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Jack of all trades or master of one?
In a competitive jobs market, is it better to be multi-skilled or a specialist in one field? Research suggests that employers are looking for a bit of both – here’s how to tick all the boxes.
There was one piece of advice that my old headmaster gave to us as we left school and it has always stuck with me. “Whatever you do in life,” he said, “make sure you are an expert in something.” Twenty years later and I’m wondering quite what I’m an expert in! I’ve got a lot of experience, a lot of qualifications, but am I an expert in anything? I’m not sure.
So, does being a specialist in a field make you more employable? Career coach Marianne Craig says it does help. “I do come down on the side of expertise and specialism because if you think about it, if you go for an interview and you’re more expert than the other person, you’ll get chosen. There are more people chasing fewer jobs at the moment, so you need to have the edge.”
Before you start to panic about your lack of expertise, Marianne says all it takes is a bit of creative thinking about your job. “These are hard times, so you need to be resourceful and think creatively about your career. The best way is a two-pronged approach – carry on getting expertise in your career by taking any extra training offered or studying part-time, but also present yourself as a generalist at the same time, and show that you could turn your hand to other tasks within the same field.”
If no training is offered at your company, you could consider home-study to add a few strings to your bow. Several companies offer distance learning or online learning, such as Home Learning College, in a variety of subjects that you can study at your own pace.
Sue Robinson from IT Recruitment specialist ITS European agrees. “IT is always evolving and things change all the time. For that reason it’s good to show that you’re a specialist in a certain area, say desktop support or desktop publishing, but you also need to show that you can adapt and learn new technologies. The ability to pick up and learn new technologies is a really important skill.”
In some lines of work, such as engineering, employers can be very particular about the skill set they want. “The engineering field is so diverse that different employers look for different characteristics,” says Dave Cattell from Redwood Engineering Recruitment. “Electrically qualified Maintenance Engineers are often more attractive to prospective employers if they’re multi-skilled and have some mechanical experience and vice versa. The same applies to the Project Managers; if they have experience across a variety of disciplines (Utilities, Facilities, Construction), it shows they have a range of skills and are versatile. As always though, some employers do look for very specific skills. We find this occurs most in the middle band, such as Project Engineers, who often have a specific skill set that the client is looking for.”
While being a specialist can give you the edge over other job applicants in some cases, being multi-skilled is increasingly attractive to employers who are looking to cut costs. “The advantage of being multi-skilled is that a prospective employer may see the opportunity to save money and take one multi-skilled engineer rather than one Electrical Engineer and one Mechanical Engineer,” says Dave. “In the current climate, our clients are looking for ways to reduce costs and this is one of them.” He does, however, advise caution before you start thinking about taking on other roles. “The disadvantage is that you could ‘water down’ your experience in the eyes of a recruiter that‘s looking to take on a specialist, particularly if (for example) you’re an electrically qualified Maintenance Engineer but do more mechanical work, thus losing touch with advances in electrical technology.”
It’s a confusing time for jobseekers but the key message is the same: carry on gaining experience and expertise in your field, but try to broaden your horizons at the same time, and that way you’ll be a Jack of all trades as well as a master of one.
For engineering and IT jobs visit www.jobsite.co.uk.
Redwood Engineering Recruitment supplies contract and permanent
engineering staff of all disciplines into the pharmaceutical,
automotive, food, chemical and general engineering markets: visit www.redhotjobs.com
for details. ITS European places permanent and contract IT specialists
into companies in the UK and mainland Europe: visit www.itseuropean.com for details.
For details of online study courses, visit www.jobsitehomestudy.co.uk
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