Thursday, August 26, 2010

A Job vs a Career?

Over the past couple of years, something has evolved here, within my family, that makes me feel good, feel very happy about this, particularly for my older daughter.

For many years since she got out of high school, she worked in the food service industry doing waitress work. Most of that work she really disliked until she did eventually work at a really, REALLY, upscale restaurant over in State College and she did like that job -for the most part. But still, she was never content with that type of employment.

Then a few years ago, she began working as an aide doing home health care type of stuff -mainly helping senior citizens take care of various things in and around their homes, personal care, etc., and she found that she very much liked that kind of contact with people. From there, eventually she found a way to take the coursework needed and the test then to become a licensed Certified Nursing Assistant -I think that's the actual title but anyway, she is now a CNA and works at a hospital in the county adjacent to ours, near where she lives.

And the nice thing about this transition for her is that she now looks at her employment as being a "career" as opposed to a job! And yes, there is a difference between the two terms, ya know!

But even better, overall, is the fact that especially in this area, healthcare jobs are actually quite abundant! One of very few fields that around here usually has a lot of openings in it and that's a very good thing, isn't it?

Also, since she's been working now for about two years now as a CNA she is now thinking about trying to see if she can get things pulled together enough with funding and such and possibly get admitted to one of the school around these parts that offers a degree in nursing so that perhaps she could then move on up the career ladder to a job as an RN.

Now that would be quite a coup if she can get everything all lined up and do that. It would be something that I know would afford her many more benefits in the long run, not the least of them being a big boost to her self-esteem if she can get all her ducks in a row and pull it all together there.

Sure would be something that would make me quite proud and I think too, if my Mom were still around, would definitely make her beam with pride to see her granddaughter working in the same profession as my Mom had!

5 comments:

Debbie said...

You must be oozing with pride! That is great that she has found a career she likes so much. As you know, my older ones work in a restaurant on breaks and it is thankless, hard, lowpaying work. I wish your daughter the best on her path.

Sandee said...

I did the same thing. Went from waitress work to being a bartender and then a cop. The last job was a career and I'm ever so happy I made that move. It served me well.

Have a terrific day and I hope all is well in your world. Big hug. :)

Diva's Thoughts said...

How great. I wish her all the best. What a great profession to aspire to.

Berni said...

You are absolutely right I always had to work to pay the bills it wasn't a career just a job. Fortunately two of my boys now have found their career and would do it even if they weren't paid. The middle son still needs to find his way and is stuck in the bill paying category. Congrats to your daughter

Travis Cody said...

That's fantastic! I definitely understand the difference between job and career. I didn't get a chance a the two careers I really wanted, so most of my adult life has been a series of jobs...good ones, but really just jobs.

Now the positive thing about a series of jobs is that I've gotten to work in many different industries and get a good grounding in how business really works. That helped me take a firmer direction for when I finally went back to school to complete my degree.

Now I'm as close to a career as I've been. I still think of my employment as a job, although perhaps this particular job will be more long-term than any I've had in the past.