Dear Bob ... I've read much of your career advice over the past few years. It's led me to the conclusion that as a generalist I am extinct, or at best endangered. You've said over and over again that the ability to sell yourself is critical to career success. But selling has to be the hardest profession of all and selling yourself instead of a tangible product is tougher still. It might be easier if I Dear Bob …I’ve read much of your career advice over the past few years. It’s led me to the conclusion that as a generalist I am extinct, or at best endangered. You’ve said over and over again that the ability to sell yourself is critical to career success. But selling has to be the hardest profession of all and selling yourself instead of a tangible product is tougher still.It might be easier if I was a specialist with a complete run of Cisco or MS certs but I like being the “goto” guy that knows about the weird problems. Most of the time, engineers and management bring me the special projects and unusual situations since I have a good track record of finding a solution. Most of the time the other engineers could have found the answer but they didn’t know where to look or where to start. What I bring to the table that’s unusual is a very shallow learning curve and a broad experience base. It is very hard to sell that to a specialist HR department. I read, “Ask The Headhunter”, which is a a very good newsletter and it offers the same advice.No offense is intended but I consider that advice worthless. Unfortunately, it is not because that I believe that you are wrong but that it is not possible to utilize. Engineers and technical people as a general rule don’t sell very well. Salespersons rarely can handle technical details and configurations. There are people that operate in both worlds and they are rare and extremely valuable.It is foolish to ask me to try to sell myself when those skills are as much instinctive as learned. Many skills can be learned and many cannot and selling is either you have it or you don’t. It an be honed by better technique and practice but the underlying ability has to be present and the mindset that develops technically doesn’t led to that path. – Endangered speciesDear Endangered …I’ve heard any number of technical professionals explain that they can’t sell because it isn’t in their nature. Some of them even haul out their Myers-Briggs profiles to reinforce the contention. I don’t buy it. Myers-Briggs or not, nearly anyone can sell. Some can sell more effectively than others, but that’s a different question: Some people have a knack for golf, too, but it’s a rare individual who couldn’t learn to shoot in the 90s. All it takes is a few lessons and a lot of practice. And when you’re selling yourself, shooting in the 90s is all you have to do.The mythology among engineers is that you have to deceive prospects into buying. And there are sales professionals who do just that, or try to. But really – when the product is you, if you think you have to trick someone into hiring you, what does that say about your own assessment of your capabilities.The kind of selling you have to do isn’t all that hard. You have to find logical buyers of what you have to sell, get yourself in front of them, and explain to them how you’ll solve their problems better than the next person who walks through the door. And not all of their problems, either – just the ones your really can solve better than anyone else. The real problem I’ve seen with most engineers who claim to be incapable of selling isn’t that they can’t but that they’re unwilling to. The official process takes less work, which is what makes it attractive. Send in a resume, wait for the telephone to ring. If it does, they walk you through the process.No wonder most job-hunters feel victimized. They are. Mostly, by themselves, for failing to take control of the process, and their own futures.– Bob ——– Technology Industry