Is it better to go vertical or horizontal?

paul78

If you look at the spectrum of jobs in IT versus medicine, I am not sure its a good analogy. While a neuro-surgeon's average compensation may be higher than the salary of their Chief Medical Officer (based on what I see on salary.com), you are highly unlikely to find a CCIE or whatever toplevel IT specialist that has a compensation level that is higher than their CIO.

z3r0cool

Are we not talking about generalization vs. specialization?

I fail to see how your example relates to the one I provided.

paul78

I should elaborate. This topic is a relatively common discussion point on this forum. The variation in N2IT thread is more about being broad versus narrow.

If you examine the skillset and talent required for a senior IT manager - VP and C-level IT manager, you are not likely to see some specialized skill. More commonly, you will find that those individuals have very generalize and horizontal knowledge.

Hope I made sense

z3r0cool

Oh, that's from a management vs. specialist viewpoint.

I took it to be more like sys admin (somewhat broad) vs. say, a security pro (somewhat specialized)

paul78

To be honest, I wasn't thinking of it as management vs specialist. I was encompassing all the different roles within IT, management, individual contributor, specialist, generalist, etc..

010101

z3r0cool wrote: »

I like to think of the medical industry when it comes to this topic. A neuro-surgeon makes more than your family physician for a very good reason.

The neuro-surgeon's product is going to go away in 5 years.
That's one difference.
Spend 100% of your time mastering Novell in the 90s and then what? Lotus notes top certified expert.... Sweet.

010101

One up side of specializing, I would assume it's much much easier and less stressful long term.
Once you get the top cert, you're basically done. Sit back, learn the new things every year and relax.
Going horizontal, there's never a 'top' to get to. There's never an end to it.

.

N2IT

Some really good points, it's obviously a matter of preference.

I still lean on specialization. I'd rather master 1 - 2 things and be a true "expert or advanced" than be middle of the road on a dozen of things.

paul78

010101 wrote: »

The neuro-surgeon's product is going to go away in 5 years.

Could you elaborate on your comment? I am fasinated to understand what you mean. Personally, as much as I would like upgrade my brain, I don't think I would be able to get rid of it in the next 5 years.

@n2it - I completely agree. It really does come down to someone's individual goals. Like many things in life, I don't really see a wrong/right or better/worst way to the idea of being narrow or broad, vertical or horizontal.

In some ways, from a career longevity perspective, I would even venture that there is value in being vertical with regard to the industry that an IT professional wishes to support. For example, when I interview someone, one important criteria is whether that person has worked in the industry that I am in - financial services. An IT professional who has worked in healthcare or hospitality is going to have a steep learning curve in my business.