Phrases like "cast your net wide" and "don’t rule anything out" are given out liberally as advice for those who’ve had a hard time finding employment. But, as the Personal Branding Blog finds, trying to be everything at once may actually be detrimental to your success in the long term.
Here’s the advice that they offer: First of all, if you don’t have a focus area for your sales or services, that makes it all the more difficult to pinpoint sources for jobs and clients. "It’s a lot easier to start with a small, focused list of potential clients (and expand it later), than to not know where to start."
Second of all, by spreading yourself too thin and/or by refusing to narrow your focus, your personal brand begins to feel watered down. If you’re constantly proving your adequacy at several skills, you’re by definition not displaying your rockstar status at one particular thing. It’s ok to not know how to do something, as long as you excel at what you do know. Don’t forget, the second part to the phrase "jack of all trades" is actually "master of none."
For example, we at CATS Software do HR software, with no intention of expanding to educational or recreational projects. We stick with what we’re good at.
Third of all, throwing yourself at every potential job saying "I can do that!" may make you sound desperate. If you’re so good at all that you do, why are you so hungry for work? Personally, this strikes me as unfair, since the economy leaves fewer and fewer people the option of playing it cool with potential employers. But I can see where they’re coming from.
In the end, I suppose it’s just like social settings. If you act desirable, people will think you are desirable.
