When I think of a job, I think of a task that needs to be completed – now, today, this week.  Taking a step back from any job you should immediately see a start, middle, and end that you can easily define.  A career, on the other hand, is a different beast altogether, it has a start, but what roads and paths we travel to get to the end, could be completely different from whence you started.  While a job can be considered a singular occurrence, a career is the culmination of many jobs, events and changes in our life that shape and define us over time.  However, in our race to finish first and be the best, we can sometimes lose sight of the path we want our career to be on and instead focus on finding a job, sometimes the right job, sticking with the job, working on the job, staying up late for the job, etc, etc.

When perhaps what we really need to focus on is whether this job is aligned to our career path and goals.

Our Job is not our Definition

A job is an act of completing a task – I clean the yard, I deploy a new server, I exercise, etc, etc.  A job can be of short or long duration, but it always has a beginning, middle, and end.  Over time, our jobs have become our definition of who we are and what we have accomplished.  When we meet someone new, the conversation inevitably turns to the question of “what do you?” which we answer with our current job title. While LinkedIn is an incredible platform for connecting with people and sharing content, it also proliferates this idea by connecting with people by our job placement and title.   It is easy to say to someone, I do X for Company Y and have been there for Z years – done and done – we can move onto the next conversation.  It is a completely different scenario when we talk less about what we are doing, but rather what we have done, are doing and where we are going.  All of a sudden the conversation changes from the job and to our career – why am I branching out into new avenues, what am I trying to accomplish, where do I want to go.

If you want to stop being defined by your job, then stop talking about your job as if it defines you and start talking about your career directions instead.

Our Career is our Path

Jobs and careers are somewhat mutually dependent; you cannot have one without the other. Our careers are defined by the possibilities we have at work, where we may try new things, succeed or fail, and then build on what we’ve learned. Careers are a collection of possibilities that help us start along the route we wish to go by beginning to focus on issues outside of our line of work.

Where do we want to go?

What do we want to accomplish?

What jobs do we enjoy that we want to do more of?

How can I better myself through my professional life?

Why am I doing this?

While switching jobs frequently to advance professionally is very natural, we must always be aware of the direction we are going and make sure that the positions we accept are compatible with our long-term goals.

Where they come together

It’s a sign that your current job is not in line with the course you want to take for your career if you return from your “job” every day feeling stressed out from the day’s events, uninterested in what comes next, and generally burnt out from everything you are doing. Does this imply that it is time to go? Whether the employment offers you any additional benefits for advancing your career will determine the response. If not, it might be time to end the conversation. If so, figure out a means to get past the pressure and the monotony and make it exciting and motivating once more.

When we don’t plan our career path, we end up changing jobs frequently and expecting that the new position would lead us back to where we want to be, even though this is almost never the case.

Your career is your responsibility – not someone else’s.

The onus is on you to understand where your job and career intersect and identify how one fuels the other.  If you are in a job and not thinking about your next step, your career path and where you want to go – then you need to be and you need to be doing it now.  Start simple and put together a 6, 12, 18-month plan and then identify whether your current job aligns to that path.  It doesn’t need to be complicated – start with what you are doing and what you want to be doing and draw the lines between them.  If the lines don’t connect how can you start to make them connect?  What do you need to do to start having that feeling of fulfilment needed to align your job and your career?

Break the cycle of thinking that jobs and careers are one and the same – and start planning your future.