialized they believe their IT folks need to be. The smaller, the less particular jobs are a specific person's responsibility. Just my two cents.
"Actually, I enjoyed this in the same vague, horrible way I enjoyed the A-Team" P. Opus
While I find a Jack of all trades very useful myself, and consider myself to be in that category, I don't think a lot of companies are looking for that. Most mid to large size companies like people to do very specific tasks with very specific job descriptions. Somebody who is a jack of all trades would probably fit in a lot better at a small company, which is where I happen to be, because they will have much more opportunity to work in many different areas. Small companies don't have entire teams devoted to database design, UI design, middle tier design, requirements gathering, architecture, testing, and all those other areas of software design, so the people who do work for small companies probably get to see at least a little bit, if not a lot from all those areas. Also remember that the full term is "Jack of all trades, master of none", however, I consider myself to be a "master" or at least really good in quite a few areas, and the all the rest of the "trades" just really help to back that up.
Anthropic principle: We see the universe the way it is because if it were different we would not be here to see it.
I really think the next easiest option is to look at the things you have done and specialize in what you like the most. If you like programming, learn to program well, be able to answer basic questions like what is a linked list (or more complex questions) - learn one language well, as well as the basics of programming that you find in books like "Code Complete". If you like server management do that.
I am a UNIX systems administrator, and for me, even this is a very broad definition. I understand that firmware/time-of-day should be in sync across CPU/memory boards on Sun Enterprise 4000's, or that the file /etc/redhat-release is the file which shows which version of Red Hat you are running, but I can tell you it is very, very rare in interviews to find people who would know both those things. You're lucky if someone "strong in Linux" even knows that about Red Hat. I have to say that Solaris people tend to know their stuff better (and this is coming from a Linux fan). So I consider it difficult to bridge these two things, which are very close, and you are talking about all over the place.
My suggestion would be to specialize in one thing, and learn it well. I had to rank a Google job application on how well I knew something, I forget if the scale was 1-10 or not, but you should specialize in something and get to know it as a 9. Being a jack of all trade is fine, meaning having 3-6 ability in other things, but you should know one thing well - something you enjoy and think has a future. Once you master that one thing, then you can work on getting other things up to 9, but I meet so few people who are at level 10, 9, or even 8 for what I need, I would reiterate to learn one thing well. A real jack of all trades knows multiple things at say an 8 level, but that is rare. We have one where I work, but he knows many things at a high level. Someone who knows lots of things at a 4-6 level I generally find useless, in any environment.
When we do technical interviews, our policy is that anything on the resume is fair game to ask questions about. So, if someone comes in with a laundry list, we'll try to find a question to ask about some obscure technology they say they're proficient in (nothing too tough, just something that someone who knows the technology would know). This will tell us how much they're trying to puff themselves up.
We'll also ask progressively harder questions in each category that we have expertise in just to see what they do when they start becoming unsure of themselves or just flat don't know the answer. We are much more impressed by someone who simply says "I don't know" than someone who tries to bullshit us. If you don't really know a technology, don't go around pretending that you do.
The resume is unimportant once you get the interview, however, for getting the interview, a good resume and cover letter is essential. Spelling and grammatical errors get an automatic circular file, as do padding the resume with useless information and just listing things that you may have used for a week. If you can't name and describe a significant project in which you used a certain skill, then it doesn't belong on your resume. With the quality of some resumes I really feel sorry for some people, because they will probable never get a job. If you're writing skills are that bad, at least do yourself the favour of getting professional or possibly a friend to help you compile a resume. Something like this is definitely worth it.
Anthropic principle: We see the universe the way it is because if it were different we would not be here to see it.
What the parent poster said.
And also; make sure you are able to talk about Your Own Initiative:
Projects you managed. Problems you discovered and fixed, on your own, without oversight. Also, if other techs come to YOU for advice, detail those happenings as well.
If you're the go-to guy, and can be trusted with a small budget, and a certain amount of autonomy to come up with fixes to long standing annoyances that nobody else thought of even trying to solve (overcoming organizational inertia) - then try to convey that. Most managers would give their left nut/tit for this kind of worker. (and often, this kind of worker is misclassified as "junior").
Bottom line is: breadth of skill does nobody any damn good, if that skill does not come with initiative. Breadth of skill is difficult for a busy manager to manage. That level of management is usually tasked with fighting fires with his or her immediate superiors. They're too busy to task you - so you put your skills to good use, be everyone's hero.
These are my friends, See how they glisten. See this one shine, how he smiles in the light.
Exactly right- and he even gave the real answer in the article:
sort of like the lone IT manager in a small shop.
That is EXACTLY the position a jack of all trades should be going for.
SJW: a person who perceives an injustice, and while correcting it, commits a greater injustice.
Some people don't want to be experts - I have absolutely no desire to be an 'expert' at anything. I am a generalist and have found a few roles where that is a bonus. And where there isn't a "need" for a generalist, I can go in to a specific role and branch out, letting my general skills help out where they can.
..." - I don't like the implication there. I am very competent, but I would find it exceedingly difficult for me to become "great" at any one part of my knowledge. I don't like to focus on one thing - I read multiple books at a time, I watch movies and read at the same time, I listen to music and surf and cook. I move from Windows to Linux to databases to development to application support to web to systems management many times a day, and I do them all well. Not everyone is made to become GREAT at things. I am a poster child for ADD and I think it's a great skill.
"If you really are competent then the step up
Not everyone wants to be an expert, and I don't think that should detract from their usefulness - like anything, you just need to find the right spot to apply your skills.
We emerge from our mother's womb an unformatted diskette; our culture formats us. - Douglas Coupland