T-shaped career: what it is, how it works and advantages

The model of T-shaped career works against what we usually see as ideal when it comes to professional development.

What is a T-shaped career?

You've probably heard that the natural course of a career is to be a generalist and then become a specialist.

This is seen in medicine, for example, where after graduating the professional works in general care, and as he or she progresses in specializations he or she begins to treat increasingly specific cases.

These examples lead us to believe that the more specialized a professional is, the rarer he or she is. This view is not wrong, but to what extent is it advantageous for a team to have a professional so focused on his or her own role?

The T-shaped Career is a proposal that works against this traditional model, since here the professional invests in several specializations, until reaching the generalist level, where he has knowledge of various functions in the same niche..

This decentralized knowledge is what makes the T professional so valuable to the market, since this is the ideal talent for a management position, for example.

In general, these professionals are able to manage projects comprehensively, as they understand each of the processes and functions necessary to achieve the desired result.

So, with a professional like this in a leadership position, you will hardly have that feeling of: “my boss has no idea what I’m talking about”. You can be sure that he does know, after all, he has specialized in this.

Steps of a T-shaped career

By now you understand what a T-shaped career, and knows that it works in an order contrary to the traditional model.

However, it is not enough to specialize in different niches in a career, as this will only give you a well-filled resume.

A T-shaped Career must be well planned, so that each specialization and knowledge acquired allows the professional to have a complete vision, and not several fragments of vision.

Therefore, we will now see the 3 steps to building this type of career.

1. Obtaining knowledge

The first step in a T-shaped Career is precisely to gain knowledge, after all, no one starts at the top, and before investing in specializations you will have to experience the basic levels of the career.

Therefore, start slowly, invest in internship and assistant positions and evolve as you acquire basic knowledge.

After learning all the basics, you will be naturally encouraged to look for specializations that bring you new challenges.

2. Deepening of knowledge

If you have already completed all the basic steps of your career and now you notice that you need new challenges that allow you to expand, it is a sign that you have reached the second step of your career. T-shaped career.

In this second stage, your career continues to function vertically, so that your main aim is to obtain specializations to evolve both in knowledge and at a professional level.

The idea of this second stage is precisely to make your profile increasingly rare, that is, to obtain the necessary knowledge to become a reference in your niche.

3. Expansion of knowledge

The third step of the T-shaped Career comes at that moment when the professional realizes that he has already reached the maximum level of specialization in his career, and now needs to find ways to “dissipate” this knowledge.

So, a Senior Marketing Analyst becomes a university professor, or takes on a management position in a company, but now instead of performing functions, he coordinates complete processes.

Understand that, although these new roles are generalist, they require the professional to have complete and advanced knowledge in the area of activity in all aspects.

++Is there a right age to change careers? Learn all about transition (oadministrador.com).

What are the advantages of a T-shaped Career?

Now that we have understood how a T-shaped career it works, we just have to talk about the advantages of this model.

This is because this model is very different from the conventional one, so it is important to know the benefits before joining. See below 3 advantages of this type of career.

Constant growth and predictability

If you hate the idea of seeing your career stagnant and are afraid of spending years in the same position in the hope of being seen by your boss, with the T-Career this problem does not exist.

This is because this type of career encourages professional development and improvement, so growth is inevitable.

Furthermore, the model makes it clear that growth occurs through the completion of specialization stages, so this provides predictability to the professional.

Financial gains

If having a highly specialized professional in their role is expensive for a company, imagine the cost of having talent with specializations in different niches?

A T professional is usually very well paid, as they offer an invaluable value to the company: complete management and experience.

Therefore, when betting on the T-Career, the chances of obtaining significant financial gains are very good.

New paths, even after reaching the top

The idea of reaching the highest level of a career is usually interesting, but for those who have already reached it, it is common to have that question: what now?

With a T-shaped Career, just look around and you will see several possibilities. Your career is not limited to a high-ranking position.

Tired of being a boss in a multinational company? Go teach at a university and encourage and prepare young people for their professional dreams!

There are always paths to follow in this type of career, so if you want to have options and always be active, this is a great path to follow!

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Roberta July 24, 2024