Jack of all trades has become somewhat of an insult, but it didn’t begin as one. The phrase was originally used to describe a playwright who was always hanging around the theatres. He would help with the stage, the set and the costumes. He could remember lines and try directing.
Self-discovery
Picking an area and learning it inside-out is one way to begin a specialist career
- Keeping your eyes and ears open to opportunities, coupled with learning and growing in multiple areas, means self-awareness and confidence in your path
- Knowledge across many areas can combine to create well-rounded experts
Required for roles
Learn everything first and specialize after
- Constant professional development is key to keep up
- Being a jack of all trades can develop a transferable skill set
- Taty, a blogger, specialized in writing, web design, SEO and languages
Curiosity as a strength
Bringing curiosity to any work makes you better at doing it
- You are an eternal learner
- Being a master of one thing might mean you are an artist or an academic, but mastering more means your work has a chance to reach people
Allowing flexibility
Having a solid grasp of many concepts or decent proficiency in multiple skills can allow for flexibility, in a life and career
- The flexibility can benefit your clients as much as yourself
- Being able to pick and choose different projects or clients works really well for you
- Less pigeon holing, more being able to adapt to any requirements
Great in business
Find analogies and draw trends
- Have a curiosity for solutions outside a narrow sphere
- Broader knowledge leads to greater understanding and being better able to advise clients across multiple areas
- Specializing too narrowly causes systematic problems and means departments don’t understand each other and is considered old-fashioned
