Public relations. Digital marketer. Social media. Graphic designer. SEO. Proofreader. Web developer. Content creator. Photographer. Videographer. Filmmaker. Hostess. Influencer. Digital editor. Copywriter. Speechwriter. Crisis communications. Sales. Business development. Strategist. Designer. Event planner. Sponsorship. Networker. Public speaker. Presenter. Media trainer. Front of House.
These are some of the many things I don’t claim to be an expert at. They are not my field of expertise. They are not my bread and butter, and have not been in my job descriptions over the years. I don’t have university credentials in them.
And yet I do them. Many, almost daily.
No doubt there are countless of us who started on a career path, twisting and turning along the path until we became specialists, honing our skills and concentrating on what we excelled at and loved. But over time and out of necessity, we rebounded and our jobs morphed into a bit of everything somehow related to that core expertise.
There would be plenty of ex-journos working in corporate communications or marketing or some mishmash of both also dabbling in that long list of career paths above. Stuff has to get done and all these things, and more, somehow land in the same deep kitchen sink.
It’s little wonder so many of us feel like imposters. Even after decades working, often excelling in areas you didn’t train for and don’t believe you’re ‘the expert’ at, you find yourself overreaching and doing anything tenuously connected to your actual job.
The same applies in other fields, I’m sure. Accounting these days is expected to stretch way beyond taxes and back-room number crunching to all-round business advisory. Technology services leaned from IT support to everything from running security cameras and hanging giant TVs from the ceiling to AI training and cybersecurity awareness. Dentists don’t just check your teeth these day, they have technologies to whiten them and can even administer Botox to treat dental issues.
These days when a service provider utters the words: ‘no worries’ or ‘too easy’. I shudder. It’s never ‘too easy’ and i inevitably worry.
I identify as a journalist who works in corporate communications, with an aptitude for PR and issue/crisis management. I dip into websites and socials, I can media train and proofread and take a usable photo. I can present and create a presentation, i can network and work across BD and partnerships if required. I’m an ad-hoc marketer.
But i identify as a journalist, working in corporate comms,
With all the time-saving, productivity enhancing AI tools at our fingertips (as we keep being told) you’d think I could ‘outsource’ the extraneous tasks. But no, it turns out I could use AI to do the things i actually love doing and am good at like writing for a myriad of audiences on all sorts of topics, or structuring communications strategies or plans.
I don’t want to drop the stuff i love so I can faff about in Canva trying to create social tiles, or in the backend of a website trying to load forms or upload images.
It feels like we’ re doing less of what we’re really good at and more of everything else. Is this the great dumbing down of expertise to create a generation of generalists?