Difference Between Career and Goal

A career is a profession undertaken for an extended period in one’s life. At the same time, a goal is an aim, ambition, or an expected result. A purpose comprehensively defines life, academics, or the profession itself.

On the other hand, career is spoken of only concerning one’s occupation in life.

Goals are things people would like to achieve in their life from time to time. It has no boundaries.

A career is the course of one’s professional life within a single industry or sector. It has restraints or boundaries.

Within the scope of one’s career, goals can be set and achieved.

Key Takeaways

1. A career is a chosen profession that a person pursues for a long-term period.
2. A goal is a specific outcome or achievement that a person hopes to reach in a short or long-term period.
3. A career is a broader concept, while a goal is more specific.

Career vs Goal

The difference between Career and Goal is that Career is a profession that a person chooses to earn money and sustain livelihood. The goal can be several things a person would like to do or achieve in a lifetime, which may change from time to time.

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Comparison Table

Parameter of Comparison	Career	Goal
Definition	The jobs held, titles earned, and work accomplished over a long period in a person’s professional life.	It is a short-term or a long-term ambition or determined desire expected to be achieved in any aspect of one’s life.
Scope	A career mainly refers to one’s professional life but can also be used for one’s entire life.	Goals can be set concerning an hour’s work, academic achievement, occupation, or even a day’s water intake for a person.
Usage	She is usually used to employment.	It was used varyingly for various life targets in daily life, education, profession, sports, etc.
Significance	All students study to establish potential professional lives or careers. The long-term effort is dedicated to jobs to live good lives.	The importance of goals is relative to the purpose of or kind of work. The goal of wanting to sky-dive 10 times in life may not be significant compared to winning a life-changing b-school competition.
Example	Ram made a career choice to pursue Engineering over Medicine.	Lisa’s goal for the weekend is to binge-watch on Netflix while eating ice cream.

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What is Career?

A career is related to one’s employment or occupation during their lifetime. However, the broader meaning of a career would include all the decisions one makes as a professional or a college graduate, which will be valuable for life.

The meaning of a career can encompass all educational, socio-economic-political activities and life-changing decisions one makes. It can reflect the personality and fundamental values of a person.

Good career choices and decisions lead to a good and comfortable life.

Career concerns one’s progress in their lives through several jobs. It includes education, unpaid work experiences like internships, and even volunteering. 

A career can involve a series of unrelated jobs. For example, a person can be an engineer and switch positions to work as a bank executive.

Further, they may decide to follow their passion, become writers, etc.

Secondly, a career can involve a string of successively responsible positions. They will be related to one another.

For example, a person may begin as a lecturer at a university and then be promoted to associate professor, professor, and Head of the Department over some time.

 

What is Goal?

A goal is an anticipated result towards which efforts are directed. It is envisioned, planned, and desired to be achieved.

It is similar to purpose, target, aim, or ambition. They can be short-term, long-term, or intermediate goals in life.

Goals direct attention towards goal-relevant activities, and challenging goals lead to increased, prolonged and persistent effort.

People set goals to succeed, take control of their life’s direction, and focus sincerely. Having a plan provides a benchmark that needs to be achieved.

It’s not enough to only think that you shall practice acts of charity. Without a goal, one may not execute philanthropic activities due to a lack of purpose and hence lack of determination and focus.

The goals one sets must always motivate them. It means that the plan must be significant and valuable for oneself.

A lack of interest in the result or irrelevance of goals can decrease the possibility of achieving that goal. Thus goals must be specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and time-bound.

Determining goals for oneself is the first step to accomplishing anything meaningful in life. Having dreams helps people look forward to each day.

Not having any goals ever is a way of living an average life.

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Main Differences Between Career and Goal

1. A career is what one works to be or achieves and is trained for i. On the other hand, goals can be arbitrary.
2. A career is one’s course of work in life. It is well-planned, and people continue in the same career paths for a long. But, concerning goals, there can be many days and months. Plans can be set for finishing homework or even becoming a doctor.
3. Goals are the ends that need to be met with effort, determination, a strong mind, and consistency. It can be for the short or long term. A career is one’s permanent calling, and one has to work towards it their entire life.
4. Many kinds of goals can exist, like academic goals, career goals, life goals, etc. Career or professions are also different, like chef, painter, musician, doctor, biologist, etc.
5. A career, in short, defines an occupation and broadly covers one’s course of life. But the word goal can have different meanings, like an anticipated result or a goal scored in a football match.

References

1. https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/goal