The key difference between career and occupation is that the career is an occupation undertaken for a significant period of one’s life and with opportunities for progress whereas occupation is a person’s principal work or business, specifically as a means of earning a living.
Career and occupation are two very closely related concepts that confuse many people. This is because if one looks up a dictionary, the two words are synonyms. Though there are many similarities between the two terms, there is also a subtle difference between career and occupation. We know that the occupation of a person may be farming, but that does not tell us everything about his career, which is the sum total of all his experiences, events and jobs that he may have undertaken in his lifetime.
CONTENTS
1. Overview and Key Difference
2. What is a Career
3. What is an Occupation
4. Side by Side Comparison – Career vs Occupation in Tabular Form
5. Summary
What is a Career?
Career is an occupation undertaken for a significant period of one’s life and with opportunities for progress. Career is a word that connotes images of a lifetime of achievements, events, and everything else that goes in the name of progression in our chosen profession. So, a career comprises all that a person has done or undergone in his professional life so far and what he intends to do in the future. Careers usually bring us a sense of achievement as it is a journey built on your skills, knowledge and experience.
Career path is a word we often associate with a career. Career path basically refers to various positions an employee moves through as he or she grows in an organization. For example, you may start your career as a teaching assistant, then gradually move on to the positions of teacher, assistant principal and principal.
What is an Occupation?
Occupation basically refers to one’s job or profession. We can define it as a person’s principal work or business, specifically as a means of earning a living. A person’s occupation is more or less depends on his educational qualification (at least in western countries). So, if an individual studies science and later peruses engineering at the undergraduate level, engineering becomes his occupation. It becomes his identity of sorts, and he remains an engineer for his life unless he decides to switch his occupation and become something other than an engineer.
There are clearly demarcated occupations such as a doctor, engineer, lawyer, administrator, farmer, carpenter, plumber, electrician, and so on. However, as mentioned above, it possible for a person to change his occupation once or many times in a single career.
What is the Difference Between Career and Occupation?
Career is an occupation a person undertakes for a significant period of one’s life and with opportunities for progress. On the contrary, an occupation is a person’s principal work or business, specifically as a means of earning a living. This is the key difference between career and occupation. Thus, a career is a broader concept than occupation, and it is possible for a person to have more than one occupation during his career.
Summary – Career vs Occupation
The key difference between career and occupation is that career is an occupation a person undertakes for a significant period of one’s life and with opportunities for progress. On the other hand, occupation is a person’s principal work or business, specifically as a means of earning a living. It is possible for a person to have more than one occupation during his or her career.
Image Courtesy:
1.”111932″ by geralt (CC0) via pixabay
2.”1372458″ by Alexas_Fotos (CC0) via pixabay