note, one question I have for my colleagues and readers from Gen Z:
- How dare you take over Simon Sinek’s attention from us, Millennials?
I mean, he had such a good run describing how people say we are entitled, unfocused or lazy at work, and suddenly, in what feels like the blink of an eye (or, more accurately, a 10+ year difference), you get all the credit for these traits. Not cool, Gen Z. Not cool.
Jokes aside with my silly call-out, as we can all learn valuable things from Sinek, that’s not what I want to talk about today.
Today’s post is targeted at young people from Gen Z, or more particularly, those who are faced with one big question I had when starting my career:
- How can I “push” through tough times and challenging work tasks or situations?
I know how many of you young people are struggling now, even to get a job, and we all know why. Not to point fingers, but, among others— AI.
It’s true you have it way harder than we Millennials, although we went through the Great Recession when we were starting our careers. And although, back then, in some European countries such as Croatia, we had a youth unemployment rate over 50% in the years that followed and were desperate for a job, we still stayed positive about the future. For us, it was clear the crisis would eventually end and things would improve, or we would move somewhere where job opportunities exist.
Unfortunately, this mindset is now being challenged, and I’m unsure how AI will further impact the job market or what guidance to offer you on this. One recommendation I have is to learn the “AI-thingies” really well, and learn how to build, not only consume, AI products or features. Because one thing is for certain: AI is here to stay, and chatting with your favourite LLM through a UI doesn’t count as an AI skill.
Now, to pivot back to the start and people complaining about your working traits or calling you (and us Millennials) out for the “quiet quitting” movement, I want to share with you my tips on how to navigate tough times at work.
I know the times have changed, but I will still “drop” here my stories on how I learned what’s important to navigate career challenges more effectively. Of course, unsolicited pieces of advice come as a bonus. 😉
Hopefully, they will be helpful for some of you reading this post.
#1 | It helps if you pursue something you are passionate about
I wish you’ll experience what I call:
“The curse of the Iris flower dataset.”
For those who don’t know, the Iris flower dataset is a “classic” and frequently used dataset in machine learning (ML). This dataset is one of the reasons I began my research into data mining and ML techniques, as it helped me understand the supervised learning process and its techniques.
The only tiny problem was that it’s a perfectly balanced dataset, making working with it almost too easy. The entire process of creating a prediction model using this dataset was, quite simply, straightforward. You apply different machine learning algorithms, slightly tune the model’s parameters, compare performance metrics, and voilà — you have a nicely packaged model ready to deploy.
However, the reality of working on a real-life data project turned out to be a “bit” different. Why? — Because, as a researcher, you usually don’t get a dataset served on a platter, but you have to “hunt it down” yourself, together with your topic. This meant I needed to be persistent and reach out to everyone I knew in my circle of family and friends to help me find a partner company with the necessary data, so I could move forward with my research.
Once I overcame this obstacle, I realised that real-life datasets are messy, imbalanced, incomplete, and so on. Moreover, when I wanted to create prediction models, I needed to learn SO.MUCH.MORE stats, often going to bed in tears as a result 👇🏼.
Now, by the time I realised all this, “churning” was no longer an option for me. This was because I had already developed a passion for the field, and I knew I wanted to keep working in it.
Later on, all the sleepless nights I had due to “the curse of the Iris flower dataset” helped me approach the next real-life data problems with a cooler head. It helped me take risks more easily and solve [most] challenges methodologically by leveraging the foundations I built during my research time.
Needless to say, I still face tough situations daily, but this only reminds me that every problem is an opportunity to grow, and I know how to “attack” it now.
After this narrative, I can give you the next pieces of advice for tough times: (1) find and stick to what you’re passionate about because loving what you do makes it easier, and (2) don’t exclude the people you can always count on — family and close friends.
#2 | It helps to get your values straight
This was the big one for me. It took several trips around the Sun to understand how important it is to get my values straight.
It’s easy to tie your value to having or not having a specific job or to working or not working for a specific company or industry, if the social or monetary incentives are there. But you see, these things can be easily taken from us, and if this happens, a feeling of despair usually kicks in.
Let me share a story from more than half a decade ago. I was employed for over a year in a role for a company I thought was “meant to be” for several reasons: (A) I was working in an international team and company on an extremely exciting Big Data project, (B) I was working on end-to-end use cases, i.e., building and re-building analytical and machine learning products, and (C) I was working with state-of-the-art technologies.
Then, one day, I discovered through the newspapers that my company was in the middle of a financial scandal. From this point, things evolved pretty quickly and in a matter of two weeks, I was one of the 100+ people who had their contract cancelled (via batch Zoom call) due to insolvency proceedings. And there we were, unemployed in the middle of the Covid summer season in a foreign country, completely alone and with family responsibilities.
Now, not to delve into the past, because it’s now water under the bridge, I wanted to say that after this unpleasant situation, I got my values (with expectations) straight.
The city I lived in back then didn’t offer many opportunities to work for international company subsidiaries developing large-scale data projects, but it offered other things. It offered numerous jobs in companies with pleasant working environments, along with ample learning opportunities and growth potential.
For me, it was this stressful situation that helped me clarify my values because it was the first time I looked for a job without currently having one. So, the sense of urgency that triggered this process at the time helped me in the future to get more job offers, as many data roles and projects were aligned with my values.
That said, the next pieces of advice I have for you after this story are: (3) get your values straight to have more options in life, and (4) understand that change can happen overnight, and try not to cling to things that can be easily taken from you.
#3 | It helps to remind yourself what your biggest advantage is
I have always said I love universities because you can feel the hope and dreams in the air. It’s because of the youth, and this contagious feeling of everything being possible because of one little thing: all the time you have in front of you.
And this is something young people often aren’t conscious of, or as a “famous” quote from the Mad Men series goes:
“Young people don’t know anything, especially that they’re young.”
…or, how I like to reframe it:
Youth = more time (to fail) = agility and adaptability = an advantage we rarely acknowledge.
We all knew we wouldn’t have the label “young” forever, and most of us took it for granted.
If there is one thing I hope you’ll acknowledge before everything else from this post, it is to start being conscious of how powerful you are because of your youth.
Not only is this your advantage at work, but this is your advantage in life — you have way more time than we do to experiment with or even fail at new careers. You can adapt to new environments faster, and you can deliver impact with less effort and way less overthinking.
So, when older generations (and Simon Sinek 😉) criticise your work habits, remember their perspective is often well-intentioned, shaped by their own expectations — and yes, sometimes by the fear that “fresh blood” brings more ambition. Nonetheless, it’s usually useful to listen to advice or accept guidance, because even if you’re young, it can help you avoid some pitfalls and grow faster.
This is what you should remember in tough times: (5) your biggest advantage is your youth, which allows you to ‘bounce back’ more easily.
Sticking the pieces together
In the end, I’ll sum up my unsolicited pieces of advice on navigating early career challenges more easily:
- (1) Pursue something you are passionate about; loving your field of work makes challenges easier to overcome.
- (2) Lean on your support system of family and close friends when you need help or perspective.
- (3) Get your values straight to build resilience and open up more career options.
- (4) Understand that change is constant; don’t cling to things that can be easily taken from you, like a specific job.
- (5) Remember that your youth is your greatest advantage. You have more time to experiment, learn, fail and adapt.
Thank You for Reading!
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This post was originally published on Medium in the AI Advances publication.
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- Recruiting vs. Interviewing for Data Roles in Diverse Markets | Collected insights after applying for 150+ positions and reviewing 500+ CVs in 4 different countries
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