What is a career?

When you work in a career that fits you, you have more confidence, feel good about work, and are more positive. This makes you more likely to get promoted or find a new job when you need to.

Job or career?

A job is work to earn a paycheck. When one job ends, you get another one like it. You may be lucky, but there's no guarantee you'll learn new skills, increase your pay, or get promoted.

A career means that your jobs, experiences, and training build up in a direction you choose. You make decisions that help you get better jobs and earn more pay.

Think of your career as moving along a path or climbing a ladder. Each step gives you greater experience. As you move along, you get more rewards from your work.

Ready to move from a job into a career? Learn about your options.

Learning about different careers and options is an important step. It will help you create a career plan that fits you. Important steps to take:

• Get information about yourself, skills, what you like
• Find accurate information about your job options and places to work
• Learn what type of education or training you need, how long it will take, and costs
• Understand limitations in career choice based on your criminal record
• Look up changes in the job market, which careers are growing or shrinking

See careers you might want

There are tools that will help you understand which careers will fit you. Try two ways to explore: one is to find careers related to the work experience and skills you already have. The other is to get information about a career you have heard of, and want to explore.

• Visit mySkills myFuture (find the link below) to create a list of careers that match a job you've held in the past
• Visit Occupation Profile (find the link below) to learn about a specific career