How would you address a wide range of skills and abilities in your classroom?

What jobs require a broad range of skills rather than highly specialized skills?

• I'm graduating with a Masters degree (Information combined with Environmental Studies) and have decided, at least for the moment, not to continue on in a PhD. I have some specialized skills/knowledge/experience, acquired through a combination of formal education and previous employment, and know that I am qualified to work in at least a handful of jobs. That said, I don't think that these jobs would really utilize my strengths. Without getting into too much detail, I feel that my greatest strength might actually be the really broad set of skills that I have: social and technical, creative and analytical, research, writing, interpersonal, etc. I excel when I'm placed in unfamiliar situations or given problems for which there are no pre-defined methods for finding solutions. In my experience this isn't true of a lot of people. That's not to say that I'm a unique snowflake, just that I think there might be some value to this kind of skill set in certain situations and therefore a demand for people like me.  I'm wondering if anyone has experience with jobs that require broad, unusual, or non-specialized skill sets, jobs for which there are no formalized training or education pathways?

• Answer:

  Have you considered starting up your own business? Or working for a start-up? I feel start-ups throw great opportunities for you to use your broad range of skill-sets because of the freedom there. A regular job in a well established company can become monotonous using the same few aspects of your skill-sets day in and day out. A few people handling the entire business is a different ball-game altogether! Do give a thought. Cheers!