Do you Have a Career or a Job?

by Debbie Vasen | More from this Blogger

28 Jun 2008 08:12 AM

Have you ever thought to ask yourself if your means of income is just a job or a career? What is the difference really? And does it even matter?

According to YourDictionary.com, a job is defined as "a specific piece of work, as in one's trade, or done by agreement for pay." In turn, they define a career as "a profession or occupation which one trains for and pursues as a lifework." In summary, the dictionary views a job as more of a short-term work assignment and a career as the lifelong employment.

Pushing the formal definitions aside, we often view our employment differently when it is a job vs. a career. We tend to take more pride in our work and feel more value, if we can term it a career. However, the term career has broader influences than just our own opinion. Society has also placed judgment on whether certain "jobs" are truly "careers."

Many of us accidentally acquire our employments in life. In addition, most of the forces that seem to steer us into our careers or jobs come from the external and not the internal. There is a ton of pressure to come up with a "career" early on. Little kindergarteners are often asked, "What do you want to be when you grow up." If a career is a significant life step, one that carries us through our "lifework" and ensures our success and happiness, we cannot be choosing this accidentally or quickly.

If you manage to survive this pressure, you still may end up taking a job to make ends meet. Then discover you are still doing it ten years later. How do you break your cycle and shift your job into a career?

The process is actually mental. It starts from within you. Do you have a job you love, but everyone else deems it just a job and not a career? Then start thinking of it as a career. Do you have a job that you hate, but do it because it makes money or is a prestigious career? Then start some soul-searching to find a real career, one that can truly become your lifework.

Related Articles:

*Checklist for Career Discovery

*How to Choose a Job

*Long Term Career Goals vs. Short Term Survival

Learn more about Debbie Vasen

Debbie Vasen is a published web content editor and writer, as well as a freelance writer for various print publications. In addition to blogging at Families.

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