Jack of all trades…. Master of one???

A specialist in particular technology or to be generic????A dilemma that every IT pro is faced with when it comes to deciding the path to build a successful career. Every company big or small which depends on IT will want to have the best hands working for them to provide solutions and so as a specialist you are in demand very much. And when you talk specialization , there are varying degrees of it with different technologies that one can go down to. It’s one’s prerogative as to how far one should go.

But the beauty of technology is the fact that it keeps changing rapidly and at times transforms into a completely different one .What do you do then? The technology that you specialized might have lost flavour with the advent of the new and a better one.Having an array of skill sets will always help your cause at any time. Being flexible, to be able to adapt to the changing times is probably the defining factor to making a successful career in the field of IT. However radically different new technologies may be, the learning's of the past will always be adaptable to the change with minor alterations making for an easier learning curve.I guess specializations should be only to the extent where you are a step ahead of the competion and not necessarily the master of the technology itself.You have the flexibility to change gears and jump technologies when the need arises.

This is even more relevant today and applies to more than just the knowledge of technology. With the current economic scenario and the imminent job cuts and cost cuts , it will better serve you if you could even expand your horizon beyond technology to management as well.When the going gets tough organisations will look towards a more lean process and delivery system where resources which have the skills to manage as they deliver will be sought after. This I am sure takes the term of flexibility to a whole new dimension and not many people might agree with it. But yes that is the fact…

As the saying goes …”Change is the only constant thing in life “……… Learning in itself is the process of knowing the unknown , exploring and expanding beyond known horizons with change as the enabler for the process….And no amount of learning shall have you prepared for the change and the surprise that comes with it.To ADAPT and ADOPT will be the wisest thing to do ……… JACK of All or Master of one!!!! I leave that for you to decide….. just ensure that you don’t end up being the MASTER of NONE!!!! :)