One way to define a professional role is to tag it as generalist and specialist. In general, specialists tend to drill down into a particular field, becoming an expert in a narrow area, whereas generalists develop broad proficiency across several related, but distinct, functional areas. The value of a specialist to an organization is his depth of knowledge, and the value of a generalist is his breadth of knowledge. As an example, within the human resources field there are HR generalists who serve a group of employees in all issues associated with being an employee, whereas a benefits specialist will have focused knowledge about benefit plans.

Every field of work has both generalist and specialist roles, and both roles are important. However, larger organizations have more specialist job opportunities, and smaller firms tend to need generalists who can serve across more than one specialty area. Do you aspire to work in a large organization, or do you feel more comfortable in a smaller firm? Your answer to this question may influence the number of job opportunities that are available to you, should you pursue a generalist or specialist role.

Also important is that the two roles draw on very different personal preferences and talents. Are you one who likes to research and learn about the details and nuances of a subject? You may have the personality to go the specialist route. Alternatively, are you more of a broad-gauge thinker who likes to understand the subject overall, but lacks the drive or patience to drill into the details? You may be better suited to be a generalist.

Whichever path you chose, everyone’s experience broadens and deepens over the course of a career: generalists develop specialized expertise in one or more areas within the field, and specialists are exposed to a broader view of their jobs and pick up experience in related areas.