Job, Career or Calling?

While preparing for a recent keynote I came across a wonderful paper about People’s Relations to Their Work. The researchers suggest that people either see their work as a Job, a Career or a Calling.

A Job is a necessary requirement–a means to an end.  A Job is a place to make money but there are no expectations of finding personal meaning or important intrinsic rewards.  I believe that my relationship with my early jobs in the food service industry would fit this category (as God is my witness I’ll never wait tables again!).

Careers include more of a personal investment and more meaningful rewards.  You earn a paycheck and you also may get more prestige or recognition as you advance in your career.  You may derive a sense of satisfaction as you attain better position in your chosen field.

A Calling is work that you are called to do, as in a vocation.  It is interwoven in your life and you gain a personal sense of meaning from the work.  Often people see their calling as socially valuable and feel as if they are making an important contribution to the world.

Now, you might think that people most often feel they are in Jobs when they are in the lower rungs of the job market.  You might expect to find that people who feel they are working in their Calling are more often found in ‘helping professions’.  And you would not be entirely correct.

The researchers suggest that the distribution is not dependent on occupation.  People in many sectors feel their work is a calling and that they are making a positive contribution.   One small study surveyed administrative assistants, some of the lowest paid, least prestigious positions in many corporations (which has always seemed bizarre to me because they are, frankly, amazing).

Surprisingly, the administrative assistants produced a broad and equal distribution of work orientations.

That’s right, approximately one-third saw their work as a Calling.

Can any job be reframed as a Calling?  I like to think so.  Remember Studs Terkel’s Working?  I’ve never forgotten the story of the waitress:

People imagine a waitress couldn’t think or have any kind of aspiration other than to serve food. When somebody says to me, “You’re great, how come you’re just a waitress?”

Just a waitress. I’d say, “Why, don’t you think you deserve to be served by me?” It’s implying that he’s not worthy, not that I’m not worthy. It makes me irate. I don’t feel lowly at all. I myself feel sure. I don’t want to change the job. I love it.

I think of my young friend, “B”, who works at a bakery making cookies.  He absolutely loves being a baker.   He knows he’s making a positive contribution to the world because his cookies ‘make people happy”.

What about you?  Are you working a Job, pursuing a Career or following a Calling?