Self Improvement

A job can be defined as anything a person is expected or obliged to do; a piece of work, especially a specific task done as part of the routine of one's occupation or for an agreed price. Through a job, a person can earn to support her basic needs and family or friends. A job can also be viewed as a contract between the employer and the employee. In commercial enterprises, the basic purpose of a job is to create profits for the employer, and the employee contributes labor to the enterprise, in return for payment of wages, or stock options, etc.

People engage in different kinds of job with only one thing in mind; how much pay is involved. Little wonder why people change jobs as many times as possible. They never get enough; always moving on to the next level as soon as they recognize an opportunity to get more wages. This owes up to one fact; jobs are meant to cater for needs, so an employee will always leave a job that seems not to be capable of performing its function and move to the next available job that promises better reward.

A career is the pursuit of a lifelong ambition or the general course of progression towards lifelong goals. A career is built over time and becomes in most cases the life of the one in question. A career though may not seem rewarding enough for starters, in the long run it becomes a huge source of income. A career is also characterized with fulfillment as the career man finds fulfillment in doing what he loves. You don't choose a career you don't love, it is not possible.

While a job is mainly to cater for needs, a career does much more. It brings both financial and emotional satisfaction. It brings about the fulfillment of a lifelong dream, the dawning of a lifelong achievement. A job is short term as it can be terminated anytime by the employer or even the employee himself in search of greener pastures, while a career is long term.

In Ayn Rand's Fountainhead, the main protagonist, Howard Roark seeks a career and his best friend Peter Keating was only looking for a job. That's why in the end Roark built some of the finest buildings using his skills, experience and imagination. On the other hand, his friend Peter Keating worked only on old architecture. He worked on it only to support his basic needs. This shows that career may be more rewarding than a job on long run.

Moreover, a job expires as an employee must retire one day especially when old age sets in and the employer sees as him as becoming a liability to his firm, as research has shown that up to seven thousand brain cells are lost from the age of thirty-five. A career cannot end as long as it doesn't require much physicality, even at old age.

After juxtaposing job and career for a long time, I have come to the conclusion that both job and career may have different importance to different people as most times what is required to build a career lies in a job. The requisite experience, the capital, etc. are most times gotten from the job. This is why most people get a job which may have nothing to do with their career choice first with the hope of making enough money from it to build their career.

Career versus Job; which one would you pursue?

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