Job vs.Career: Is there really a difference?
Posted on January 02, 2016 by Marla Albertie, One of Thousands of Life Coaches on Noomii.
Is there a difference between a job and a career? Yes there is.
Yes there is a difference. To properly answer this question we must know the definitions of the words JOB and CAREER. As defined by BusinessDictionary.com, a job is a group of homogeneous tasks related by similarity of functions, when performed by an employee in an exchange for pay, a job consists of duties, responsibilities, and tasks (performance elements) that are (1) defined and specific, and (2) can be accomplished, quantified, measured, and rated. A career is the progress and actions taken by a person throughout a lifetime, especially those related to that person’s occupations. Take notice that a job is defined as list of tasks and a career is defined as progress and actions. In layman terms, a person may have a job in which they complete an assigned task. However, dissatisfaction grows because no progress is being created. The “no progress” is what I call the “Clock in and Check out Syndrome”. A person arrives at work and does everything on their task list and they go home, in essence the person has clocked in physically but mentally they have checked out because the “job” has become a routine. A career involves action, curiosity, boldness, and drive. Let’s take our same person who clocks in to attack their task list for the day; this person can easily turn the list into progress. How one may ask? For example, if filing is one of the tasks, one must ask themselves is it simply filing papers? Or is it keeping record of what is being filed and when? Could it be seeking opportunities to file other documents to help someone else? Notice these questions lead to one common denominator, which is the employee is doing more than expected. Doing more than what is expected helps to navigate the path to a successful career. In doing more a person can discover areas they did not realize they were good in and even enjoyed. Too often people have shared with me the reason they are not doing what they want to do in their lives is due to their work keeping them busy or they do not have time. I am a firm believer that we make time for what we want. My answer each time is why not utilize the job which is occupied now to build the career desired? Take advantage of the task list assigned each day and look for ways to do more. Make and take the time to invest in yourself. Start to build your career right where you are or else you will always have a job.
