Job, Work, and Career

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Job, Work, and Career

What is the difference between "job," "work," and "career"?
  • A "job" is a regular and official activity where you receive money.
  • "Work" is a place of employment or general efforts and activities done to accomplish a goal.
  • "To work" means to be engaged in physical or mental activity in order to achieve a result. It also means to function correctly.
  • A "career" is the total progression of a professional life.
job, work, and career
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More about "Job," "Work," and "Career"

A lot of English learners confuse the words "job," "work," and "career." All three words relate to earning money, but they have different uses.

Job

The noun "job" is a regular and official activity where you receive money (a salary). Job is a countable noun.

Example sentences with "job":
  • Being a truck driver is a tough job.
  • If you think it's expensive to hire a professional to do the job, wait until you hire an amateur. (Firefighter Red Adair)
  • Be thankful for problems. If they were less difficult, someone with less ability might have your job. (Astronaut Jim Lovell)

Work

As a verb, "to work" has two meanings. Work means to be engaged in physical or mental activity in order to achieve a result. It also means to function.

Example sentences with "work":
  • I don't think you work hard enough.
  • My phone doesn't work anymore.
Work is commonly seen with the following collocations:
  • Work for
    • Do you work for your sister?
  • Work at
    • I enjoy working at the law firm.
  • Work with
    • Do you like the people you work with?
  • Work on
    • I've been working on this project for over two weeks.
The noun "work" refers to general efforts and activities done to accomplish a goal. Work is more general than job. It is a non-countable noun.

Example:
  • I can’t access Facebook when I'm at work.
  • Work gives you meaning and purpose and life is empty without it. (Physicist Stephen Hawking)

Career

The noun "career" denotes the total progression of a professional life. It may include many different jobs over the years.

Example sentences with "career":
  • He has just started out on a career as a photographer.
Interactive Exercise
Here are three randomly selected questions from a larger exercise, which can be edited, printed to create an exercise worksheet, or sent via email to friends or students.

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See Also

adverse or averse? affect or effect? Ms., Miss, or Mrs? avenge or revenge? bare or bear? complement or compliment? dependant or dependent? discreet or discrete? disinterested or uninterested? e.g. or i.e.? envy or jealousy? imply or infer? its or it's? material or materiel? poisonous or venomous? practice or practise? principal or principle? tenant or tenet? who's or whose? What are nouns? What are verbs? List of easily confused words