I think that ultimately it is a personal decision, and depends primarily on what sort of work you'd like to do.
If you were, hypothetically, a database engineer, and wanted to be the very best database engineer, then you would probably focus on your strengths. By shoring up what you already know, you can become the Michael Jordan of database engineers and command a premium.
The strengths are fairly obvious, in that you are building from a knowledge set you already have, and it might be easier to acquire more of that knowledge in a shorter time.
The cons are that you are at the vulnerability of the strength of the platform. If you were, for example, the best COBOL programmer in the world, the market opportunities are probably pretty slim at the moment (just guessing), but due to that rarity, you might be able to command more until the platform becomes completely extinct.
If you'd prefer to mitigate those cons, or if you prefer being the jack of all trades, then you may be inclined to work on your weaknesses, and start shoring up areas of knowledge somewhat tangential to your core. If you are currently a database engineer, this might mean learning a scripting language to automate tasks, or picking up on enterprise storage technologies to better understand the underlying platforms, etc.
Strengths to this are that you become more well-rounded, but at the expense of being the more thorough specialist.
Jobs may be easier to come by, but may not pay as well due to lack of specialty. In small companies, or more flexible roles, you may have the opportunity to shine more as you can touch on areas outside of your pigeonhole.
Anyway, just my thoughts, and all speak more to a core discipline than broadening skills into marketing, sales, etc., but probably apply to varying degrees.
Comments
I think that ultimately it is a personal decision, and depends primarily on what sort of work you'd like to do.
If you were, hypothetically, a database engineer, and wanted to be the very best database engineer, then you would probably focus on your strengths. By shoring up what you already know, you can become the Michael Jordan of database engineers and command a premium.
The strengths are fairly obvious, in that you are building from a knowledge set you already have, and it might be easier to acquire more of that knowledge in a shorter time.
The cons are that you are at the vulnerability of the strength of the platform. If you were, for example, the best COBOL programmer in the world, the market opportunities are probably pretty slim at the moment (just guessing), but due to that rarity, you might be able to command more until the platform becomes completely extinct.
If you'd prefer to mitigate those cons, or if you prefer being the jack of all trades, then you may be inclined to work on your weaknesses, and start shoring up areas of knowledge somewhat tangential to your core. If you are currently a database engineer, this might mean learning a scripting language to automate tasks, or picking up on enterprise storage technologies to better understand the underlying platforms, etc.
Strengths to this are that you become more well-rounded, but at the expense of being the more thorough specialist.
Jobs may be easier to come by, but may not pay as well due to lack of specialty. In small companies, or more flexible roles, you may have the opportunity to shine more as you can touch on areas outside of your pigeonhole.
Anyway, just my thoughts, and all speak more to a core discipline than broadening skills into marketing, sales, etc., but probably apply to varying degrees.