The Generalist

As I reached the age of 50, reality struck me. No longer was I the young buck who believed I knew it all, was better then the next, had my whole career ahead of him. No, I was middle of middle aged and starting the last third of my IT career. What was I to do when I grew up I thought? What value did I have to others?

For the better part of the last 10 years, I had refocused my attention to finance, support its technology infrastructure and immersing myself in financial system report writing and analytics. So much has changed on the technology front and the younger generation, raised in the technology are that more advanced than I at the same time in my earlier days. How do I compete?

The last six months I have done some sole searching, looking at what I have become and how I became. I don’t posses to be an expert in any field, I have no specialty. Rather throughout my career I have been involved in all facets of technology, from a support analyst, network administrator, network engineer, software developer, project management and upper management. I am a true IT Generalist, possessing general business knowledge and soft skills that allow me to engage in a wide variety of areas and fulfill many different roles within a company. It goes without saying, when one inquires what I do, my answer I felt was awkward but the reality is I do a little bit of everything or what do I not do? I am the go to person.

To that end, I have decided to embrace the generalist in me and continue to immerse myself in emerging technologies and where I can, share some of the past and current experiences and knowledge to others through this and other social media platforms.

In the new year I am embarking on a new chapter in my life. While excited I am also extremely nervous of change. For those of you in a similar situation looking to redefine yourself at or beyond the age of 50, please join me in my (our) journey. We can share experiences and assist each other along the way.

generalist

jĕn′ər-ə-lĭst

1. One who has broad general knowledge and skills in several areas. 
2. A person with a broad general knowledge, especially one with more than superficial knowledge in several areas and the ability to combine ideas from diverse fields.