Do You Have To Love What You Do?

No.

But to be the best at what you do?

Yes.

Let me explain.

Note: Please accept my personal anecdotes as supporting evidence.

I Quit My Job as A Data Analyst

After spending $10 000 on education, dedicating 18 months of my free-time to learning and one year as a Data Analyst, I resigned.

Why?

Because I didn't love it enough.

More specifically, I didn't love it enough to get better.

I wasn't interested in taking courses outside of work. Projects provided me no satisfaction and the idea of learning a new coding language quite frankly scared me.

Meanwhile, colleagues and comrades across the industry couldn't wait learn about Power BI's latest update or see what Python bugs had been fixed in the latest 3.12 patch.

In the world of data & technology, if you don't love learning you're going to have a hard time keeping up with changes. The industry is like being on a treadmill where there are new developments every week!

Category of One

Could I have continued as a Data Analyst?

Yes.

Would I have been mediocre at what I was doing?

Yes.

How did I come to that conclusion?

I'm competing against people that love data & analytics, who would spend their evenings, nights and weekends smashing out a new exciting project. In a talent pool where time invested into learning new languages or statistical techniques is heavily rewarded, let's say I didn't want to play.

What is the solution?

Create your own category.

Or change.

And for me that category was 'former data analyst now data & analytics recruitment agency owner'. Something unique. Hard to replicate. And one that leverages my background, skills and knowledge.

Now I see myself as a career business builder, not actually a career recruiter!

What does that mean for you?

The more I wander down the entrepreneurial pathway the more I realise it's the people that love what they do that become truly exceptional.

It's the Business Intelligence Specialist that spends a weekend developing a Tableau dashboard for a specific job he applied for because well 'I've never touched Tableau before' and then he gets the role with a salary increase because the company was so impressed with him.

Creating Your Category of One

1. Lean Into Your Uniqueness

As a Recruiter now, I'm very conscious that every single person is different. There's a Industrial Chemist who's just finished their Data Science Masters. Or there is a Teacher who picked up Data Analytics online.

Each person has a singular disposition that can't be replicated. This is your secret weapon! Bet on this because other people can't replicate it and its value is unique to you.

2. Do Lots & Watch Yourself

Take as many opportunities as possible to learn and try new things. The easiest and most cost-effective way to do this is to be paid for it (a job, haha!) or to buy a subscription to an online MOOC like DataCamp or Coursera and do anything that piques your interest.

When you're coding in R or using Postgres for the first time, reflect on how you felt and whether the challenge you were completing was fulfilling.

3. Don't Mix Up the Outcome with the Process

I love the idea of being many things; fluent in Indonesian, an expert calligrapher, a master at GoogleAds...but quite frankly, I don't like the work that needs to be put into all of these nor do I have the patience for it.

I'm in love with the outcome, but since the process bores me to tears, it may not be my calling! This is often associated with high paying jobs where the process is tortuous but the outcome, money, is favourable.

4. Pivot or Persist?

The challenge is deciding what difficulties and hardships are worth pursuing versus when is it time to switch to something new because it simply "ain't working for you".

Jordan Peterson talks about a frame of reference and that if you're going to give up or pivot, make sure what you pivot to is harder than what you were doing before.

I went from Data Analyst to Business.

Not my usual style of article writing but I wanted to bring together my thoughts on "loving what you do" as it's been going through my head!

Comments, criticism and support all welcomed.

Doug

DR Analytics Recruitment

I'm Douglas - former data analyst and Founder of DR Analytics Recruitment. We grow people and businesses with an exclusive focus on the recruitment of data, analytics and AI professionals. Companies use us to build their data teams because of our industry expertise, specialisation and technical testing.

Get in touch to learn more!

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