Ask HN: What is the job for a jack-of-all-trades?

[BushyMark]

I have been wrestling with my next career move recently and wondered what the HN community thought about a person without a specialized skill set.

About 18 months ago at 26 years old I decided to leave my studied profession (music) and pursue my rival passion for technology. Fast forward 18 months and I now work as a repair technician/customer-liaison/troubleshooter(amongst many other things) for end-users for a major consumer electronics manufacturer.

During this time I have been moonlighting as a web developer, implementing projects in Flash, PHP and MySQL, Ruby on Rails ...etc. I am no expert in any one language or framework, but teach myself skills as I need them (I like to learn new things). I don't produce anything complicated, just what the job requires. I maintain both jobs working around 20 hours a day catching up on sleep when there is time between projects. I have no foundation in programming, but a broad "just-below-the-surface" understanding of a massive list of software/languages/hardware/and more . . . my question is: What's next?

A cursory glance at Craigslist reveals openings for "PHP Wizards, Sr Ruby on Rails Devs, and Flash Guru's" of which it is clear I am under-qualified for... yet I continue to receive freelance work companies like these.

Are there jobs for a driven individual with excellent communication/interaction skills but a non-focused skill-set? Should I start focusing on one specific development area?

[stcredzero]

A job that needs breadth: CIO.

If you want to develop knowledge in depth, this is a good place to start:

http://www.amazon.com/Elements-Computing-Systems-Building-Pr...

Buy the book, download the courseware for free, and learn how computers work from NAND gates up. Implement your own OO language on the hardware you've built and write your own OS in it. Then write games for the resulting system. This will put you ahead of most coders out there.

[BushyMark → stcredzero]

The book looks awesome! Just ordered from Amazon! Thanks!

[blader]

BushyMark: Some of the best developers I know started late. DHH didn't start programming until he was in his 20s.

If you're willing to learn and can get things done, my company has 1-2 junior Rails development openings. Why don't you send me a resume at siqi@seriousbusiness.com?

[brm]

Community manager for an early-stage company. You'll be doing a lot of support and interaction but your ability to fill in anywhere needed will be really valuable and allow you to explore and learn

[blender]

Entrepreneur ;-)

[jackchristopher → blender]

The commenter above partially suggested it in jest, but being an entrepreneur is a good fit. You don't have to define yourself by skills, or job title.

But first, do you want to become a specialist? Or would you like to stay a generalist?

I wouldn't force a fit. I'm dealing with the same situation actually.

I realized that in a specialized society, a generalist is a specialist. You're a generalized problem-solver. You're not just adding new knowledge and skills, you're integrating them.

It's hard to explain to others what you're good at. And sometimes you don't even know yourself. But that forces you to follow your own vision.

[BushyMark → jackchristopher]

I have to agree entirely. Trying to define what I do to others is almost impossible! My resume is filled with lists of programs and languages that I have worked with, but I am no where near an expert at. I like to tell people that I work on "solutions" . . . tell me your problem, and I will help with your solution.

As to being an entreprener. I agree that it's an excellent fit . . . although I realized recently that my talent lies in support and refinement of people and ideas. I am not much of an idea man myself, to be honest.

[jackchristopher → BushyMark]

It seems like you should be working autonomously. Entrepreneur was probably the wrong word, you sound more like a consultant. But let's not whittle things down too early.

People have a tendency to define themselves in the static. But people aren't static they're dynamic. The hardest part is refining who you are, so it makes sense to others.

You have to create your career.

Unfortunately, I don't think I can give anything more than general advice (in principle). But I can relate to your situation. It takes a lot of thought and experience to figure out how you're going to do anything new.

But communication is essential. Consultants seem to be hired, often because of their writing skills. If you choose to go down that route.

EDIT: I'm self-taught too. I think it's a common problem for us, that adds to the complication. You can't point to a degree. And I have no special skills. But that's the trade off I wanted to make.

[noel_gomez → BushyMark]

I love YC, lots of people like me. LOL

[KevBurnsJr]

Many companies don't even advertise junior or entry-level positions.

Find a company you want to work for, find a pain point in their product and make a compelling case in your cover letter for how you feel that you can help their company.

Oh, and be prepared to accept honey roasted peanuts as legal tender in exchange for your time :)

[tss]

I suggest you capitalize on your studied profession (music). Music and programming is an uncommon set of interests, and if you can talk about the parallels you see between them, it can really set you apart. Picking up a certification or two wouldn't be a bad idea. Also, your qualifications for any type of technology job are completely experienced based. Assembling your projects into a portfolio as a supplement to your resume would be a wise move.

And as a side note, I would definitely avoid jobs with titles like "PHP Wizard". It's a personal opinion, but I wouldn't want to work for an employer who expects me to work magical miracles with PHP. I'd prefer someone who has a good understanding of the realistic capabilities of programmers. I might be totally off base here, but it's my opinion.

[Jaytee]

We are pretty much in the same shoes.

I'd suggest entrepreneur too. More specifically, an entrepreneur who can integrate different fields together to create new field. And at some point you will have to become the specialist of that new field. So you gotta throw away the jack-of-all-trade mentality.

I'm a musician too. So let's use music analogue. Good musicians often can play in many different musical styles. (a jack-of-all-trade) However, great musicians experiment with various styles and create new ones. (e.g. Duke Ellington for early jazz) Here's the critical part. Plenty of musicians "experiment" but they don't master these new styles or techniques. The work is lost and they will be forgotten. But the one who do master them will move music into a new era.

Being a jack-of-all-trade means you can learn very well. So use that ability to learn something very well.

[strlen]

This may seem paradoxical, but have you considered operations/systems administration? Would give you a chance to pretty much do use every single skill, gives you the flexibility to choose between full time and contracting.

[gscott]

> Should I start focusing on one specific development area?

I would suggest focusing on being a database developer guy, the person who writes the best sql routines, triggers, stored procedures, indexing, etc. This pays a great deal of money and really is not as stressful as having to program a project to completition. With databases, the programming itself is done now you optimize the sql routines and indexing to make that programming work better, faster, under load and work with programmers on dealing with more complex interations with the database.

[scumola]

Sysadmin for a startup. Bring a hammer and a power screwdriver too! :)

[SingAlong]

Wou wou!!

I too sail in the same boat and I find it tough to write down my skill sets in my profile or explaining it to others.

I can work on PHP, Python and Mysql (and would start learning ruby becoz i love to learn new stuff like you). But my way of thinking has been like a marketing guy(and love doing this kinda job too).

[truebosko]

Isn't being part of a growing start-up a need for a jack of all trades to a point? With little or no capital, many people need to be both designers and engineers

So I guess, find a small company looking for some designers or hackers, and I'm sure you'll be designing and communicating with customers as well.

[prateekdayal]

Did you say 'music'?

Would you be willing to work on a music startup we run? http://www.muziboo.com

[noodle]

there are jobs for jack of all trades. i'm working in one now. but if you're looking to pick up a job at something larger than a dev shop, they're going to look for depth not breadth.