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Comment by mrbig4545 | Hacker News Reader

jack of all trades, master of none.

no thanks, i'll stick to being an expert (and getting paid accordingly) in one field, and adjust when needed.

you don't get brick layers randomly learning carpet fitting and welding "just incase"

Actually, to extend your brick layer analogy, what if that's all you do and we devise drones that can lay bricks really fast? Then what? You're going to have to compete with the other 50,000 unemployed brick layers now looking for welding jobs.

Then don't look for a welding job. If you are in the top of the brick-laying field, there will be plenty of consultancy for these new brick-laying machine jobs or with the company that programs the brick-laying strategies.

The point is that you spend the time to truly become an expert in an area, most of the skills will be easily transferrable to an orthogonal position. Dabbling in a bunch of crap on the side doesn't really get you anything except for a false sense of confidence that gets blown away when an interviewer asks you any reasonably hard question about it.

Someone has to teach the drone developers optimal brick laying techniques so they can program the drones. Every building site will no doubt need a handful of people to oversee the drones and verify their work. Also there will probably be several intricate nuances to complicated brick laying problems that will still require manual intervention. I wouldn't be surprised if at the end of the day a master bricklayer won't be able to use those drones far more efficiently and creatively than even the best drone programmer who has never actually held a trowel.

So, basically, always be looking for emerging opportunities and don't be quick to "throw in the trowel" ;-) Sorry... just couldn't resist!

The actual phrase is:

   A jack of all trades
   Master of none
   Is still better
   Than a master of one

Worth keeping in mind when looking for a metaphor.

I think people ignore the second part, because it is a lie. (see my post here commenting about my situation)

That latter two parts seem to have been added later. The original uses only included the first, and then the second parts.

http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/jack-of-all-trades.html

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