Is a Jane of All Trades a bad thing?

 They say being a Jane of all Trades is a bad thing, but I have to disagree. This phrase is typically used to describe someone competent in a wide range of skills but not an expert in any one. When used positively, it describes a versatile and adaptable person. When used negatively, it describes a person who isn’t much good at anything.

 

If I weren’t a Jane of all Trades, I never would have discovered vital evidence in a terrorism case in the FBI. The problem was that the forensic software didn’t recognize hundreds of files and didn’t have file extensions. What could they be? Checking for encryption and steganography and finding none, I had to continue investigating. Due to the size, I wondered if they could be pictures or videos in a new format. Thanks to my photo and video editing hobby, I began tinkering, got the files to open, and discovered many videos containing key evidence. If I didn’t know the different ways to manipulate photos and videos, I might never have viewed the contents of those files.

 

The moral of the story, being a Jane of all Trades is an asset to a digital forensics examiner.

• We are lifelong learners and are always looking to learn, improve, and keep up with the latest trends, and let’s face it, this is a must in technology.
• We are self-motivated, and the drive to find the facts and the truth is often internally motivated.
• We are problem-solvers. We’ve seen enough stuff we can probably figure it out, and if we can’t, we know when to call in an additional expert for help.

Who do you know that’s a Jack or Jane of all trades? Drop a comment below.

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