This may be a tired debate and there may be no real answer. However, in case there is a real answer, are there strong ideas on whether its beneficial to be a generalist professionally? I find myself desperately needing to specialize, based on the job opportunities out there. That in it of itself becomes tricky as there are so many different directions I could go. As it stands now I may be more of a generalist (UI Designer/Front-Endish Developer) and I’m not sure if this is a role on equal footing with specialists or if I’m making a mistake.
It’s hard to be a jack of all trades in web design, though having some facility in the range of skills is very useful. I have the same question as you, but I’m feeling more and more that it would be good to be really strong in at least one skill area. Most jobs that I’ve looked at seem to focus on a particular skill but always favor those with a range of other skills as well—even if they constitute just general familiarity and not expertise.
If you work for a web development company, then clearly you will need to be highly skilled in the area of web development your job description covers. Additional skills in other areas can only help you be more versatile in the eyes of your management.
If you work for yourself (self employed) then the more widely skilled you are, the easier life will be. Me, I am self employed and I am skilled in (x)html, css, javacsript, php, sql and general database administration, photography. But my strong suits are (x)html,css,javascript, php and my weakest suit is sql and graphic design. If you have a reasonably good grasp of the fields you need to be able to build the type of websites you want to build then life is not too difficult. Otherwise you will constantly be looking for contractors or help in forums like this to fill the gaps in your skills to complete a project. That can be a real pita and should be avoided as much as possible by widening your skills as much as possible.
I agree with both, Ralph and Max. There’s pretty much no way around to being a Jack/Jill of all trades. It’t inherent to the profession. At the same time, you’ll quickly find out which subjects suit you best, so it’d make sense to specialize in those areas where you feel you can excel and have a decent grasp of fields you’re not too keen on.
To be employable you’ll almost always need to have intermediate skills in many fields and advanced skills in some.
You could, of course, be your own employer, as Max said. Or you could establish a firm and delegate task xy to your team.