Job vs Career: the changing face of graduate employment

A Dog walker for life? Or just for Christmas?

I am now four weeks into my first job after university: four weeks of Ups, downs stresses and triumphs. For the first time in four years I am getting a monthly income that is taking me out of debt rather than into it, and I am beginning to make some friends. I see all this as an achievement in and of itself but increasingly I'm finding that other people don't see it that way. Countless times over the past few weeks I have been asked what my plans are for the future, what I'm going to do next, what I want to do with my life...

Obviously my current position is not one I will continue in beyond this year- the spiritual rewards not being able to compensate for the lack of remuneration. However, that doesn't mean that after this year I will have planned out a career path into which I can transition smoothly nor that I necessarily should have.

With the latest figures indicating that the pension age will be rising to an eventual limit of 75, this generation's graduates are looking at a working life of about 50 years at least. When once it made sense to pick a career and stick with it, in the modern job market it just seems unrealistic and a little foolish.

Of course there are people whose degree will have led them into a career- medical students, law students, vet-meds for example and some of the more dedicated scientists but many of the rest will end up in a job only somewhat tangentially related to their degree if that and will probably not pick a ‘career’ as such right off the bat.

The modern graduate is most concerned with two things: making some money and gaining some experience. This can mean choosing ‘jobs’- which I define as positions accepted due to the specific nature of the role rather than ‘careers’- taking a position in a company or field with a view to advancement within it. This is partly due to the modern job market and partly due to the differing temperament and social expectations of today’s graduates. The traditional transition into a stable family situation with a long term partner is being pushed back later and later by young people therefore it follows that their need for the financial stability and job security afforded by taking a position with long term goals is greatly reduced. From my own experience I know that I find great comfort in the fact that I am bound by a one year contract only after which I am free to pursue a completely new line of work altogether if I so choose. I am more scared by the notion of a ‘permanent’ job that I can’t see the end of than I am of financial instability.

Today one also has to bear in mind the rapidity with which job descriptions can change and the hovering danger of last-in first-out job cuts resulting from the recession. People who chose careers in the past and have worked exclusively in one field can often find that their job is written out of existence due to financial cutbacks or technological advancement and they are not equipped to transfer into another line of work because their skills have become so specialised.

My personal belief is that I will eventually settle to a regular line of work, as will most graduates, but that will be more likely to be a role you could play in any number of fields rather than a sector within which you might take on a number of roles. The idea of jobs for life is dead and people should be glad to let it go- mobility in the job market benefits everyone at the end of the day as people keep their skills honed and their interest and engagement in their work sustained. The only career that should matter is your personal one, and you should follow it wherever it takes you.