Jobs, Careers, and Callings: Exploring Work Orientation at Mid-Career

Mid-career is a time when work orientation (i.e., viewing ones' work as a job, a career, or a calling) comes into sharper focus. Using Wrzeniewski et al.'s tripartite model, we conducted a discriminant function analysis to determine the combination of variables that best discriminates among people who are aligned with a job, a career, or a calling orientation in a sample of 251 full-time, North American mid-career employees. Compared to those who approach work as a job, those with a calling orientation were more engaged in work. The career-oriented stood apart from the others as a function of shorter job tenure, greater turnover intentions, work engagement, career satisfaction, and a tendency to engage in career self-comparisons. Work-orientation groups did not differ significantly in terms of family centrality, work-life balance, life satisfaction, or well-being. The results suggest that the work orientations represent distinct and equally valid ways to approach work.