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Newsletter – 2 March 2009 – S Patricks Day Giveaway.
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Hi,

This is our first newsletter for two weeks.
The reason is we have been hard at work preparing for the St Patricks Day Giveaway.
This event carries on till the end of March and offers many exciting and useful free gifts, and all sorts of money-saving offers.
Check it out at http://stpatrick.freegiftsgiveaway.com/
and take advantage of what’s on offer by simply logging in as a new member.
It’s free and there is no obligation to buy anything.

Generalists and Specialists

AA few newsletters ago we mentioned the term “Generalist” and promised further discussion later. Here it is.

Many people think that IT workers are geeks or techies or have deep skills in some very odd areas of technology.
This isn’t always true – in fact it is mostly not true.

The reputation probably goes back to the early days of IT, in the 1960s and 1970s, when being in IT meant being a “computer operator” or a “computer programmer”.
In fact today the job of Computer Operator has all but disappeared and programmers, while still very necessary, are in a minority.

In a recent global survey of IT industry jobs only 29% were for programmers.
Putting it another way, that means that 71% of all jobs on offer were NOT for programmers.

So what has happened?

Actually the IT industry has matured and with that has come a whole variety of new jobs.
Many people don’t know what these jobs are and hardly know that they exist.

In our Jack’s Guides we have used the terms “Generalist” and “Specialist” in an attempt to cast some light on a very complex sector of the economy.
There are basically two kinds of jobs in the IT / Business world, generalists and specialists.
The specialist jobs are mostly (but not always) the more technical jobs or those involving deep knowledge of business products or complex business procedures. Typical specialist jobs are:
• Most programmers
• Networking technicians
• Operating System experts (UNIX, Windows Servers etc)
• In the investment banking area, those who are expert in fields such as FX, Derivatives etc.

Typical generalist jobs are:
• Business Analysts
• Managers, supervisors and team leaders
• Software testers
• IT Project Managers
• Service delivery workers
• Support, Help Desk and Call Centre officers

These divisions are not hard and fast. Many specialist jobs require some level of knowledge of other areas, and many generalist jobs require some deeper level of knowledge in a given field.

The difference is more one of degree; specialist jobs, on the whole, require more training and a higher level of specialisation.

So what’s the difference in practical terms?

There are a few differences which are quite significant. Specialist jobs tend to be harder to get into – and also harder to get out of.
Let me explain.
Assume you are a C++ ace programmer. You got there either because you studied the subject in depth at a training school or university, or someone was prepared to train you. You have also put in the hard months and years to master it – to master C++ is not a trivial exercise.

So you are an expert in a specialist field, which probably means you are well paid – right?
So is there a down side – it all sounds great?

Well yes. Assume the demand for your particular skills in C++ were to decline, or assume you have just had enough and fancy a change.
What do you do?

If you wanted another programming job in a different language, say VB.Net, you could just apply for a job as a VB.Net programmer.
After all programming is programming regardless of what language you use – isn’t it?

As an ex-programmer myself I would agree that a good C++ programmer would have little difficulty in mastering VB.Net.
The problem is, when you apply for a job you are up against programmers who have already used VB.Net, so your chances of beating them are very slim.

So, you say, I’ll apply for a job as a project manager – after all I have worked in projects for years and know what goes on.

However, you run up against the same problem; you are up against people with specific project management experience, and most employers would be reluctant to take a risk and cross train you.

So this type of job is harder to get into and harder to get out of than the Generalist jobs.

We’ll discuss getting into these jobs in future newsletters.

Our e-book “Jack's Guide to Lots More Money” goes into this topic and much more, and shows how to work the system to get the well paid job you deserve.

For our full list of publications see our websites at www.jacksguides.com
www.icanraiseyourincome.com
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This newsletter is published by Kevin Ramsey for Jack's Guides.
Copyright (c) 2001 - 2009, all rights reserved.
No portion of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted without the express written consent of the publisher or contributing editors and or writers.

DISCLAIMER: We disclaim any liability for the use of Any contributed information contained herein.

I hope you've enjoyed this issue of our newsletter.
Please let me know if you have any questions, suggestions or requests.

Enjoy and prosper in your chosen career.
Till the next issue.
Kevin Ramsey
Founder of Jack's Guides