I am a backend guy doing frontend & ML. I also work with folks from other teams and build tools for them - stakeholding, ideation & requirement setting is what a product manager would do. Currently learning design, UI/ UX

Software Engineer

What are the works you do as a generalist in your company?

Welcome to Business Roles's Private Community

The band of Generalist!

Generalist

The band of Generalist!- Grapevine

I consider myself a jack of all trades. I run a small biz on the size. I’m quite disheartened by the lack of generalist leadership roles in companies. 

There is no natural career progression for a chief of staff. Plus, salaries for chief of staffs are not at par with CXOs. 

Is there no other way to rise up the ranks in a generalist role?

Generalist leadership roles

Director Product

Welcome to Indian Startups's Private Community

Hey folks, recently have found myself on career crossroads. Not sure what kind of career paths generalists have after certain YoE. Are there some generalists on the platform with more than 6-7 YoE who can throw light on what kind of roles are available to generalists after a certain level? Ideally, would want to look at big tech cos.

Current profile: 5yrs post mba work ex in consulting + startups.

Generalists career path

Project Manager

Welcome to Software Engineers's Private Community

I have been working as full stack developer past 7 years in stacks like react, react native , flutter, spring boot , nest, graphql so on and so forth. So far being generalist has worked for me as I am never out of projects. However recently I met one Engineering manager who advised me to become a specialist in one domain for better growth going forward . How do you all see this specialist vs generalist idea ?

Specialist or generalist .

Tech Lead

I'm in business strategy and majorly worked across different startups

When looking for a new role, HRs tell me they are looking for specialized experience, or my experiences do not count as they are less than 2 years (in each company)

I like being a generalist, I have learnt much more than I think I would have in a specialist role

What do you guys think?

I have 4YOE, currently in a seed stage startup

Specialization vs. Generalist debate

Founder

It is generally perceived that being specialist take you off through the career ladder. However this notion doesn't holds up strongly in the current scenario. There is mass unemployment in the country and those who are already employed are suffering from high level of burnout. People are being kinda 'forced' by the system to work. 

Humans aptitude, attitude and feelings are dynamic in nature. One should have a mindset of being jack of all trades at least early in the career (till 36yo at least). David Epstein in his book 'Range' advocated for delayed specialisation. Unfortunately the Indian education system designed as such that it tunnels the students into forced specialisation too early in the age. (Thankfully New Education Policy -2020 introduced multidisciplinary education in higher studies)

Being generalist has it's own advantage, like it helps you discover what field you actually have talent at. It helps you to broaden up your thought process helping you figuring out what actually it takes to climb up the career ladder. It broadens up your cognitive bandwidth helping you in developing holistic approach in solving your problems even in your current domain. 

No segment works in isolation in this era globalised world. Economy is interlinked with geopolitics. Geopolitics is interlinked with technology. Technology is interlinked with popular culture. Nothing works in isolation. It's a fool's paradise to think being specialised in one domain helps you in your career growth.

Generalist vs specialist debate

Welcome to Product Managers's Private Community

First time posting here looking for advice

I am a 25 YO, working in an MNC (3+ Years experience)

Now here is what I have done in my last 3 years of work 

I can code fluently in Python and have managed a team of devs to work on 2 different applications
I have extensive no-code application building experience - applications being used by over 3000+ people
I have Project Manager as a designation but have done both product and project roles over the last 3 years

So I mostly say - I can solve problems from End 2 End from finding it, understanding it and solving it  (and if required build something to solve it)I mostly work with CXO (read 25 years+ experience senior leaders in the industry) but now I don't know what's next

I am eligible for a lot of roles between - strategy, technical project management and product managers
But mostly recruiters are like - "You don't have a defined experience in one field except mostly problem solving" or I am too young for a TPM role etc.

Badly need advice to understand what's next and also where to look for the next thing

Any generalists here?

Product Owner

Which job should one pursue and valued by B schools 
Like for 2-3 years before MBA
Consulting(not MBB)
Venture capital(small firms)
Program manager in startup
Business development 

Any other job you know

Best job to get before MBA

I'm a generalist with 4 YOE, earning 17 LPA. 
Skills include but are not limited to: Nodejs, ReactJs, AWS, Jenkins, Docker and Linux. People in my company involve me in everything that requires solving problems. I have worked on multiple stacks beyond what I've mentioned and trained / guided junior to intermediate level of engineers

I'm searching for a new job, but I don't see companies having a dire need for generalists. This is partly because generalists don't command enough confidence unless deployed on a project to work their magic (or so is what I believe)

People having or knowing people in my techstack, do you think it is possible to expect a salary of 30 LPA ? Or is specialization an inevitable next step to take ? Also, how should I position myself in interviews ?

