Everyone starts out a generalist. But there can come a point where it puts you at a disadvantage when there's a specific job you really want to land.
Unless that job is at a startup, which lovingly appreciate the hustle of someone who can run through any and every brick wall, transitioning careers as a generalist the same way you've always approached job search will result in spinning your wheels and a hard time in interviews.
Luckily you don't have to change who you are, you just need to change the story you tell.
A story from a sustainability consultant to in house at a brand or climate tech company
I've been working with a generalist (let's call him Alex) with a truly impressive background -- he's worked in sustainability consulting with epic brands, built his own company, and worked in tons of different roles. He actually has the job that many other people want. Today, he's trying to move sustainability consulting to in house a brand or climate tech company that works in supply chain, CPG tech, block chain, AI... so a lot of things.
Imagine having all of this experience -- and doing all the hard work to build it -- but not being able to actually land the job you actually want. That was Alex's problem. He just couldn't hear back from job applications (you shouldn't actually apply cold, more on this later) and didn't get past interviews.
He also spent a ton of time agonizing about which jobs he should pursue... specifically worrying about being pigeon holed into a role.
Problem 1: focus in the job search
Imagine being a hiring manager. Your job is to find the one person who is made for the role, and in this market, avoid a risky hire.
They're sifting through so many referrals and resumes that a) it's hard for them to do the mental gymnastics to imagine you at the role with a general background b) you're competing against people who seem made for the role and c) you just seem like a risky hire because your resume doesn't appear to have a logical cohesion to it ("does this guy actually want to do this role?")
So for Alex, he didn't have a chance to really be seen by the hiring manager, even with referrals in. He had every strike against him -- making the hiring manager do work, look worse than everyone else, and seem risky.
It's pretty impossible to convince someone that you're perfect for the job if you're not tailoring your story and personal branding to that. And you can't tailor to more than a couple roles at once.
Problem 2: the meta problem, not knowing how to prioritize
Alex was thinking about so many different roles and industries. It's actually really hard to keep all these realities live in your mind and quite impressive he was able to do it. He needed to focus. Â
"Climate Tech" or "In house at brands" or "Sustainability" or "AI" or "Block Chain" seemed pretty focused to him, but there are a million companies and roles out there under that umbrella. Each is a separate universe he was living through in his mind.
Without clarity, people tend to spin their wheels constantly evaluating different future. Or the complete opposite, think that there's ONLY ONE ROLE I COULD POSSIBLY BE HAPPY AT which is missing a ton of opportunity out there.
The solution: a framework for guiding the job search
Alex needed a North Star framework to put some structure to his search. With that, a few things are unlocked: a clear game plan that gives a sense of progress, a way of prioritizing potential roles, and structure to your story to get interviews and crush them.
The playbook for generalists landing a new job:
Part 1: design a framework for your career
Define what you want in your next job:Â think through the non negotiables and what impact you want to make
Find potential roles that can fit the bill:Â read up on the industry, find people who have interesting roles, and go to slack channels and other 'feeding grounds' where this community might be. This is where you'll find the options that might work.
Test them: network and talk to people. See what their jobs are like. Learn the vocabulary.
Part 2: land the job
Prioritize a role or two:Â filter all the roles you looked at through what you want in your next job and how much your background enables an easy transition
Construct the story: select a few accomplishments that help you explain exactly why you're made for this role.
Execute your story: Put this on LinkedIn, your resume, and your story when interviewing.
[In more detail] part 1 - design the career
This framework makes it way easier to find the right job for you so you can then go on and nail getting it.
Outline your non negotiables for your next job. This can be small things like compensation, culture to larger ones like the type of work you really liked doing if you're a generalist. Dig into your previous experiences in what you liked or didn't like about a job, when you were effective or not, what caused you serious stress that you want to avoid.
Define your principles for the type of impact you want to have. This can be hard, but there are many ways to access this like thinking back who your role models are and why. If you want to be like someone, they're giving you a roadmap for how to do it. Tactically, this will serve as the basis for how to prioritize between different jobs and whether you can actually just work any job if you have impact outside of work.
Discovery of possible paths that create more alignment -- this could be new jobs, something out of work, or even just shifting your current role. But in Alex's case, he needed a new role, so he scoured the market for people to network with people who have interesting sounding jobs. You don't need to know if it's going to be good for you, but you do need to identify if you want to unturn the stone.
Structured prototyping to find what works best for you without massive commitment. This can just be networking with people to understand what their lives are like, what you like and don't. Talking to people is underrated! You'll find out what skills are valued on the job, and the vocabulary they use to talk about it, people's paths to getting there, and referrals in to companies.
Those steps get you from spinning wheels to putting a structure together about the types of companies and roles you might want. And it just helps with peace of mind and avoiding foam.
[In more detail] part 2 - land the job
In other words, create your story and tell it on your LinkedIn, resume, and in interviews:
Create your story: now that you know what you want (ideally 1-2 types of roles), you just need to create your story for why you're the person for that role and center key accomplishments in your life around that. These steps will vary depending on your specific shift, but your job is to get in the mind of the hiring manager, understand what they're looking for, what might make you a risky vs. rock solid hire, and incorporate that into your personal narrative that you tell across channels.
Update your online brand to match this story (aka LinkedIn) or anywhere you write
Update your resume to match this
Update your story in interviews to really hone in on the important pieces.
In Alex's case, we nuked his LinkedIn and resume and instead focused on the through lines that were important to emphasize across his experience. We stripped away a ton of experience that distracted from the key points we wanted to make, putting them in the parking lot for him to refer to if needed in interviews.
Now he's getting more interviews, doing better at them, and more importantly feeling more confident while making progress.
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