{"id":4403,"date":"2018-05-14T17:48:22","date_gmt":"2018-05-14T17:48:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.inspo.ie\/?p=4403"},"modified":"2021-02-17T17:12:33","modified_gmt":"2021-02-17T17:12:33","slug":"work-job-career-calling-answer-matters","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.inspo.ie\/work-job-career-calling-answer-matters\/","title":{"rendered":"Is work a ‘job’, a ‘career’ or a ‘calling’? Your answer matters."},"content":{"rendered":"

Last week I outlined, in a post celebrating the wonder of the human spirit<\/a>, that I\u2019d recently completed my last set of exams in a Higher Diploma in Psychology. As part of that, I\u2019ve examined a lot of the research on work happiness and meaning. Here are three key work facts emerging from the research:<\/p>\n

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  1. You view work either as a \u2018job\u2019, a \u2018career\u2019 or as a \u2018calling\u2019:<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    A best-selling book, first released in 1985, called Habits of the Heart<\/a> highlights three different views you can have on your work. A \u2018job\u2019 is where you view work simply as a means to provide finances for the priorities that exist outside of work. A view of work as a \u2018career\u2019 is where you are most motivated by achieving promotion and progression within an organisation and the related benefits they bring. A \u2018calling\u2019 is where you view work as (a) being about seeking fulfilment and (b) being valuable to society.<\/p>\n

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    1. How you view your work matters.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

      Organisational Behaviour expert, Amy Wrezniewski, led a team in the US in 1997 to further explore the three views of work outlined in Habits of the Heart<\/a>. They found that those who viewed work as a \u2018calling\u2019 reported greatest levels of life and work satisfaction. People who viewed their work as a \u2018career\u2019 reported lower levels of life and work satisfaction. Those who viewed their work as a \u2018job\u2019 reported lowest levels of life and work satisfaction.<\/p>\n

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      1. ‘Based on the evidence, I bet the majority of us have gone for work that is a ‘calling’, right?’:<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

        The evidence would suggest that the majority of people should be in \u2018calling\u2019-style work, to leverage the life and work satisfaction benefits. The reality is different. Wrezniewski\u2019s 2003 research<\/a> suggests that equal amounts of people view work as either a \u2018job\u2019, \u2018calling\u2019 or a \u2018career\u2019. Similar breakdowns were found in a South African study led by Ilka Buekes in 2013<\/a>.<\/p>\n

        Should we all be pursuing work that we see as a \u2018calling\u2019?<\/strong><\/p>\n

        There\u2019s three factors that must be considered to answer that question:<\/p>\n