Why You Struggle To Get Job Offers as a Generalist
By: Paulo Carvalho
Tags: Generalists, Job Search, Job Interview, Education, Engineer

As a society, we laud the work of generalists but our processes simply are not meant to recognize them.

Photo by Mika Baumeister on Unsplash. Featuring the Mona Lisa by Leonardo Da Vinci an engineer, philosopher and artist.

What is a Generalist?

Engineering and our educational systems as a whole are designed towards specialization.

At elementary school everyone learns the basics on which further knowledge will be built. In middle school, the division of knowledge into subjects starts to appear. As students are allocated individual time blocks to learn math, sciences, social studies and others. Up to this point, despite the already visible division of subjects, all students are still expected to learn the same subjects and to the same level of depth.

In high school, specialization starts to take place. Teenagers with only a superficial knowledge of different subjects are expected to choose the ones they want to further specialize in. On these subjects, they can opt to take more specialized classes such as an Advanced Placement (AP) curriculum.

Suddenly, in their last year of high school, students are expected to choose the academic field of study they wish to pursue. This decision, trickles down to their major in college which in turn affects the college pool to which they apply.

Most colleges, will have a selection of classes that if successfully completed awards the student with a degree in a specific field. This is where the path of the generalist and the specialist most often start to diverge.

The specialist, will take the classes that are required for the degree and likely excel in them. Sequentially increasing the difficulty and specialization of the subject matter to become a master of the subject. On the other hand, the generalist will often explore different subjects. While the specialist might take Calculus 1 followed by Calculus 2 then Calculus 3 and so forth, the generalist might jump into Calc 2, skip Calc 3, take Differential Equations, a course in Microbiology and so forth.

What does this mean for the specialist and the generalist? The specialist will likely leave his formative years with great in depth knowledge on a specific subject. Hopefully one that he/she is passionate about. The generalist will have experienced a wide breadth of disciplines. He might excel in a few subjects but likely not to the level of depth of a specialist in any one of them.

In summary, a specialist is a an individual with mastery of a specific subject while a generalist is an individual with significant knowledge of a breadth of areas.

Why Does the Distinction Matter?

So why are we talking about the formative years of a generalist and how is that related to their chances of getting a job?

Not Applying to the Correct Jobs

The first advantage that a specialist has over a generalist is knowing exactly the type of job that they want to pursue. By knowing the type of job, a specialist immediately narrows their field of search allowing them to put a greater amount of effort into tuning their application for the particular job. By better matching their applications to the profiles expected by recruiters they thereby increase the chances of being contacted.

Instead, the generalist may be open to a wider array of positions. At first hand, this would seem like a positive. After all, if you are applying to more jobs you are increasing the chances of getting selected. Right? Unfortunately, that is not that case.

Consider a recruiter tasked with selecting a software engineer to work in a custom Linux kernel for Company Y. As a recruiter, you will have received a list of qualifications for candidates that should be selected to undergo the interview process. When this recruiter sees a resume he will quickly look over for the presence of these qualifications. Unfortunately, with the time that they have, they may pass over anyone that does not possess exactly what they are looking for and not give much value to the many tangentially related subjects that the generalist may have.

What can a generalist do about this? Even though you may be tempted to apply to several different positions, do not do so. Instead of letting probability decide your next career path based on which recruiter will happen to believe you are a strong match for their company, significantly narrow down the job position and roles you apply to so that your resume and supporting material strongly align with said roles.

Not Preparing for the Interview Process

Remember how we discussed that in college the generalist might explore different subjects without necessarily following the outlined curriculum?

Consider that the generalist was selected for an interview as a software developer in a large company. As a large company, they need to ensure unbiased hiring. This often means standardized and repeatable interview processes. As part of this standardized process the interviewer may pose general computer science questions to the candidates. Say one of these questions is “what is the average time complexity to add an element to a binary tree?”. Whereas a specialist is likely to have already seen this before and have the answer to this question memorized. The generalist may have to work out the example or deduce from other problems he may have seen. In the end, both should arrive at the same correct answer.

However, the interviewer is likely asking similar questions to all interviewees and comparing them against each other for the role. Therefore, who should the interviewer select? The specialist that immediately knew the answer or the generalist that had to work out a problem? More often than not, the answer is the former.

So how can the generalist position themselves to do well in the interview? The answer, albeit obvious and likely repetitive, is to study specifically for the interview. Once the generalist knows with whom and for what they will be interviewing he should give his all to learn the material that pertains to the interview with the goal of becoming a good interviewee. After all, proficiency at interviews is a skill that like all others requires practice.

Applying for the Wrong Company Type

Different companies operate and organize themselves in different ways. As such, some companies may be a better match for a generalist.

Consider the following two companies. Company A has thousands of engineers supporting a large core product used by millions of users. They release dozens of updates daily to their products most of which are small incremental changes. Company B is a small startup with 5 engineers. They are still battling to find their product-market fit and their product undergoes rapid large changes in features and architecture.

Which of these two companies would be more appropriate for a generalist? Likely, Company B is a better fit. Whereas company A has a stable expectation of their needs and would benefit from employees that excel at the very specific tasks that are given, Company B would likely benefit from having employees that can quickly adapt to the changing environment.

In summary, a generalist is usually a better fit for dynamic companies where change is the norm.

Conclusion

Both generalist and specialists can positively impact the companies in which they work. However, to be able to contribute to a company you must first jump through the hoops of the job application and interview process.

As a generalist, maximize your chances of success by:

Narrowing down your job options and tuning your application materials towards them. Preparing for the interview based on the job you will be applying to. Choosing companies that better align with the work style of a generalist.

Wish you the best in your job search and remember that the interview process is not perfect so even an ideal candidate may get rejected. Just keep at it!