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Comment by lokimedes | Hacker News Reader

It works just fine for me. Even the best operations wants to stay competitive, and I have yet to meet a CEO with less ambitions than the org can handle. That is where we Wildcards thrive.

I build the departments we don’t have, make the prototypes the developers says are impossible (or unattractive technically), prove the business models that yikes the existing sales organizations as they are misaligned with common practice and so on.

That said, you must be sellable as a Generalist/Consultant/Fixer. Most people who try to go the Generalist route fails as well. And what the article fails to mention, is the hidden set of skills you need in addition to be valued in this odd position.

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I've found my self in this position as well.

So far I've managed to identify a few key points which has served me well so far.

- Being able to produce results even when there is a lot of unknowns.

- Fairly good communication skills across several departments. People usually listens to what you say.

- Being known as goto kind of person. If it's about getting the gist about something or direct help of implementing any kind of service/api.

And lastly the main point of being Sellable: Being a generalist has put you into a lot of scenarios were others have no previous knowledge about. And thus making you easier to act as an early asset in assignments.

Interesting discussion. My solution has been to sell myself as a troubleshooter. So I usually see patterns and solutions that others do not and in such a case can bring something to table where people get stuck.

A troubleshooter sounds very specialist while it skills are in actuality quite generalist (on the whole)

I've sold my self as a troubleshooter before, but that only got me into positions were I was maintaining old tech. Especially things others had no idea how/why it did work.

I still find my self in these situations, but not as much like before since I stopped using troubleshooter. But your miles may vary :)

Yeah this comment thread is certainly enlightening in that regard. Maybe I should rethink my strategy! May I ask what you market yourself now?

I've kind of switched over to a more specialized direction, but I still do include all/some the general stuff as well.

Meaning: It's imperative you explain there is a focus on what you're specialized/interested in. And if they're still interested there is a lot of extra goodies you know as well. But only as long as it's part of the assignment/position you're interviewing for.

I know this answer is a bit vague, but I hope it was still to some good use for you.

Yes, thank you! This end of the year period is good to reflect on the coming year and make some changes (if necessary).

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