SwiftOnSecurityJan 26, 2023
Being an omnivorous technology generalist is punishing to start out as and lasts for years, but becomes incredibly valuable later. That's something I wish I could have told the prior me.
Come to understand: Being a generalist is not about "lacking experience to call yourself an expert." Touching on innumerable disciplines is itself a crucial skill that lets you operate in the real world with huge autonomy. Just know your limits. Most problems don't need specialists. Generalists are the ones that ***know when to call in the specialists and give them what they need***.
Show threadPyxaronJan 26, 2023

@SwiftOnSecurity I wish the corporate world would have understood that. I kept being pushed toward specializing, saying they have no use for a "general purpose IT guy".

Yet i was always the one who figured those "impossible to fix" bugs because i understood all parts of the system, and how they interact.

Specialists only test their very specific bit of the setup.

But nope, no path forward for that, no possible raises, and "we can outsource that part to IT service partners".

Show threadSwiftOnSecurityJan 26, 2023
@Pyxaron This is something, we as an IT Security department, are pushing. You need to employ cross-functional IT generalists. Just working on stuff that needs them, not assigned to a project. They are the ones we can talk to about getting things done in a larger vision. Who can unclog absolutely nonsensical blockers with their larger contextual knowledge.
Show threadokanogen VerminEnemyFromWithin
@SwiftOnSecurity @Pyxaron
Yeah ok, but age discrimination is real.
Jan 26, 2023 at 2:33amWeb