Generalists Get Better Job Offers Than Specialists

The analysis revealed that students who had specialized in investment banking throughout were less likely to receive multiple job offers than students who had broader backgrounds and experiences. It’s unclear that there’s a penalty for specialization once you’re inside an organization. Even within consulting firms, which are generalist in nature, there’s a need to specialize in, say, health care. It will be interesting to see how this plays out within firms. My prediction is that generalists continue to do better, because they are more unusual, have diverse skills, are redeployable, and are more likely to be tapped as leaders.