Learning to find value in my work

About six months into my first job after my PhD, I’ve been thinking about something I struggled with during grad school: what makes my work feel valuable to me?

During my PhD, the recognition my work received gave me some joy, but something still felt missing. I always felt a disconnect between doing the research and knowing how other people were reading, using, or discussing it. Even when a project received recognition, I found it hard to feel its usefulness. I understand that some people do brilliant work whose impact is clear to them, and others find fulfillment in different parts of research. This was how it felt for me.

For me, there are at least two ways that satisfaction can come about. Sometimes the problem is interesting enough that working through it is rewarding. Sometimes the reward comes from knowing that the solution is useful to someone else.

I’ve usually leaned toward the first. I enjoy the technical part: figuring out a system, finding a good solution, and realizing I can build it. That’s still a big part of what I like about engineering.

But I knew during my PhD that seeing people use what I built would matter to me more. Working in industry has given me some confirmation of that. The products I work on are internal, but they still have people who rely on them. That gives me a more direct connection between the engineering work and why it matters.

I always felt that technical satisfaction alone wouldn’t sustain me over a career. And for my employer, the value of my work depends on whether it helps solve a problem that matters. I’m getting better at connecting these two things more deliberately.

If you’re doing a PhD and finding a gap between doing well and feeling fulfilled, that’s something I recognize. For me, going into industry has helped me understand what I was missing.