Is having a career really better than "just" having a job in the long run?

[Rev]

I've been thinking lately about this whole career thing, and being told to have this career path & working your ass off for these organizations that are all so top heavy. And it's like, is it really worth it after all?

It's almost like we're programmed to believe that it's a career or bust...you're a failure if you don't have one. However, you see people who have "jobs" who seem to be the happiest of the crowd...the least stressed. I guess having that big money & the big title is more important to some than it is to others, but if you manage your money properly you too can be comfortable with a "regular job", right?

Sometimes i think, "Maybe i should've been a cop...rack up on OT, do my 20 years, retire & then get another small job while racking up that pension." Or maybe an X-ray technician at a hospital & do the same. But i dunno.

Do i sound ridiculous? Do yall know what i'm getting at?

 

[Chris.B]

what do you do for a living

 

[Rev]

what do you do for a living

i'm in marketing for a big corporation.

 

[Chris.B]

i'm in marketing for a big corporation.

How is that not a career? That skill can be transferred to other companies

 

[Rev]

How is that not a career? That skill can be transferred to other companies

not saying i don't have a career. maybe my question is regarding working for the big corporations. is it worth working for these big corporations who want you to create these career goals within that company.

i dunno, i'm all over the place. but maybe what i'm getting at is - is doing the same ol' thing for 25 years not so bad after all (i.e. like people back in the day used to on the regular)?

 

[Chris.B]

not saying i don't have a career. maybe my question is regarding working for the big corporations. is it worth working for these big corporations who want you to create these career goals within that company.

i dunno, i'm all over the place. but maybe what i'm getting at is - is doing the same ol' thing for 25 years not so bad after all (i.e. like people back in the day used to on the regular)?

no one likes a 9-5. You can use your skill to find some consulting gig and control your hours.

 

[newarkhiphop]

Depends on the job or career

 

[Chris.B]

the 9-5 shyt gets old real quick so I can see where OP is coming from.

 

[88m3]

live to work, brehs

 

[Hans Wurst]

i got no ambitions, so i'm more of a job guy

 

[Vandelay]

How is that not a career? That skill can be transferred to other companies

A job doesn't get recognized from company to company pay wise.

If you bag groceries for 20 years and make 20 dollars an hour, and get laid off because one of those automatic kiosks made your job obsolete. DO NOT expect to make 20 dollars an hour at your next position bagging groceries.

Transpose this logic to any other "job".

I can understand why someone would just want a job though...

Careers are frustrating.

 

[Chris.B]

A job doesn't get recognized from company to company pay wise.

If you bag groceries for 20 years and make 20 dollars an hour, and get laid off because one of those automatic kiosks made your job obsolete. DO NOT expect to make 20 dollars an hour at your next position bagging groceries.

True but if your skill set is hard to replace..you will make more.

If a doctor is fired, he is guaranteed to make the same or more at his next job.

 

[Vandelay]

True but if your skill set is hard to replace..you will make more.

If a doctor is fired, he is guaranteed to make the same or more at his next job.

I liken a career to a [Liam]specific set of skills[/Neeson] that are not easily transferred. Be it hard skills; math, computers, law...or soft skills; communicating, selling, analyzing

Doctors would fall into that category.

Mopping a floor would not be...coming up with the right chemical mixture to clean and be environmentally safe would.

 

[88m3]

True but if your skill set is hard to replace..you will make more.

If a doctor is fired, he is guaranteed to make the same or more at his next job.

Probably not.

 

[Rev]

i got no ambitions, so i'm more of a job guy

but you have ambitions in life, right? whether it's family, doing good things, etc.

that's kinda my point in a way too. just because you don't have these immense career goals...doesn't mean you should be looked at like some kinda bum or failure. and i think we're all coerced to believe that it's either that way or no way at all - expensive educations that never end, big money corporations that work you like a dog & have you working outside of work, etc.