Put in a bit of a different view point here. I was the generalist a while ago too. Worked at a consulting firm that did custom builds with small teams, so not only did everything technology wise but also interacting with clients. So did part of developer, account management, sales, dev ops etc roles. Also did everything from backend to mobile in different frameworks and environments.
I thought the same, that I was a generalist and I did also enjoy the variety. But a couple of things:
1) while I thought I was proficient in everything I actually wasn’t. When I went to a big company where I focused on a specific area is when I discovered how little I knew about the topic and how shallow my knowledge was.
2) I discovered that I enjoyed diving into a specific area and being a specialist there was also fun. Gave me a different kind of rush and ego boost, knowing I can solve deeper technical problems in a specific area.
3) you can’t be both broad and deep in everything. Best is probably aim for a T shaped skill set.
I guess short version is, maybe give specializing a go. You might discover that it’s both enjoyable and sets you up well professionally.
I second this. I was a sysadmin turned devops engineer at a small software company (100/150 employees) for 8 years. Basically the longest employed employee at that point. Knew everything about our systems, infra, software, customers etc. Thought I had a pretty good grasp on what I did.
Got bored after 8 years and now work for a big company as a DBA, and man, I knew so little in hindsight. Having sysadmin knowledge does make working with other teams (like infra) much easier as I feel they respect me more than another colleague but I definitely got put in my place (and love it here!).
Also specializing on databases satisfies me a lot because I feel I'm really grasping the entire tech for real this time and not just the surface.
I thought the same, that I was a generalist and I did also enjoy the variety. But a couple of things:
1) while I thought I was proficient in everything I actually wasn’t. When I went to a big company where I focused on a specific area is when I discovered how little I knew about the topic and how shallow my knowledge was.
2) I discovered that I enjoyed diving into a specific area and being a specialist there was also fun. Gave me a different kind of rush and ego boost, knowing I can solve deeper technical problems in a specific area.
3) you can’t be both broad and deep in everything. Best is probably aim for a T shaped skill set.
I guess short version is, maybe give specializing a go. You might discover that it’s both enjoyable and sets you up well professionally.