Is it important to relate to a company’s product?

Previously in my career I would work with recruiters and they're like, "I've got these jobs on my board. You could apply for this. You could apply for this," and it's like, “No, I don't want to work for gambling." So I was like, "No." And then they're like, "Well, what about this?" And so, "I don't want to work for a dating app. I can't really relate to it. I'm married. I don't know what I want to do." And I see this now actually, when I'm interviewing, you have to have that passion about what that company is, the problem they're trying to solve and their product. Because if you haven't got that, then you're not going to enjoy your job. You're not going to be able to relate to what the problems are. You won't be able to prioritise the problems, or talk to your customers and really understand what's going on.

So when I've moved roles into potentially something that I thought was good for me on paper, so very early in my career I went to consulting. I was blinded by the fact that someone older than me had told me that, "You need to go into consulting. It gives you a really good solid framework." And I was 24, and I was like, "Okay, I'll go to consulting." So I got a consulting job and I tried to make it work, but it was in a domain that just didn't excite me, just didn't interest me. And I tried my hardest for two years and then I just had to admit defeat that I was like, "It's just not my bag. It just, it doesn't excite me." It just wasn't the right thing. Whereas the roles that I rave on about, and the things I get really excited about is where I really enjoyed the company, I liked the culture, and I enjoyed the problem.