Effective and Personal Management Solutions
Managing Director Insights
Jack of All Trades?

1/17/2025
We recently had a candidate that was niched in a particular space (Niche A), remove himself from consideration with another employer who was also in (Niche A).
He wanted to spread his wings and try something different.
He wanted to move from design engineering (in Niche A), into manufacturing (in Niche K).
OK .. this is plausible. There is some connective tissue here.
But Niche A and Niche K are so different.
All of the tribal industry knowledge is lost. All of the business relationships are lost.
This new niche is interesting for him, a chance for him to take on something new and different.
How long do you see yourself in manufacturing? ‘I don’t know, maybe a year or two’.
Some thoughts.
Expertise is what typically pays the most in this world (compensation, advancement, stability), more value to employers, when someone is an expert in a particular area, as opposed to a broad range of experiences.
It can be interesting to try different things .. i.e. to move from Niche A to Niche K and from engineering into manufacturing … but this won’t necessarily offer the most personal career return.
There is just a minor amount of connective tissue here.
The answer to career stability and advancement lies in connective tissue!
The stronger the better.
Consider working in different functions in Niche A as an example of taking on new challenges. Some of these could include sales, project engineering, program management, manufacturing, etc. – the industry knowledge remains, and there is connective tissue to trying out different functions.
This is not to be confused with a career interest if it’s a long-term play. If you want to steer your career into manufacturing long-term, ok then maybe this makes sense to give it a go after a thorough evaluation of the pluses and minuses.
The career choice story is yours to write!
Choose wisely my friend.
27-35 – clouds, sunshine, clouds.
Make it a great day!
hashtag#SCNrecruiting hashtag#recruiting
SCN – Search Consulting Network
Have you ever made a career decision to move to a different field because it was interesting? Would love to hear about it below.
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Author Info
Jim Guerrera
Jim Guerrera, Managing Director, founded SCN in 2000. Jim is primarily responsible for the development of the leaders at SCN, strategic planning, the hiring and development of company associates, culture leadership, core value leadership, sales le...
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