Job vs. Career

I don't think that many of us were ever taught the difference between a Job and a career, but we were taught that a responsible adult has a job. Somehow we got the impression a career is only something doctors and lawyers have, but you can make a career out of whatever you want it to be.

Let's start at the beginning with the definitions of both words. Career = an occupation undertaken for a significant period of a person's life and with opportunities for progress. Note, the definition makes no mention of WHAT the occupation has to be. Job = a paid position of regular employment. A job is simple and singular in nature, where as a career is cultivated over time.

TIME is the key word that differentiates a job from a career. But simply having the exact same job with the exact same company for 20 years is not the way to build a career in 2018. Thinking that the opportunities for progress will be laid out nice and neat like your school clothes each day when you were in elementary school is naïve!

You have to educate yourself during the entire growth of your career by getting training, gaining a mentor, and reading up on the new techniques of your career...growing a career is a never ending process, one and done won't work. No matter if your career is at McDonalds or as a doctor, you have to do the same things to educate yourself in order to continue your growth. So really the difference is YOU; what are YOU willing to do, invest, sacrifice, give, and more so your job can become a true career!