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Ask HN: What job can a “jack of all trades” look for?

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Re: Ask HN: What job can a “jack of all trades” look for?

#151

Post by bborud »

phendrenad2 wrote: post #149

Jack of all trades is okay, but it's best if you pick one thing that you like best and specialize in it. Your other skills will help you in your day-to-day, but the deep specialization will help you with career advancement. Also don't forget to change the "one thing" if it becomes too untrendy... PHP developers aren't making what they once did, although PHP is still used all over the place.

"Jack of all trades, master of a few" is a better ambition. If you are in your 20s, your first goal is to become master of at least a couple of trades. Roughly 1-1.5 per decade.

As an employer I look for a balance. I look for the ability to have deep knowledge in at least one area, but also working knowledge in more areas.

Think of it as an S-curve that is steep in the 20s and flattens somewhere in the 50s. Those first 10 years after graduation are a bit special. This is where you either become really good at something, or you become mediocre (or worse).

(If you are a programmer and I see you spending 2 years on each programming language before moving on to whatever was trendy at the time: slim chance I will hire you. You will probably give lots of entertaining talks to conferences, but you will not accomplish much in real terms. I've seen people piss away decades of their lives like this, only to end up at the bottom of the food chain)

Re: Ask HN: What job can a “jack of all trades” look for?

#152

Post by ssss11 »

I have a similar background and went into technical management. I found that i didnt like the people management side of things and preferred delivering new things to help the business and so i shifted to a project management role. I now am involved in delivering cutting edge new solutions for our business but dont need to be hands on, my tech knowledges also helps in discussions with engineers - hope this perspective helps.

Re: Ask HN: What job can a “jack of all trades” look for?

#153

Post by bretpiatt »

programbreeding wrote: post #3
gshdg wrote: post #2

Smaller companies need generalists more than big ones do. You’re likely best off in early stage startups, small agencies, or your own consulting business. There are also incubators and such who can use that skillset to help bootstrap multiple startups per year.

Thank you for the feedback, I appreciate it. I like the idea of working at an incubator. Frankly I didn't realize they had employees in that way (I've never been involved with one). I thought it was more just that they provided a working space and mentoring. I didn't consider that they would employee people to actually help people. I'll look in to that.

If you enjoy solving small business problems with SaaS and would consider living in San Antonio, TX -- email me bret@porthcawlholdings.com. We're a holding company that operates / starts new B2B SaaS solving SMB problems. Always in need of folks who can get stuff done.

P.S. We believe it's a marathon, not a sprint. Salaries are market rate, benefits excellent (on par with large tech, i.e. 6% $1/$1 401k match, etc.).

P.P.S. While message is directly to OP, also open to anyone else reading. More background in my profile bio here.

Re: Ask HN: What job can a “jack of all trades” look for?

#154

Post by chispamed »

enraged_camel wrote: post #76
sgt wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Additional downside: may never take off and leave you financially ruined.

It won’t leave you financially ruined if you treat it as a side hustle and keep your main job as a source of income until you get customers. And if it never takes off, so what? At least it will be a great learning and self-growth opportunity, which is exactly what the OP is asking for anyway.

Thank you for your comment. I often feel that a part of HN judges jobs only based on income and blames you for not focusing on one or the other and thereby losing out on income or business growth. However I, too, think that it's completely valid to stay at your main job while also working on side projects. Maybe you won't be the richest person in the room or turn your project into a huge success but being able to do stuff you love while not risking your peace of mind is worth something as well.

Re: Ask HN: What job can a “jack of all trades” look for?

#155

Post by ddebernardy »

FartyMcFarter wrote: post #101
gshdg wrote: post #2

Smaller companies need generalists more than big ones do. You’re likely best off in early stage startups, small agencies, or your own consulting business. There are also incubators and such who can use that skillset to help bootstrap multiple startups per year.

> Smaller companies need generalists more than big ones do Big companies like Google also seem to hire a lot of generalists who have good programming fundamentals, are smart, and can quickly (i.e. within months) become productive in many kinds of projects. These generalists then work on a project for 1-3 years. When they lose interest, they move to another Google project or leave the company. If you really want to wo…

Care to share in what positions such companies make such hires? I've looked around a few times over the years and have never found the slightest hint that they did such a thing.

Re: Ask HN: What job can a “jack of all trades” look for?

#156

Post by whateveracct »

s_y_n_t_a_x wrote: post #75
sgt wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Additional downside: may never take off and leave you financially ruined.

Find an easy job you like and work on your project on your spare time. That's what I do.

Easy salaried job puts you in control of your hourly rate. The less hours you need to put in to stay above board, the higher your effective rate is. Even moreso when you're remote since you don't have the unavoidable cost of commuting & office attendance.

Re: Ask HN: What job can a “jack of all trades” look for?

#159

Post by perl4ever »

purerandomness wrote: post #135
redsymbol wrote: post #90

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why? How does it matter? Not meaning to challenge you in any way, just sincerely want to understand your thinking.

Because it answers a different type of question: What you would do if you wouldn't have to work for a living, for the next six months . While interesting, most of us can't relate to this situation. Having half a year worth of "fun money" to spend bootstrapping a business idea, or investng in one, is skipping the first step. It's like one of these "draw the rest of the fucking owl" jokes: How to become rich: 1. Get 44…

You're saying $44K = rich, and that normal income = $88K.

If you make $88K then you can have $44K to blow just by only spending $44K, like the people who only make $44K anyway.

(Yes, yes, ignoring taxes)

Re: Ask HN: What job can a “jack of all trades” look for?

#160

Post by willart4food »

Well, your ultimate goal should be to be an entrepreneur or a the technical co-founder (and #2); but that's not only easier said than done, it's not for everyone. Is it you? You and only you can know that answer.

In the meanwhile your best bet is to market yourself to cash-strapped startups, pre-prototype to hack together the product/service. You might have to work for a dozen or so start-up that fail before finding the rising star; In such case make sure that you get enough equity so that, by the time "professional management" comes in, you're protected by your equity.

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