The More You Say You Do, The Less I Believe You Are Good at Anything

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Comment by Duke Snyder on November 16, 2011 at 7:54am

Though it's a month old post have to remark how posts from such as Robbie continue to make SI what it is, informative and enjoyable time away from "work."   Even for a retiree lol

"Jack of all trades and master of none," comes to mind here.  General and broad experiences often serve well but not so much in today's professional world.  Being a liberal arts oriented individual I saw this coming 40 years ago  but being a newscaster/journalist in between air traffic control and elected state officeholder I realized the 8-5 retire with a gold watch thing just wasn't me so a lot of outside sales and promotional work followed.

I was 30 when I got my first calculator for Christmas and 50 buying a computer so Joomla, cloud computing and the computers on a cell phone are beyond even rocket science and brain surgery to me.  Am building a independtly owned business axxociation which allows me to "fit" with experience as a Chambe rof Commerice exec and interact with humans and not a machine.  But that's me and today's world demands most specialize  not generalize.  You view Gerry Dick' s "Inside Indiana Business" or similar programs and the lament of business executives interviewed  is a constant bemoaning that today's job applicants are under-educated and thus under-quaified.

Me thinks they are saying they require skills not vefrsimilitude!

Comment by Robby Slaughter on November 2, 2011 at 11:51am

Thanks, Rodger!

I don't want to discourage people from having goals. You could become a firefighter, but it would take many years of study and practice.

My concern is that people imply that they can do everything, which is just untrue. You can do anything, not everything. The point is to pick something.

Comment by Rodger D. Johnson on November 1, 2011 at 11:42pm

I like your point of view, Robby. I think this is a great observation of the culture at large and stem from the notion that "we can do whatever we put our minds to," which isn't always the case. If I put my mind to being a fire fighter, I will never BE a fire fighter.

Comment by Robby Slaughter on October 22, 2011 at 1:48pm

Lisa, I would recommend that you find a job posting which seems very attractive and produce a resume which most closely matches that job. This approach will help you focus and provide a sense of direction.

Thanks for your comments and good luck!

Comment by Lisa Pellam on October 22, 2011 at 1:31pm

Wow........I have been having this conversation with myself. I have doen bookkeeping & income taxes for many years. I have recently gotten my real estate license. As I produced my resume, I had many of the same thoughts. How would you advise someone like myself to promote their skills? I would be interested in hearing any feedback on this subject.