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Ask HN: I'm a Designer/Developer, How Do I Find Jobs?

1 points by msutherl ↗ HN
I spend most of my time getting to know all sorts of fields. I have a design degree, but I can hold a conversation with a systems programmer, a web developer, an entrepreneur, a scientist or an artist. From talking to people, I get the impression that people like me are valuable, but jobs calls seem always to be looking for either a programmer, a designer or a business person. If interdisciplinary people are so valuable, where do they fit in? Do I need to specialize?

2 comments

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kls
This is the age old dilemma of the generalist, I am valuable but no one can use me because they are too focused of filling roles. I too am a generalist and have risen to the top of every company I have been a part of. always becoming the MVP. What I did in the end, was that I found a sales guy, that could sell my services (my generalization was in technology) and we where able to field all kinds of requests that others could not. If you do not have hard skills like Programming, or Accounting I would suggest that you develop some, you don't have to be the best at it, but if you cannot be a doer then you have little value as a generalist. I am not implying that this is the case but rather you don't specify. A generalist must be able to jump in where needed and this means having general skills in development, system admin, etc.
rdouble
Interdisciplinary people don't fit in. You need to settle on one side of things to get in the door, or you have to do your own thing.