> I think it's fair to say that, generally, breadth is valued more at smaller companies where people have to multi-task.
IME, not at all during the hiring process. And only rarely later.
IME, not at all during the hiring process. And only rarely later.
Your comment below gives one side, where companies want a specific thing and don't want to think beyond that. There is another side to that, where the company can't afford a dedicated engineer for X, and so being able to do some of that work is very valuable. I think this is probably more common in hardware startups more than anywhere else.
I've worked at companies (< 10 people) where we absolutely wanted different (relevant) skills, because we needed people to be reasonably autonomous in carrying out tasks. For example, we wanted people who had optical lab experience, could program and if you had mechanical engineering that was a big bonus.
My suggestion was that the odds of needing multiple skills is larger at a 5 person early stage startup than an established 200 person company. The larger you go, the more you're at the whim of HR screening. There may well have a long list of requirements, but on the job you're probably going to be more specialised.
IMHO, this is mostly due to the nature of the industry I am in (software). Hiring engineers is difficult, and only done when there are specific needs to fill - particularly at small companies, that can't afford to think too far ahead, or afield.