Career and Vocational

One of the most important and influential decisions an individual will have to make early in his or her lifetime relates to their career and vocational choices. In many ways, your job tends to define part of who you are as an individual. Whether right or wrong, most people generalize about others’ character and beliefs depending on that individual’s occupation. Choosing a career is an important step in your life. It is a personal passion that needs to be discovered through life experiences. To achieve satisfaction within your career, it needs to be something that you love to do. When you choose a career, you are no longer just working at a job, but you have decided on a particular field of interest in which you enjoy and strive to excel.

The word “vocation” comes from the Latin word vocare meaning “to call.” The idea of a vocation is often used interchangeably with a career; however, there is a slight difference between the two. Vocations can be seen as providing a psychological or spiritual need for the individual, and can also be used to describe any occupation for which a person is especially talented or skilled, and in turn implies that the individual feels there is a “calling” to that specific task.

The concept of a career is shifting from a more narrow set of achievements and experiences, like a chronological resume of past jobs to a defined set of pursuits looking forward to the future. In its most commonly understood form in today’s society, a career refers to an individual’s work and life roles throughout their lifetime.

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