Do you have a job, a career or a calling?

Amy Wrzesniewski, a professor at the Yale School of Management, has spent her career studying how people identify with their work. In 1997 she asked people to choose one of three ways of relating to work.

She found the difference could not be reduced to demographics or occupation. A group of 24 college administrative assistants was spread evenly across job, career and calling, exactly like the wider sample.

So there is no role that is only ever a job, a career or a calling. It is about how we see it, how it plays to our strengths, and how far we manage to shape the job we already have.

Once again, the answer seems to sit somewhere inside us.

Job

Mr A works mainly to earn enough to support his life outside work. If he were financially secure he would not stay in this line of work and would rather do something else. The job is a necessity of life, like breathing or sleeping. He wishes the time would pass more quickly and looks forward to weekends and holidays. If he lived his life over he probably would not choose the same work, and he would not encourage his friends or children to enter it.

Career

Mr B enjoys his work but does not expect to be in the same job five years from now. He plans to move on to something better and higher, and holds several goals about the positions he wants to hold. Sometimes the work feels like a waste of time, but he knows he must do well enough now in order to move on. He cannot wait for a promotion, because a promotion is recognition for good work and a sign he is ahead of his peers.

Calling

Mr C's work is one of the most important parts of his life and he is pleased to be in this line of work. Because what he does for a living is a vital part of who he is, it is one of the first things he tells people about himself. He takes his work home and on holiday, most of his friends come from his workplace, and he belongs to several clubs related to it. He feels good about his work because he loves it and because he thinks it makes the world a better place. He would encourage his friends and children to enter the same line of work, and he would be upset if he were forced to stop.