You were brought up to believe that you had to be good at one thing and that you had to be able to do that one thing very well. To become a specialist.
To create a future-proof career, you need to give it a T-value. T-value is something that everyone in their line of work must have. It is crucial to decide the depth and breadth of what you want to build. Simply said: T-value means a person of wide knowledge.
There is a big difference between how a generalist and a specialist do things. The specialist picks one spot and then digs in, while the generalist is on a lane that keeps getting bigger.
Learning itself is a skill, and when you use that skill in many different places, you become better at it than someone who only knows a lot about one thing. This is because you learn how to learn by constantly trying to understand various things. You can then specialise in something else more quickly if you want to. This is a very incredibly valuable advantage.
When you're first getting started with recruiting, you may discover that this sector isn't what you imagined it would be. You may find that something you care about deeply and others less so. To be successful in this sector, you want to learn complementary skills to drift back and forth, so you do so to hone your expertise. And in this situation, you practice it by actively learning complementary talents.
According to Orbit Gadiesh, an expert generalist is "the capacity and desire to master and gather knowledge in various disciplines, industries, skills, themes, and talents. Thanks to their varied knowledge base, such people are better equipped to detect patterns, connect dots, and improvise in various circumstances."
But being an expert generalist is not a new concept. It has several names. Polymath, Multidisciplinary, Renaissance person. There have been and continue to be several of the most influential individuals, both contemporary and historical, generalists: Elon Musk, Steve Jobs, Richard Feynman, Ben Franklin, Thomas Edison, Leonardo Da Vinci, and Marie Curie, to name just a few.
We at wearebridge.io believe that RECRUITMENT IS A PLACE FOR EXPERT GENERALIST. Recruiters wear multi-hats; they must have skills in all aspects of recruitment.
Recruiters must have skills in the different technologies, the various processes, and different industries. In addition, they must have skills in writing, speaking, coaching, advising, managing, networking, and more.
Expert generalists are unique. Crucial for business. Talented generalists see connections that others miss, and they have unique perspectives. And in a world increasingly dominated by machines, we at wearebridge.io believe this strategy will gain value. HOW?
Machine systems will do most routine, specialised work, and it's not too far a stretch to think that the ability to learn from different fields could be the difference between people who change their jobs and those who don't.
Our current divisions between disciplines may begin to slip away, and new ones will be created.
In the past, having one job for the rest of your life wasn't a bad one. A different future, however, is what you'll see soon. First, people are likely to have a lot of jobs that are very different from each other. Because even if they don't, we'll see more and more project-based work that needs the same skills.
Expert generalists might be able to learn more quickly in this kind of world.
Final Thoughts: The Era of the Specialist Is Over
You can boost your salary, career options, and entrepreneurial success by becoming a well-rounded expert generalist. Because you won't make a lot of money until you're really excellent at something, and you will make a lot of money because you know something that others around you don't. The T-value would make you better.
Specialisation will still be necessary, but the boundaries between separate aspects of reality will keep getting blurred, and those who can handle this will be the ones who do well.
Many may find this unfamiliar, but it is a more accurate representation of today's situation. But, unfortunately, we've just been taught to think that way.
Nothing exists on its own, and that doesn't change even if we choose to narrow disciplines.
Those who can see that will have the best chance in a world that keeps changing.