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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?

#51

Post by akcreek »

I have a wide-ranging self-taught skill set as well that I've developed over the last 14 years of running my own businesses. I'll share what I'm doing from a high level as it might not be the most common path.

I've been acquiring small but promising businesses that don't have the right team in place to move them forward. I bootstrap them on my own and replace my roles as the business can afford staff. Once enough roles are replaced, I'm able to start looking for the next business. I'm on my fourth business now. Sold the first two, the third is a productized service netting seven figures, and I just acquired the fourth, which is a SaaS business that I believe has great potential.

Currently, I'm formalizing this method and will build a team that can execute it much more quickly than me alone. I'll be shooting for a new business every 12-18 months to build a portfolio. We'll have a group of partners and a small staff that will be focused on getting these acquisitions straightened out and growing, then we'll install a team to run them full-time and we'll go on to the next one.

So just taking what I've been doing for years and everything I've learned from it and scaling it up to reduce the timeframe from acquisition to growth and then operation of the business.

If OP or anyone else who identifies themself in a similar manner wants to chat, email is in my profile. I'm actively looking for people like us to work with.

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

#52

Post by dcanelhas »

dcanelhas wrote: post #46

Try to become a full-fledged mechatronics engineer and then we can talk about the woes of spreading oneself too thinly across too many disciplines, instead :)

In practice you could join an autonomous driving or robotics start-up/R&D group.

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

#53

Post by jedberg »

Look into the security field. Your broad base of knowledge from bottom to top would be helpful.

Find a great security team and hope that they will bring you on and mentor you.

Security is a great specialty for you in that it is very broad and always changing.

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

#54

Post by kylebenzle »

fghorow wrote: post #27

If you have something in the sciences/engineering that fascinates you enough to consider it, maybe grad school? I guarantee that none of the IT skills you have acquired will go to waste. Plus -- by choosing a fascinating area -- you might actually NOT BE BORED! On the other hand, if you are at all hesitant, don't go to grad school. With the wrong adviser, it will chew you up and spit you out in tiny bleeding little p…

... the wrong adviser, it will chew you up and spit you out in tiny bleeding little pieces.

Exactly what happend to me. 4 years in a PhD program with an adviser that could not have cared less about anything I was doing. I gave up after my wife left me because I was spending too much time at "work". Yeah, now I have nothing and can't get a job because 4 years of nothing looks pretty bad. (Thank god I bought Bitcoin).

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

#55

Post by duder_3569 »

Become a Consultant at Red Hat!

Wonderful, wonderful place to be a "jack of all trades," while also allowing you the opportunity to carve out a niche if you find you do become passionate about just one thing.

In addition to working in DevOps roles, there are a range of consulting opportunities that are diverse, which adds another layer of keeping things interesting. You can do work with small companies, large companies, government, schools, incubators. And you don't have to stay put. It's encouraged at Red Hat that you follow your passion. Allowing someone like you, to chase whatever happens to tickle your fancy at a given moment.

https://www.redhat.com/en/services/consulting

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

#57

Post by dadoge »

robviren wrote: post #39
ScottFree wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Let's say a programmer was looking to make that change. Where would he start? Are there training programs? What kind of company would provide a gentle introduction? Is it easier to navigate the politics of a small company creating their own product compared to a large consulting company that provides staff augmentation services?

You pretty much have to job hop. Look for opportunities to help sales with customer conversations. if you can be a bridge from engineering to the business then you will have a lot of value in the position. Communication is critical. You have to be able to make people feel your solution is not best. Peoole do not care what is technically best. They want to feel something is the best. And that is a hard but to crack be…

Disagree, many companies have a way for engineers to pivot into product. The hardest part is having a frank conversation with your manager. I’ve seen many engineers become PMs within the same company

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

#58

Post by anbende »

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.

I’m in over my head technologically with an early stage startup (mental health and psychology space) that’s fairly close to revenue. We need help in a variety of roles - AWS lambda, managing a remote dev team, integrating with another software products API, as well as product market fit and all the rest. We should have some money to spend after our next raise. Check my profile and email me if you’d like to talk further.

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

#59

Post by thestepafter »

SnowingXIV wrote: post #25

Really appreciate all the suggestions in this thread. Very similar story. Beyond doing the full stack development of their web properties and internal database, design, IT, networking, I've created a marketing, seo, and advertising role handling all of that to bring in clients. It's a busy day but have automated as much as possible. Currently looking for something that checks all the boxes and that'll have me. Hardes…

Do you have any interest in partnering with someone who will manage all the technical details related to your clients web presence so you can focus on the core of your business?

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

#60

Post by Roritharr »

akcreek wrote: post #51

I have a wide-ranging self-taught skill set as well that I've developed over the last 14 years of running my own businesses. I'll share what I'm doing from a high level as it might not be the most common path. I've been acquiring small but promising businesses that don't have the right team in place to move them forward. I bootstrap them on my own and replace my roles as the business can afford staff. Once enough rol…

Interesting, how did you acquire the first business and keep yourself afloat before it took off?
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