• Post Reply Bookmark Topic Watch Topic
  • New Topic
programming forums Java Mobile Certification Databases Caching Books Engineering Micro Controllers OS Languages Paradigms IDEs Build Tools Frameworks Application Servers Open Source This Site Careers Other Pie Elite all forums
this forum made possible by our volunteer staff, including ...
Marshals:
  • Campbell Ritchie
  • Jeanne Boyarsky
  • Ron McLeod
  • Paul Clapham
  • Liutauras Vilda
Sheriffs:
  • paul wheaton
  • Rob Spoor
  • Devaka Cooray
Saloon Keepers:
  • Stephan van Hulst
  • Tim Holloway
  • Carey Brown
  • Frits Walraven
  • Tim Moores
Bartenders:
  • Mikalai Zaikin

Boston Globe Article: It's risky, but specializing makes you stand out

 
Author
Posts: 6055
8
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
It's risky, but specializing makes you stand out

By Penelope Trunk, Globe Correspondent, 6/26/05


...
In Hollywood terms, this means you should typecast yourself. You know, action hero, funny guy, tough girl. Ezra Zuckerman, associate professor at the MIT Sloan School of Management spent three years studying actors' careers and concluded that even though actors see typecasting as deadly, it is, in fact, a ticket to a solid career. Actors who get typecast early on get more work, more consistently.

The typecasting rule applies to other careers; specializing is a way to differentiate yourself in a crowd. Many people describe themselves as generalists so as not to eliminate job prospects. However, specializing makes you more likely to be hired and hunted. Zuckerman explains, "Headhunters are specialized and they look for something they can package and sell. Since a candidate search is specialized, the headhunter is not set up to process people who don't fit into a specialty."
...
 
Ranch Hand
Posts: 1033
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
Given the rate of change in computer technology, its very hard to maintain a specialty for any length of time. This is one of the reasons that examples from older industries rarely apply.

The only specialty that I can see having a future is "Managing Technological Change" and that requires the person to be a generalist.
 
Ranch Hand
Posts: 189
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
I argree about the head hunters wanting very specific skills. However acually specializing in a technology is a big gamble. Who knows what the headhunters will be looking for.

Example: Must have Reason Application server, Open EJB Application Server, Torque Data Persistence Layer. POI, Tapestry (5 years exsperience in all of these technologys)..... and some proprietory crap !

How could anyone guess what they will want !
 
Ranch Hand
Posts: 1683
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
If you specialise in some particular piece of technology, eg Swing, you might be in trouble one day.

But suppose you sell yourself as an integration specialist. You can legitimately do this if you know, for instance, how to get applications to inter-operate via XML and a J2EE server.
 
Ranch Hand
Posts: 311
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator

How could anyone guess what they will want !


Oh that's easy! It's getting experience on what they will want that's problematic. Time to market is tough too.
 
Prem Khan
Ranch Hand
Posts: 189
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
Like haveing 5 years in .NET is pretty hard. What was it in beta in 2001 ? The same companys that wouldnt have used it back then are the first ones to demand 5 years in .NET
 
Ranch Hand
Posts: 5093
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
or what about 10 years experience with Windows 2000 for a job posted in 2001?
 
Consider Paul's rocket mass heater.
reply
    Bookmark Topic Watch Topic
  • New Topic