specialist or generalist:

specialist is better rather than generalist because in critical problem specialist work not generalist.

it is important  to having  knowledge of every think but it most important  to having specialty in one subject....    

It is better to be a generalist because that way you can fit into any role anywhere but as a specialist you get bogged down after sometime. The initial euphoria is good for a specialist but over a point of time that role itself would bog and tie you down as it would not leave any room for maneouver.

It depends upon the needs and requirements. Both specialists and generalists are important to suit the specific subject matters.

Thanks for the referral Mr. Nikhil

Hai Nikil,
Now generalist is needed in all concern ,why because generalist is the people who cross various fields and know all knowledge.This type people know how to do related to the situation. I too like that, start in a job then doing business for 3 times,then come to export exec job then in lastly in construction ,mean time read IT software etc .so in my opinion now most need and recruitment in higher post should be generalist.

I mostly echo the views of experts in the earlier comments.

A generalized specialist is the way to go, this comes mostly in the form of specific opportunities at the onset of ones career, where one must go in-depth and with time grow beyond it and seek knowledge of different domains within the function in a similar fashion, thereby becoming an expert of sorts for the entire domain.

With maturity and experience you make yourself quintessential to the system with your in-depth knowledge of varied domains which can be channelized by the Organization to a specific domain or to lead and guide the entire function.

In the formative years of career it is better to be a specialist and gain complete insight into the chosen career path, for example of you have picked up your career to be a software architect, it is not a small milestone to achieve and there are too many experts and variations to be a well established and successful SA. But later on in the career you would have to be capable to train your juniors and team members on the constraints and best practices so you would anyways have to be generalist, we call this role, Managerial. But two career paths are a big no no in my point of view, from the industry perspective.

1. To have an early career as a generalist where you do not get chance to know the complete details.

2. To be a specialist late in the career where by age and experience one is capable to do multitasking but is not ready to don increased responsibility and wants to remain a specialist.

Generalist is good in current situation.

As Nikhil said hot is no more hot it has really become very tough for job seekers and employees working with various companies to satisfy their employeers. It is time factor, if time demands you to be specific you need to be and if time needs you to be generalist you have to prove. It is a tough war going in everyone's mind as jobs are sucking. So, it is not company's or HR but technologies growth that is demanding and you need to adapt and then adept to these changes. Based on need HR managers looks for specialist or generalist or generalized specialist or specialized generalist, this way it goes. No more you can say technology of the decade but technology of the day, everything is shrinking and this has added advantage that you need to increase your learning and grasping pace.