What are the advantages and disadvantages of being a specialist?Advantages:

• Differentiate yourself
• By specializing in one area such as SEO or UX, you can market yourself as an expert in that particular area
• Clients/companies will pay high dollars for specialized skills.

Disadvantages:

• Must constantly innovate to stay ahead.
• Must work to stay current and relevant. Because web technology is continually evolving, highly valued areas of expertise today may evolve into something else or not even exist 5 years from now.

What are the advantages and disadvantages of being a generalist?

Advantages:

• If you’re a freelancer or on a small design team, being a jack-of-all-trades means that you can pitch in where needed on a team or help your clients with everything web related.

Disadvantages:

• The web is very complex. Knowing everything about web design is unrealistic.
• Clients are willing to pay more for highly specialized skills than someone with a broad skill set.
• Often can spend hours on something that would take a specialist a few minutes.

Which of these directions seems like the best fit for your future? Why?

I would like to find a happy medium between the two. I would like to specialize in the field of UX design. However my knowledge and experience in marketing, web design and development makes me very marketable in a highly competitive field.