Your thoughts will be appreciated.

Jack of all trades: Any space left for generalists anymore?

People with growth in your title, what do you actually do and how? What skills are needed?

What do Growth professionals really do?

And generalists wonder what to do with all their knowledge in all those diversified fields and why no one gives a shit about them!

Specialists run the world.

I’m currently a data consultant with 3 YOE, 22 LPA. How can I best make the switch to PM? Would I have to take a cut to get a Product Analyst role and work upwards?

Switching from consulting to PM

Data Consultant

When you’re a generalist and the dev you’ve known for 3 months asks you “So, what do you really do here?”

Corporate Strategist

The role seems to be rewarding monetarily compared to other starting roles. Was this an existing role with a new name to attract more?
Anybody from the Founder’s Office to say what your daily work looks like?

What’s Founder’s Office about?

Product analyst

I've been in startups for the last 8 years. From Series B/C onwards to even a unicorn, over time worked at 3. 
One of them was an outright scam, raised many millions of $s from top investors, and then ultimately died. 
Also close with CXOs at decent sized startups, and there is a pattern out there. 

A few thoughts:
1. Being a startup founder is tough. There's pain. Some people thrive in pain. AKA Masochists. Know how to spot a founder who works 15 hours a day because they love their vision vs. somebody who works 15 hours a day because they're masochists. These people thrive in pain, and hence love to see you miserable as you slog away the hours under their leadership. 

There is absolutely no vision for the future that they have. They do it for the fame, money, and cause a lot of pain in the process. Nothing good comes out of it. Investors love this breed.
   
2. I wish I'd done more than just leave the scammy startup. At the point, I decided against whistleblowing. Because I thought there's so many people employed here, they would all be impacted. Over time, 200-300 people more joined after I left. Once the scam was caught, all of them lost their jobs.
   
3. I'm not a coder. I'm a generalist. Over time, my pay grew but not in line with my peers who went into consulting/VC and then came back to big tech/startups. Over time, you disadvantage yourself if you stick around as a generalist in startups for too long. The next team pays you at some premium over the last one, there's no step jump. 
You need to somehow find a successful startup early, and genuinely, that is impossible to game - even VCs have to bet on 20 to get it right.

These are a few disjointed thoughts. I hope they give some insight.
My only takeaways:
- If you work at a scammy startup, don't stand it. At least, don't stick around. 
- I earn lesser than my peers (tier 1 undergrad), but I regret nothing. I love my work, and I'll never get over the kick. I cannot imagine working at a larger company ever again.
- Ultimately, you have to be optimistic. Believe that India will grow, good founders will come around, magic will happen ❤️

PSA: What 8 years in startups have taught me

A startup with experienced folks and a well defined set of roles and responsibilities >>> one where we're all "a family"

Hello Bs & Gs, 

Thanks for a positive response to the last post: https://share.gvine.app/EDm3me9JnJSnD3d17

A quick note for today. Over the years, being a generalist, I've realized that it's very tough to know when we're bringing the right impact or not. 

In the case of Devs/Designers/Other specialists: The output is quicker and tells the story - an amazing UI/UX, or building well working products. 

For generalists, the feedback loop is much longer, it's very unclear what it will amount to (especially at startups), it's the reason why being a generalist is looked down upon, by some people. 

My realization has been this: over a 1-2 year period, when you look back at your work, it's the picking that determines how you feel about what you did. And also how others feel about how you did.

PICKING: Knowing what to work on. What to A/B test. What 0 to 1s to pursue. Should you prioritize product idea A or product idea B. Should you experiment with growth channel A or growth channel B. 
EXECUTION: Taking what you pick from 0 to 1. Knowing when to take it from 1-10. Working to make it happen. 

Eventually, most days are execution days. Whether you do good work depends on how well researched & well thought out the 'picking' was. 

So pick well, don't under-invest in that stage. Take out time every now and then to course correct. 

Know what to pick.

The band of Generalist!

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