On Work: Passions, Skills and Opportunities

Building a framework to guide my career

I

It’s been two years since I started working after completing my undergrad. I like my job well enough, from an economic standpoint, but I am still have doubts and considering an exit to pursue something else. 

As of now, I can’t tell if these doubts come from my dissatisfaction with the work, mere escapism (fear or commitment issues), or an inscrutable exhortation of my soul. Hell, maybe it’s all of the above.

I’ve asked colleagues and contacts for some career advice. The answers I get can be summed up as:

• “What do you like to do?”

• “What did you study in school? I did this, I’m good at it and I’ve done a pretty good job”

• “Think long-term, don’t just go job-hopping.”

• “Maybe you deserve a change”

Well-intended replies, albeit generic. Not a lot of perspective there, which left me wanting.

II

In going about how to explore and weigh my options, I’ve come up with a framework to help guide my career decisions that comes down to three main factors.

• Skill

• Opportunities

• Passion

Skill

Skill is what you can do and how well you do it. It is the value you can bring to employers or customers. It is an essential part of the career capital. Developing an in-demand skill improves your career capital and there are plenty of skills that are must haves. Stating the obvious here, but having skill is important.

Skill is also something within your control, for the most part. You can pick to develop whatever skill you’d like. How good you can get with it is a factor of effort, hours you put in, some coaching and feedback but probably limited by IQ and relative age.

In addtion to skill, having sufficient experience in using that skill to solve problems and deliver results gives your skills more weight. Think of it of evidence of skill and competence. It is why you need a CV

Opportunities

Opportunities are factors external to you. Largely out of your control. It’s the market - demand and supply. You can supply your skills if there is a demand for it. Opportunities are the likelihood of getting a job, or how well you will be compensated and rewarded for your work. It is also how well your career can progress (dead-end jobs are real).

There are of course conditions where you can affect the likelihood of getting opportunities, such as being in the right place (a city has more white collar jobs) or knowing the right people (networks!).

Passion

Passion is intrinsic. It’s what interests you or what you find interesting. It’s what drives you to want to work. It can be innate, and it’s different for everyone. Passion can also be nurtured too. Like an acquired taste.

Passion, however, can wax and wane. There’s peaks and troughs. It takes wisdom to discern whether you’re just not at your best for the moment, or that the passion has faded.

III

Say you find yourself on a track where plenty of opportunity awaits and you’re passionate in that field, but lack skill? Not too big of a worry. You’ll struggle initially, but you can develop those skills further along the way. You wont be rewarded as much first, but you’d be motivated to stay in the game for longer. But of course, that depends if passion overpowers the struggle and costs coming from a lack of skill. And if opportunity does not slip past your grasp before your skill becomes very rewarding.

If you have skill in something you do and passion in that endeavor, great. But without the opportunity. It’s probably the worst place to be. Your efforts are unrewarded, chances of success are slim. You’d probably have to change jobs or else you’d just die starving. Like a struggling artist, you cannot make ends meet, and would have difficulty in keeping every other part of your life stable.

Imagine having skill and opportunity but without the passion. You’ll do really well, you’ll be paid back handsomely. But work can feel meaningless. You don’t take ownership for your work and have no pride in delivering tasks. Because your work is so divorced from your sense of being, you feel cold and hollow. Sure the remuneration could more than make up for it by directing your spending towards something you love like a hobby or towards consumerism to numb the pain. You may be making a living, perhaps make a killing at it. But you’re not really living.

Ideally, we’d like a job where we can bring our skill and create value, have the opportunity to do just that, and have the passion to keep doing it. But, reality is often disappointing. Having work where all three factors align may be rare. 

IV

You may find something where two out of the three factors overlaps, but each factor of the framework do not exist in a vacuum.

Having the right skill can open up opportunities, and you might just develop a passion for the work even if it isn't something you were hoping for in the first place.

With enough passion and the right skill you might just be able to carve out a place for yourself where you solve a specific problem, disrupt an existing industry or create a new one entirely. You make your own opportunity.