Opinion

The Differences Between Jobs and Careers

Doing What You Love and Loving What You Do


When you’re a freshman it’s easy to push off the idea of what you’re going to do with the rest of your life and just enjoy your college experience. But, before you know it, it’s your senior year and you’re stressing about getting a job after graduation.

It’s a tough choice when you need to get a job, but you also need to be able to afford life after graduation. You have to choose between doing something you love, most likely a career, and doing something that will make you enough money to get by right after college, a mere job.

This is not to say that you can’t love your job, but a career is more of a whole life goal. Careers are the epitome of a happy workplace; they coincide with your major and concentration in college. Jobs, however, are more of a temporary fix for money to pay your bills. While both are important milestones in life, a career tends to be where most students are aiming to achieve.

Most of the time, jobs we’re working at while in school are paying more than starting a new job doing the thing you really love. It can be a hard decision between making enough money to support yourself, and doing the thing you love. It is important to have the money to pay any bills you have, have somewhere to live, and have enough food to eat.

Dreading going to work every day is not something you want for your future. It’s important to find a job doing something you really want to be doing. Enjoying your job will not make waking up early in the morning impossible; you’ll be more inspired and willing to get to work.

This struggle to find the balance of making money and loving your job is what makes internships so important and helpful while you’re in school. The more experience you have, the better chance you have at getting a job with the best of both worlds.

At Monmouth, there are so many opportunities for internships, which is extremely helpful when you’re looking to do something specific to your chosen major. It’s like you get to test drive different jobs and decide what you can see yourself doing for a living. Sometimes when you’re finished with an internship, if you perform well, the company might even offer you a job.

Once you’ve decided what you want to do, apply for that job in as many places possible. You might not start out exactly where you want to be, but this can only better you and help you to get to where you want to be.

Factoring in expenses is where things get tricky. Sometimes you might have to make some sacrifices and hold off on a few shopping sprees because your bank account just might not allow it. If you have the necessities and you’re working a job you love, there’s no reason that you shouldn’t be happy.

You might also have time for a part time job if it was really something you enjoyed doing. If you’re not making enough money and have enough free time, working two jobs can be tricky, but helpful when you need to make ends meet. Of course working two jobs might be stressful, but sometimes it’s necessary to be doing what you love and still making enough money to take care of yourself.

If your job is really something that you love, you’ll be able find a way to make it work. As the popular saying states, “If you do what you love, you’ll never work a day in your life.” When this holds true, you’ve found your lifelong happiness in a career.