Frontend dev, ~3 years in. Everyone says "specialize" but I genuinely like touching everything. Is that a trap?
I like jumping across the stack — some UI, a bit of API work, poking at the DB, some infra when it catches fire. It's the part of the job that keeps me interested.
But every career post I read says pick a lane and go deep or you'll plateau as a "jack of all trades, master of none." I don't feel shallow, I just feel broad, and I honestly like it that way.
For people further into their careers: did staying a generalist ever actually cap your growth or your pay? Or is "specialize" mostly advice for big companies with narrow, boxed-in roles?
3 comments
- 0
AnonymousAnon I don't think liking everything is a trap this early — being the person who can touch anything is genuinely valuable on small teams. Specializing tends to happen on its own once you find the thing you can't stop thinking about. I wouldn't force it.
- 0
AnonymousAnon Three years in and liking everything isn't a trap, it's called being useful on a small team. The 'specialize' advice mostly makes sense at big companies with narrow lanes. That said, I'd pick one thing to be clearly good at so you've got an answer to 'what are you known for' — you can still touch everything else around it.
- 0
AnonymousAnon Stayed broad on purpose and it hasn't capped me — but the framing that helped: be "T-shaped," not flat. Broad across the stack, with one area you can go genuinely deep on when it matters. Startups pay real money for generalists who can own a feature end to end. "Specialize or plateau" fits huge orgs with narrow boxed-in roles; it fits smaller teams much less. Depends a lot on where you actually want to work.