Job vs Career

Almost everyone in their lives comes to point of differentiating a job from a career. This point is believed to be the key point in a person’s life, where they take an active decision of what they want to for the rest of their life. Many people often confuse a job with a career, believing them to be the same thing as both of them are done in the exchange of money. However, these are two different terms and should not be confused.

DEFINITION

A job is something you have to do to achieve your employer’s goal in exchange for monetary gain. While a career is something you have to do for monetary gain, financial freedom and personal fulfillment. For a job you will have to be employed but with a career you can be employed and still have a career or transcend into becoming an entrepreneur. For example, you can have a job as a sales person in a grocery store just to pay the bills, or you can take a sales person job as the first step in a lifelong career as a grocery store owner.

REASON FOR WORKING

The difference between a job and a career has more to do with how you look at your workday. If you think of the hours you spend at work as something you only do because you have to not because you want to, then you have a job. If you think of your workday as part of a lifelong journey you chose for yourself based on your own interests and passions, then you have a career.

“If you hate Mondays, you have not yet found your career path”

SHORT-TERM AND LONG-TERM GAINS

Sometimes, a job can even pay more than a career in the short term, but career professionals usually earn much more in the long term. Careers often require you to invest both money and time to get the education or job skills you need to succeed. It requires that you have a goal and a focus.

For every employee as a short income-lifespan which will end in three ways: Resignation, Retrenchment or Retirement. But a career professional has a longer income-lifespan, which can fuel generations to come.

“If Dangote had resolved to be an employee would he be the richest man in West Africa?”

PERSONAL FULFILLMENT

You will spend much of your time at work, so the work you do can have a big impact on your quality of life and sense of fulfillment. If you just pick the job that pays the best or has the most convenient schedule for your short-term needs, your work probably won't contribute much to your happiness in life. If you work on building a career based on your own passions and talents, your work can help make your life richer and more rewarding in many ways.

A bank worker whose job is to count money, stamp teller and record deposit all day long, all year long can never have fulfillment in that job. A fulfilling job should present one or both of these opportunity;

·         Opportunity to increase in knowledge in that field

·         Opportunity to increase in income over a reasonable period of time

“If you work in an atmosphere where you do the same thing all day and all year long and your income grows in slow motion or not at all, them that's just SAD”.

 Job-seekers are looking for many different things and approach jobs with varying levels of commitment and enthusiasm. Some might search for a position that allows a steady salary or  easy work, or based on the popularity of the company while others might search for a meaningful future in an industry they're passionate about. This difference defines the distinction between jobs and careers. While your job consists of the tasks you perform daily to earn income, your career encompasses your entire experience, education and future path within a particular industry.

There is this famous quote by Confucius which states, “Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life.”