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Subject:RE: A dark take on Tech Writing...do you agree? From:"Pinkham, Jim" <Jim -dot- Pinkham -at- voith -dot- com> To:"Downing, David" <DavidDowning -at- users -dot- com>, <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com> Date:Fri, 7 Nov 2008 11:22:25 -0600
I was curious enough to take this from the world of connotation to
denotation, so I took a quick peek at the Compact OED
(http://www.askoxford.com/concise_oed/career?view=uk), which defines
career as "an occupation undertaken for a significant period of a
person's life, usually with opportunities for progress." It comes from a
French word for "road or race course," which comes from the Latin for
"wheeled vehicle."
I like the nuances here: It does not say that moving into the ranks of
management is needful for a career. It doesn't even suggest progress --
however one defines that -- always occurs in a career. Getting back to
origins, a career is a path, a journey -- one with twists and turns, ups
and downs, quite probably. If it's a race course, it's certainly a
marathon one, in most cases.
Your ideas of attitude and commitment are not inconsistent with the
definition's implication of a longer term course.
Another interesting word to throw into the mix would be "vocation." A
job is something I do. A vocation is something I feel called to do --
something that stretches me, beckons me, taps my gifts. Of course, I may
pursue that calling in one place for many years or in multiple ways and
places over the course of a lifetime. The constancy is to the calling,
not necessarily to the place, but it is what moves me to do my best
wherever my career takes me. Or, careers, perhaps.
Musingly,
Jim
-----Original Message-----
From: techwr-l-bounces+jim -dot- pinkham=voith -dot- com -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
[mailto:techwr-l-bounces+jim -dot- pinkham=voith -dot- com -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com] On
Behalf Of Downing, David
Sent: Friday, November 07, 2008 10:57 AM
To: techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
Subject: Re: A dark take on Tech Writing...do you agree?
From: "Gene Kim-Eng" <techwr -at- genek -dot- com>
Subject: Re: A dark take on Tech Writing...do you agree?
What I'd like to know is who defined a "career" as necessarily having an
upward mobility path? If you have a "job" that pays you well enough to
satisfy your financial needs and enjoy enough to provide you with
personal satisfaction, why isn't staying in it and growing enough to
keep you marketable in it for your entire working life not a "career?"
GeneK
-------------------------------------------------
Perhaps my definition is too liberal, but I'd say the sole distinction
between a "job" and a "career" is that a career is something you have an
emotional attachment to. You care whether the work is done well and
properly.
I guess by that definitional, technical wiring could be either a job or
a career, depending on your attitude. If you have a document that isn't
finished on time and you know you won't get penalized for delivering it
late, it's a JOB if you say, "Well, I won't get in trouble for
delivering it late and it's 5:00, so my work day is over, so I'm outta
here." It's a CAREER if you say, "I'm going to stay to finish this
because it would really upset me to see our client get it late."
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