“What’s your occupation?”
Here came that question, again! Since Akshay got his first job, everyone has been asking him the same thing. While Akshay knew it was only obvious, he wasn’t sure what to answer?
“I am a software developer,” he said, trying to hide the nervousness of not knowing what the occupation means.
Well, most of us have been in Akshay’s shoes, especially at the start of our careers when we have to introduce ourselves to colleagues and seniors at in-office and off-the-job training methods. While we focus on honing new skills and learning more about the organization and the field of work, one thing unintentionally skips our mind – job vocabulary.
And occupation is one such word you should know about. What to answer when someone asks you about your occupation? Let’s see.
What is occupation?
Occupation is generally referred to as the field or industry you work in. It also states your role in an organization as well as in society.
In other words, your occupation is your work situation with a specific field of interest or skills that benefit a certain field. For example, if you are working in the business or financial field as a cost analyst, it refers to your job role as well as the field you are working in.
So, our job, profession, and occupation are the same? Or do they have different meanings?
Well, all these terms have a slight difference of meaning among them. And we can’t describe occupation without understanding the other terms.
- Job
Your job describes your specific role within the organization. A job title is the shortest way to say more about your professional experience, whether it’s something you do part-time, full-time, or on a freelance basis.
- Profession
A profession refers to a path that makes it necessary for individuals to have specific knowledge or skills. The term profession is broader than a job but not as broad as an occupation.
For example, a district attorney maybe your job title, but your profession is a lawyer.
Types of occupation
Just as job roles and professions, there are different types of occupations. However, all these occupations share the same primary goal: earning money by engaging in an activity and participating in economic and social growth.
Profession
People often confuse ‘occupation’ with their profession. Occupation can be your job, employment, or profession.
On the other hand, a profession is an occupation type that requires you to have specialized education or skills. For example, doctors, lawyers, and engineering professionals require specialized degrees and certificates, while interior designers, professional writers, and journalists need to have certain skills.
Employment
As the name suggests, employment is a type of occupation where employees or workers get fixed salaries in exchange for their services. For example, laborers and delivery partners.
These types of occupations include employment with fixed income. They also don’t have the same autonomy or power as individual professionals to decide the work to be done. Employees working for the organizations have to follow the rules, policies, and instructions of the employer.
Business
Business is a type of occupation where individuals or organizations produce, sell, and exchange goods or services for money. From product manufacturing, media and marketing, and banking are some of the common examples. Planning plays a very important role in the business occupation. Understanding what is planning helps us achieve our goals, and allows for more efficient use of time and other resources
Whether you are running an individual show, working for an organization, or running your business, there is one thing that you and your organization need to keep up within the changing market – knowledge and skill upgrade.
And what matters more than embracing a change is embracing it faster. So, prioritize investing in skill development programs and establish your business as a forward-thinking organization ahead of the competition. Keep learning, keep growing!
Smriti Jain is the owner and senior content publisher at Financesmarti. Financesmarti is a website where she shares a lot of useful stuff for the people and business of India. This includes small business ideas and other banking information, as well. Smriti completed her education in science & technology from Delhi University. Smriti usually has interests in digital marketing now, and she has chosen this career for the full-time opportunity. The primary purpose of starting this blog to provide quality information on the banking industry to the people.
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