Is your occupation what you do or who you are?

Minxy · 28 Jul 2013 at 20:20

I am home based so quite often work creeps into the evenings and sometimes even weekends.

steveo · 28 Jul 2013 at 20:24

Warehouse Operative (i drive big arse Folk lift trucks all day)

i do my hours get paid and never give it a second thought in my own time

Tom_ed1987 · 28 Jul 2013 at 20:27

I don't take my work home and I would say it definitely isn't who I am.

daz · 28 Jul 2013 at 20:41

My job is a bit part of who I am - I'm a director of a company I started 10 years ago when I was 18 and that is now reasonably successful and has a full time staff of several dozen people. I work massively long hours and rarely have any time off but it is incredibly rewarding.

[FnG]magnolia · 28 Jul 2013 at 21:21

My job is what I do but my career is probably closer to who I am.

alx · 28 Jul 2013 at 23:12

I enjoy my job and what I do, but it doesn't define me. I can sometimes get a bit technical on how I describe certain scientific occurrences in real life, which the odd friend describes as "sad" but that's about it.

02goswej · 28 Jul 2013 at 23:15

Turned my hobby into a career starting September - after 4 years of university (1 year doing it professionally) I still consider it a hobby, although when doing it professionally it's a lot more exciting I have to say.

Software development.

edit: I imagine that excitement may die down after a few years, but since the field evolves regularly I'm confident my interest in it won't go stale.

Raikiri · 28 Jul 2013 at 23:16

ElliorR said:
No my job is a means to an end and that's all it'll ever be.

This. I like the people I work with but I'd much rather define myself by the photography and film stuff I do in my spare time.

sigma · 28 Jul 2013 at 23:20

At the moment it is partly but I'd say I'm heading to something which is who I am.

Buckeyed · 28 Jul 2013 at 23:31

Until I eventually own my own company (what I am aiming for), my job is just a way to get there.

Sonea Fifer · 28 Jul 2013 at 23:35

ElliorR said:
No my job is a means to an end and that's all it'll ever be.

Pretty much this is my case as well - I don't particularly like my job and find it very unchallenging, I'm left dealing with complete **** wits on a daily basis and the shift work is **** but hopefully I'll manage to change that aspect soon. On the plus side the money is quite good for what I do and I've no real responsibility. Also it pays my mortgage, my eventual plan is to reduce my hours to part time - need to reduce the mortgage a tad first though

Rozzy85 · 28 Jul 2013 at 23:38

Definitely not. Got to the point where I couldn't really care about it much anymore and once I'm home I don't want to think about it. Hopefully I'll gain the courage to pull away from it soon and do something I actually want to do despite the risk.

atpbx · 29 Jul 2013 at 07:30

When I worked in the family business it kind of did define me, as I was there practically every waking hour.

6am till 9 pm every day, if I had to cover nights if normally end up doing 8pm till 11am.

Amp34 · 29 Jul 2013 at 07:43

gregorius said:
I think that OP has made a precise observation; perhaps recalling that this is what used to be identified as the difference between a job and a vocation might help. The work "vocation" comes from a Latin root that implies that you are "called" to do what you do; perhaps a calling that is irresistible.

Me, I'm a university researcher doing biostatistics in cancer research; for me, it is a vocation - what I do is with me all the time.

Basically yes, fundimentally the question boils down to that if you quit your job tomorrow or retired you would still be doing something similar to what you were doing in your job on your time off. Rather than just say being on call all day or working long, irregular hours.

Loosecannon · 29 Jul 2013 at 07:53

My job is pretty much my life a lot of the time... Hard to switch off and always have stuff to do.

I love my job though, but it is hard to separate my own life at times.

No1newts · 29 Jul 2013 at 08:01

I work to live, luckily I enjoy my job and don't mind shifting things to incorporate work, but ultimately if it came to the crunch work would lose every time.

Kishywish · 29 Jul 2013 at 08:05

Loosecannon said:
I love my job though, but it is hard to separate my own life at times.

Perhaps I'm good at what I do because I think in a certain way and like the discipline - i consider what I do a big part of my life, not a means to an end.

-Ad- · 29 Jul 2013 at 08:12

alx said:
I enjoy my job and what I do, but it doesn't define me. I can sometimes get a bit technical on how I describe certain scientific occurrences in real life, which the odd friend describes as "sad" but that's about it.

Can we has oil plz?

To the question in hand.... NO NO NO NO NO NO.

DanTheMan · 29 Jul 2013 at 09:25

I'm of the Marx school of thought that work is man's creative output, however there are relatively few jobs out there which actually allow you to express yourself that many of us just work to pay the bills. I definitely only work to pay the bills whilst at university but I am hoping I become one of the more fortunate who actually enjoy the work I end up doing.

wingman · 29 Jul 2013 at 09:34

My occupation is what I do essentially, but because I do it, it does divine a part of me.

I work for a company that I do not own and if I did, I would embrace the work with open arms, and devote more of my time/energy/life into it. I do try hard at my job now, but I see it only as a job.

I do not hate it, I actually quite enjoy it at times, and there’s little to no risk with regards to responsibilities (simply because I am able to do the job properly).

As it stands, it's an 8-4 job that pays the bills and is affording me opportunities that will eventually lead me to figure out what is it I want to be doing on this planet.

I want to run my own company, however I feel that if I did, I would lose myself in the "job" completely.

As it stands, it’s “just a job”.