Being a software engineer in 2022 is demanding. Hence one need to be a Different type of Engineer to cope up with the changing trends of engineering.
What is T-Shaped Engineer ?
The T-Shaped engineer is a mix between a specialist and generalist. He/she is capable of solving difficult problems in his area of expertise but also manages to understand new problems and get up to speed quickly with new technology, tools, or practice, thanks to the large number of concepts and patterns he/she is familiar with.
Meaning of Horizontal Bar
The horizontal bar represents your breadth of knowledge of all topics related to software engineering.
It is the technical background that you use to learn new concepts and be able to broadly understand the problem your co-worker from another team is facing even though you have no real practical experience with it.
Meaning of Vertical Bar
The Vertical bar represents your depth of knowledge in your field of expertise.
It might be a tech stack like Java backend, a business domain like banking or health, or a technical domain such as web performance or complex distributed system.
I-Shaped Engineer
I-shaped people characterized by a single specialty or area of expertise. They demonstrate limited general knowledge of different disciplines and prefer to work in one single job type. That is why they are depicted with the letter "I" which represents their deep knowledge and experience in a single specialty or domain.
Pi-Shaped Engineer
Pi-shaped people are multifaceted with skills that resemble the Greek letter pi (π), a term coined by Ashley Friedelin, CEO and co-founder of E-consultancy. Pi-shaped people have evolved from the T-shape into one denoted by broad mastery of general knowledge but also deep functional or domain expertise in two or more knowledge areas. People with multiple areas of expertise provide even greater flexibility to the team, particularly to the organizations that have limited people resources.
Just like a T-Shaped here too horizontal means of breadth knowledge and both of the two vertical bars represent your in-depth knowledge.
Comb/M-Shaped Engineer
M-shaped people have evolved from being Pi-shaped into those who possess multiple specialties (the vertical part of the M). From a resource management perspective, a person with one or more specialties are more adaptable than someone with a single specialty (I-shaped person) or even Pi-shaped. As such, each additional specialty changes the letter “M” to a comb. That is, where a person possesses more than three specialties to resemble a comb shape.
In simple words you can say that M or Comb Shaped engineer are mixture of I Shaped and Pi Shaped Engineers.
E-Shaped Engineer
E-shaped is a new paradigm shift, where people actively demonstrate a combination of four characteristics - Experience, Expertise, Exploration and Execution to form the letter E. E-shaped people who demonstrate the breadth and depth of knowledge have expanded their knowledge to include tangible (execution i.e. proven ability to deliver) and intangible (exploration i.e. proven ability towards continuous improvement) specialties. This implies the person has both vision and granular detail to make a discernible difference to the organization reminiscent of being a best practice practitioner in whatever domain or competency.
Conclusion
So that's all about the different types of skill set and type of engineer. Start from I shaped and by time you'll change your skill set based on your expertise, your choice and interest. It's not mandatory but things gives you the edge in comparison to others. In the future, career changes will not be rare; they will be part of everyone’s role, even in the same organization and team.
Hope you'll enjoyed this blog. Comment down what type of developer you are also you can connect with me in Twitter till then Thank you !
Have a nice day :)