Specialized Career Path

Diamond Member Joined: Dec 28 2005 Posts: 4656

Has anyone made a decision to specialize their career?
How did it work out for you?
What are the pluses/minuses?
Did you consider yourself more marketable (due to specialized knowledge) or less (as if you leave your current job there are less firms that would be hiring for that specialized knowledge).

Any insight would be highly appreciated Smile

.

Platinum Member Joined: Feb 20 2009 Posts: 7635

Yes, although I am not in your field.

It made me more marketable in my area of specialty, and less so in other areas Smile

It was a good move for me personally, because I have a passion for my area of specialty, and this makes work more enjoyable for me. I am also better at my job because I feel more connected to and invested in it. And of course it affords me better job opportunities because of my specialized experience.

I would not specialize in a niche before gaining some broad experience that is more generalized in my field. I also would seriously investigate local and national opportunities in that speciality to ensure demand and job availability.

Diamond Member Joined: Dec 28 2005 Posts: 4656

Silver Member Joined: Jul 17 2007 Posts: 853

I chose to specialize because after completing my general training, the job prospects in my area of specialty really appealed to me, but there always is that worry of what if this job doesn't work out, have I narrowed my marketability for the future? In my case, I hope I will be okay since together with my specialty, I have these years of manangement and administrative experience that go along with my specialized position, which are always applicable to any higher level job within my broader field, if I am forced down the line to apply for something general. In addition, my specialty makes me more marketable in the education sector, so my worst-case scenario would be to go into academia. Would either of these "plans" help you in your decision?

Silver Member Joined: Dec 13 2007 Posts: 743

The healthcare accountants I know were basically put into that department as entry-level hires. One of the upsides to healthcare accounting is that it is not too hard to find a "quality of life" position in "private." The flipside of that though is that pay may be lower than accounting jobs in other industries.