DesignRJC » master of none http://designrjc.com basic.design.simple.methods. Thu, 29 Apr 2010 21:27:47 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0 Jack of all trades, master of none http://designrjc.com/jack-of-all-trades-master-of-none/ http://designrjc.com/jack-of-all-trades-master-of-none/#comments Tue, 24 Mar 2009 02:57:02 +0000 RJC@DesignRJC http://blog.designrjc.com/?p=414 The title sums up my resume and career outlook at the moment and that is my main concern.  In order to be successful, you need a certain skill you excel at as opposed to being mediocre at many skills.  I am an Account Manager managing a portfolio of over 20 properties in the Southern California region, namely, Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino and Ventura Counties.  However, I do much more than act as an Account Manager and when necessary, I put on a different hat and hop into a different role when needed.  The exception to this is access, my company does not provide enough access for personal growth to become adept at one single skill.

I have two sets of clients, one is the hotels under contract with my company and the other set is the clients that use the conference spaces at the hotel.  My role is to make sure they are both happy with the services provided.  The services provided are networking provisioning or simply put, high speed internet access.  Why am I a jack of all trades?  The company does not define our roles and uses us to fill in on all necessary tasks in terms of operations, business development, market research and project management.

It has been even more difficult to write my resume because it covers such a diverse skill set.  At the moment, the logical step is moving towards becoming a Project Manager because I do technical consultations to provide a sound yet complex network solution.  However, since I also delve into sales and negotiating contracts; I also have inside sales experience yet its not quite cold-calling or traditional B2B or B2C.  Then some market research and business development skills are required because I am also the expert in my region for my company and my clients.  My company relies on me to determine sales leads for business development.  My clients rely on my expertise to set pricing and services.

Truly I am in a jam because in the end, I am not the closer that brings in new clients.  And I am not in a position to set pricing nor service standards.

I wonder if anyone else there can feel what I am going through?  I’ve realized my potential at this position and have already discussed with my supervisor of a strong desire for a different role and capacity.  Alas, in this ecnomy what is one to do?  I even shared my business plan which can be highly profitable yet I haven’t received greenlight to be empowered to move forward.  Instead, I have to deal with the day to day minute tasks of pleasing both sets of clients and meeting revenue objectives of my company.  The sad part is I am confident and aggressive enough to know my business plan will work if it is carried out and enforced.

I may resign and start anew in a new firm in a different industry.  However, the thought of starting all over and taking a significant pay cut in this economy state is not very reassuring.

Are you in a mid-career crisis?  How have you dealt with it?  I’ve heard stories of being laid off has been a blessing in disguise; I don’t think it’ll come for me.

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