What Is the Difference Between a Job, an Occupation, and a Career?

Whether it is a job, occupation, or career; they all account for one simple thing- something you do for your living. Although these 3 terms are used quite interchangeably in common life, their meaning at border sense is completely different. Once you understand the difference between a job, an occupation, and a career, you would have a good idea about what you are doing in life to earn your living.

Difference between a Job, an Occupation, and a Career:

Job:

Short and sweet, Job is your work and you get paid. It is when a person performs some tasks for other organizations in exchange for money, fee, or payment. It is a kind of employment where the job role is defined by the employer and the employee has to perform his job by following the rules and regulations of the firm or the company. In a Job, the targets and goals are clearly mentioned by the employer and the person doing the job has to achieve those goals.

In a Job, a person receives payment in return for performing a particular work offering a mode of earning for that person. A job may be temporary or permanent for an individual, it might get you paychecks to earn your daily bread but it wouldn’t give you “complete” satisfaction. Therefore people often say that they are doing “just a job” as there is a lack of career satisfaction.  An individual can have more than one job, for instance, someone can be a homemaker and an employee together. The working duration for a job can vary depending on different organizations.

Occupation:

Occupation is the generalized word referred to as a number of jobs that are done with similar characterizes.

Occupation is a vast term as it defines many jobs. The word occupation is also used as one’s job title in offices. Occupation includes both intellectual or substantial types of jobs. The occupation should not be confused with the word “Profession”. Occupation is a job people do to earn money without any pieces of training whereas professionals must go under special training to perform their work. Example of the profession includes doctors, engineers, lawyers, professors, etc for which you need to get knowledge and certificates before practicing your job.

Occupation can be a job, business, profession, or employment that an individual manages to earn money. It defines a person’s job role in society.

In an occupation a person is engaged or occupied with no autonomous power, another superior will be there to order and instruct him/her. The occupation involves jobs that anybody can perform, it does not require any special, intensive training. Some examples of occupations are receptionists, clerks, shopkeepers, delivery workers, drivers, etc.

 Career:

Career is a lifelong journey in which an individual learns skills, and use those skills with knowledge, and gain experience in a particular field or industry to earn money. In a career, a person spends more years in a field or a sector to perform various roles to grow. It is a long journey of a person where he starts with learning a skill and work it out practically.

An individual may play many roles in the same area, for instance, a person can start his career as an accountant, later with the experience and greater skills, he may achieve the job role of Financial Officer and later a chief executive. The hierarchy goes up in a Career Path. But it doesn’t mean that he cannot change his career. Sometimes an engineer ends up becoming the Managing Director of a company which is completely different from his zone or working field where he had started but it will still be counted as a career.

A career includes education, training, and work experience. In a career, you need to think about how you can grow in your job or move into another job.

Difference between a Job, an Occupation, a Profession, and a Career:

• Occupation: An occupation is a vast term used to describe a field in which an individual starts his/her career. Occupation doesn’t have a code of conduct. An individual engaged in an occupation gets paid for what he does or what he produces whereas in a profession you will be paid only for your knowledge and level of expertise. There are 3 categories in occupation:

                        Business

                        Employment

                        Profession

• Job: A job is a work that an individual does in an organization and get paychecks for that. Job is the most particular way to pin-point someone’s professional experience which can either be full-time or part-time or maybe a freelance job.
• Profession: Profession on the other hand is an activity that mandates knowledge, specialized training, certificates, and skills. Profession generally requires education, licensing, or certificate of practice. The profession is backed by certain responsibilities. Your profession can be an occupation that requires higher degrees of knowledge and education. Like your profession is a lawyer but your job role can be assistant district attorney.
• Career: Career is a series of job roles or employment that an individual undertakes during his/her working life. You might start your career with a particular job role and in the end, you get experience from various industries. Career is used for the long term and is all about learning, building connections, and using that learning to get promotions and appraisals.

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