Career

A career is an individual's journey through learning, work and other aspects of life. There are a number of ways to define a career and the term is used in a variety of ways.

Definitions and etymology

Career is defined by the Oxford English Dictionary as a person's "course or progress through life (or a distinct portion of life)". In this definition career is understood to relate to a range of aspects of an individual's life, learning and work. Career is also frequently understood to relate to the working aspects of an individual's life e.g. as in career woman. A third way in which the term career is used to describe an occupation or a profession that usually involves special training or formal education, and is considered to be a person’s lifework. In this case "a career" is seen as a sequence of related jobs usually pursued within a single industry or sector e.g. "a career in education" or "a career in the building trade".

Historic changes in careers

For a pre-modernist notion of "career", compare cursus honorum.