45 Explore & Engage: Job Crafting

What if the job you have—or the one you want—doesn’t utilize the skills you are passionate about? This happens a lot. Not every job will be a perfect fit or include everything we wish we could work on. But, you have the power to shape your role in more ways than you may think. You can do some “job crafting” to tweak your role toward something more fulfilling and aligned with your career goals. Job crafting is about actively reshaping your work so it better fits your passions, skills, and goals. Even when a job doesn’t immediately include the opportunities you want, there are ways to incorporate them or position yourself for future opportunities.

Action – Identify Job Crafting Opportunities

1. Find the shoulds: Sometimes, the work you want to do should be part of the role—the organization just hasn’t realized it yet. This is your opportunity to be a leader. For example, if you discovered job postings in the last activity that you were interested in but they didn’t include your passion area, that doesn’t mean it’s off the table. Tasks listed in a job posting or given to you in a role only indicate the needs others are aware of. This is your opportunity to be a thought leader who identifies what is needed that others haven’t asked for yet. To do this, start by keeping up-to-date with trends and best practices. Use your data consumer and networking skills to identify exciting applications others are pursuing. Then, apply your translator skills to assess how these new approaches could solve challenges within your organization. Finally, apply your communication and business acumen skills to show others how this new approach will bring value. When you do, you will not only be meeting the requirements of your role, you will be bringing unique value – while getting to work on the things you are excited about.
2. Advocate for your passion projects: What if it’s not just your interests, but your passions or values that you feel aren’t represented? Job crafting is also a fantastic way to infuse meaning into your work. For example, I am deeply passionate about de-biasing people data and bringing fairer people practices to the workplace. However, I rarely get requests specifically for this kind of work nor do I see it written in a lot of people analytics job postings. So, whenever there’s an opportunity for some consulting work, I’ve made it a point to highlight this as my specialty. I explain how my work focuses on increasing fairness and ask clients if they’re open to me incorporating this approach into the way I deliver their requested projects. The response has been overwhelmingly positive. It allows me to do work I am good at and that I can be paid for while injecting what I believe the world needs and what I am passionate about into it – this is how I reach my ikigai. You can do the same by proactively introducing your passions. Remember, anything extra you bring is also bringing extra value at the same time.

If you don’t have a role today, your job crafting efforts should be focused on practicing how to show others the value you can bring to a new role when you incorporate the skills you are passionate about into the roles you may apply for. When you do apply, you’ll be offering something unique that other job candidates aren’t.

If you are in a role today, you should remember that ANY role is a place to learn and begin job crafting. Even if your current role is wildly different from the people analytics career you hope to pursue, there will be opportunities to incorporate some of the skills we’ve discussed in this guide. So, do not exclude yourself from job crafting based on the role you are in today.

How you choose to start job crafting is up to you, you can start small or aim for big areas. Small will be easier and may be a better choice if you are unsure whether you will be supported in your efforts. Bigger job crafting changes can take longer but shouldn’t necessarily be put off until later. If you want to start small, you can incorporate little pieces of what you love into your work by volunteering for tasks that align with your passions, even if they aren’t part of your formal job description, or by using spare moments to work on passion projects that overlap with your role. You can also go about your normal duties with a new twist – for example, maybe that boring monthly summary you always have to do could be presented with data visualizations instead of just text allowing you an opportunity to build those skills. When it comes to bigger changes, don’t get discouraged if your suggestions aren’t immediately adopted. Just be sure to proactively communicate the value of your ideas and passions in advance. Whenever you propose new ways of doing things, they’ll often meet resistance; that’s natural in most places. But you will have planted the seed. When the need for your idea becomes more evident in the future, you’ll be the first person they call. Stay patient and consistent, you are laying the groundwork for the future with your attempts. You are also improving your ability to explain and propose these ideas to others in the future if they continue to fall on deaf ears where you currently are. 

And, remember job crafting is a subtle art. Don’t expect a major transformation. It is about making small shifts to the role you have. It allows you to make the most of where you are now and set yourself up for where you want to be.