A Digital Magazine from IT Department

Rohan Chandwani ( 2014)

Graduate 2014

Jack of All Trades

“Jack of All Trades, Master in None”, we have been hearing this saying since our childhood, which explains us how people are average at many things and do not master a particular which skill ultimately makes them a failure.

However, apt this may have sounded in the past, this needs a little different perspective now. Is being good at only one skill really the need of the hour?  We’ve been told to master our craft and be the best version of ourselves and that’s the only way we can be great at what we do. We have also been hearing this from all the successful people out there to follow our one true passion and do what we love. Trust me, this line sounds great while watching a motivational video on YouTube, but what about when the video ends and you look in the mirror, you realize you haven’t found your inner calling yet, you have no idea what you want to do in life.

I was at a similar cross road in life a couple of years back and faced this dilemma. I read about a guy who was working in an IT company in the Artificial Intelligence domain. I researched about him and noticed three key points in his profile summary. Studies psychology and human nature, loves to write and speaks at conference and knows how to code.

This kept me wondering how these three skills helped him while working in the IT industry and I reached out to him for clarification. He said working in an AI company he designs autonomous chat bots just like Siri and prepares them to give a human touch, and this is where he combined his skills of coding, human nature and psychology to create something incredible.

So this is what I practiced for quite a while and I was privileged enough to experience the rewards shortly. There was an on-site opportunity at my organization for a person who knew the Retail business, coding and was good at communication skills. My manager along with her team short listed a couple of names, but they soon realized that they have people who were great at coding, but did not possess the art of communication to interact with the client and vice versa.

So eventually I was lucky enough not because I am great at one thing, but I was average at the many required skills and this was the combination they were unable to find. Being average at many things helped me land at my first on-site experience in Dubai to represent my company, not just once but twice in the past year.

So the message to each and every once reading this would be if you still think you are average at one thing or you are not the person who knows coding and all the technologies, believe me, its fine. You don’t need to be good at only one thing, instead learn multiple things and collaborate, create a unique combination of skills of your own. This will ensure that you have a secure job and a great career in this 21st century where technologies are changing rapidly every day. You may even find your passion while learning new things and that would completely change your life for good.

Having the basics clear, possessing knowledge of many things and having faith in myself helped me become the person I am today. Hope this article brings a sense of confidence to all the readers who think they are only average and instills a belief that they too can make a difference and be the leaders of tomorrow.

– Rohan Chandwani (the 21st century Jack)

Software Engineer, Motivational Speaker, Writer, Inquisitive Philosopher