Seth Godin, one of the marketing geniuses of our time, had a brilliant post, “We Specialize in Everything”. Seth recognizes that when we can easily find the best, we want the best.
So what does this mean for job seekers? It means Subject Matter Experts Rule!
So why did this change?
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Remember, back in the day, when employers wanted generalists? Well rounded employees that could adapt to anything?
From 2000-2001, a “perfect storm” of events all combined to change employer demands for subject matter expertise.
Consider this…during that time period, all of the following happened:
- The majority of resumes were delivered online
- CareerBuilder, Monster dramatically increased membership of job seekers
- Numerous other job boards grew in popularity
- The majority of company web sites now housed expanded Career sections. The majority of large and mid-sized companies were listing all of their jobs on their websites.
- Advertised jobs were now thousands of resumes for each position
- Proliferation of inexpensive home internet connections
- Reasonably priced Applicant Tracking Systems were implemented to manage the flood of resumes companies were receiving electronically
- Hiring of consultants for small projects became widely popularized, as timely project completion became mission critical
- Companies were careful not to add headcount during a recession.
- The distinction between employees and contractors became blurred as more subject matter experts chose to work as independent consultants
- Subject matter experts were suddenly available due to a recession
This perfect storm of events allowed Hiring Managers to micro-target multiple criteria in job searches, allowing them to search for subject matter expertise.
And since a post 9/11 recession was underway, there was a great deal of specialized talent available.So why did Hiring Managers begin to favor subject matter experts? Because they could.
And Hiring Managers over the past 9 years now have gotten used to and expect Subject Matter Expertise.
But strangely enough, most job seekers haven’t gotten used to living in a Subject Matter Expert world. Most still describe themselves as generalists, and write resumes to look like they can do all things for all people.
But as Seth comments …“When choice is limited, I want a generalist. When selection is difficult, a jack of all trades is just fine. But whenever possible, please bring me a brilliant specialist.”
Bet Seth in the end, why did you cave? You added a PS the next day, stroking the generalists in your audience who complained, and gave the irrelevant reference that Leonardo was a generalist. By today's standards, Leonardo is a generalist, but back in the 15th Century, he would be considered a Subject Matter Expert, the best in the world in science - science would not evolve to develop more granular specialties for more than 100 years. Then again, people like daVinci just don’t come around every day, and in today’s world how many employers' could afford Leonardo’s salary or hourly rate? Hiring Leonardo would be similar to hiring Bill Gates.
So which do you want to be today … a generalist, or a specialist?
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