For this discussion, let’s define a generalist as a professional with a broad scope of knowledge. Their knowledge of multiple topics often makes them a valuable advisor. Within the generalist category, there are really two different (but increasingly intersecting) types:

• The market research & insights generalist. Someone who can map a specific business need to an appropriate selection of qualitative and/or quantitative methods. Often using one or more of the following: customer data analysis, ethnography, focus groups/online focus groups, IDIs, online qualitative methods, surveys, social media analysis, 3rd party data analysis.
• The data-agnostic advisor. Or as McKinsey calls them, translators. Someone with a high-degree of domain knowledge about the business’s strategic initiatives and priorities, and with expertise in a wide range of data sources and analytics applications.

And let’s define a specialist as someone who has a primary area of focus. They’re highly skilled and have a demonstrably higher-than-typical level of knowledge. For example, a survey research specialist knows factually correct best practices related to sampling, scales and constructs, and mitigating known biases in self-reported data. This person knows more than most people who do surveys.

Which is better?

A cynical POV would be to cast the generalist as a jack of all trades but master of none. Or to say that the specialist risks being a one-trick pony.

But both paths have their pros and cons.

The generalist, especially the translator, may have more career advancement options than most specialists. And a highly-qualified specialist may be able to command a higher salary.

Just take a look at the highest-paying jobs in the US, and you’ll see a mix of both highly specialized and more generalist jobs. While this jobs data is in a broader context (it’s not specific to market research & insights), the mix shows that both roles have value.

So, if both roles have interesting potential career opportunities, how do you decide which path is best for you? Does one path clearly speak to you? Great! If not, let’s see if we can turn up the volume.

I have an assignment for you.  You can do this now, in real time.

First, answer these two questions:

• In an absolutely ideal world, a year from now, will you be working as a generalist or a specialist?
• Still no answer? Try this: how would your spouse answer this for you? How would your best friend answer it for you? How would you manager answer it for you? Which path would these people think you’d most enjoy? Sometimes looking from a different perspective can reveal the hidden truth.
• Why is that your (or their) choice? Can you articulate 2 specific reasons why that is the ideal?

Ready? OK, now please answer this next question. And be prepared…to be brutally honest with yourself.

• Today, given your current skills and experience level, would you describe yourself as a market research & insights generalist or a specialist?  (And if you say a mix of both, are you sure that your “super power” doesn’t lean one way?)

Great. Now you know where you’d like to be, and where you are now. When you compare the two, is there a big gap? If so, that’s ok—that just means you have some work to do to gain the correct skills and credibility. And if there’s no gap? Congrats! You are clearly a Research Rockstar who is crushing their career planning.

Now clearly, this exercise of envisioning your generalist or specialist path is just one step. But it’s a great start! Once you have your gap analysis done, you can really start to think precisely about how to attain your career advancement goals.

Our profession is going through a lot of rapid change these days, and some of these changes means job opportunities (and titles) are changing. Starting off 2019 with precise thinking about what type of market research & insights career path you want, will help you prepare for productive, forward-facing 2019!

For those looking to be a data translator, please check out episodes 38 and 67 as a starting place. Also, be sure to read the HBR article, linked above.

For those looking to be specialists—do you need to beef  up your specialty skills or credentials? There are many ways to define a specialist role these days, but here are some free resources for a few of them:

1. For current qualitative research topics, see episodes 26, 31 and 52
2. For CX-related topics, see episodes 14, 16, and 52
3. For data analysis (including blended data sources), see 38, 43 and 17
4. For market segmentation, see episodes 54 and 61
5. For survey specialists, please see episodes 69, 70, 55, 44