Does Your Job And Career Both Are Same?
Confusing jobs with careers is the most common misconceptions among the working force population. Though many tend to use the two terms interchangeably, the reality is that they are two very different concepts and it is essential to learn how to tell the two apart. Following are six easy ways to differentiate a job from a career:
1. How long have you been engaged in it?
Have you been doing this work for years on end or is it just a beginning? The answer to that question is one of the determinants of whether you have a job or a career in that field of work. If you have been in the same profession for several years, despite having had many different roles, then you can safely say you have a career in this profession. For example, you could have worked in a number of different hospitals as a nurse over the years, but you could still state that you have had a career in nursing or health care.
2. Do you have long-term or short-term goals?
Your objectives are a great way to identify whether you are currently involved in a job or career. A job would mean that you are probably focused on temporary goals and living in the moment without planning much for the future. This is why interviewers often ask their potential employees about their long-term goals to discover whether the employee is merely interested in the job or wants to make a career in it.
3. What is your level of investment?
With a job, your intensity of investment is expected to be at a basic. Your engagement tends to go down as time passes and the employers have ways of finding out when you are losing interest. However, if you are tied up in a career or planning to make one out of the job you already have you tend to have a higher contribution. Your willingness to learn is a great deal more, and the level of engagement with your work is also at an advanced level.
4. What is the purpose?
Are you merely in it for a weekly/monthly flow of cash to pay your bills? If so, you are committed with a job and not a career. The reason is that you will probably change your job at once if you are offered a higher pay elsewhere even if it has nothing to do with your previous occupation. If you are engaged in a career, your purpose will not only earn money but also excel at what you do.
5. Do you avail networking options?
Nearly all jobs in various fields provide you with the option of connecting to other people to form links that might help you excel in your current line of work. This phenomenon of networking is only availed by people who are in the process of building or already engaged in, careers and not just jobs. People who have not a career will go from job to job and hence will not pay much attention to networking alternatives in any place of work.
6. Is there a distinct pattern?
If the jobs you have had over the year show a distinguishable pattern, such as working in housing, health-care, teaching, etc., then that automatically means your career is in the same business. If there is no clear pattern in all your past jobs and you have kept on moving from one job to another without any logical reasoning (other than money), then you do not have a career in any particular line of work.
Author: John William
I am John William. I am a blogger and freelance writer. I own a blog with the name ObjectMe. I am passionate to share new knowledge with the world. Unique and upcoming trends in technology field is my favorite hobby.