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

Abstract

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.

A Cultural Orientation Approach to Work Orientation: Mongolian Workers’ Jobs, Careers, and Callings

“…Our investigation of the three work orientations also provides insights into culture-specific aspects of the three work orientations. Unlike previous findings using American workers (Mantler et al, 2021; Wrzesniewski et al, 1997), the difference between a job and a career orientation is not as stark as the differences between a calling and the other orientations in this study. The findings may be partly due to cultural differences and an uneven number of participants in each group.…”

“…The results showed that 58.9% of Mongolian respondents saw themselves as having a career orientation, and 34.0% of them had a calling orientation, and only 7.1% saw themselves as having a job orientation. Similar to prior studies (Mantler et al, 2021; Wrzesniewski et al, 1997), we found that a small portion of participants indicated that the same scores for more than one orientation.…”

“…Viewing work as a calling rather than a job or a career also relates to less turnover intention. The findings suggest that a calling orientation relates not only to attitudes toward work, but attitudes toward an organization, in line with previous findings (Cardador et al, 2011; Mantler et al, 2021). As the WCT argues, those with a calling orientation seek an environment that matches with their values and increases the likelihood of living out calling in their current organization, which may result in a lower intention to leave.…”

“…To examine differences among work orientations, we divided participants into three groups ( n = 20 for Job, n = 165 for Career, n = 95 for Calling), in accordance with participants’ highest ratings of each orientation (Mantler et al, 2021; Wrzesniewski et al, 1997). The results showed that 58.9% of Mongolian respondents saw themselves as having a career orientation, and 34.0% of them had a calling orientation, and only 7.1% saw themselves as having a job orientation.…”

“…However, those with a career orientation are motivated to achieve higher ranks to satisfy their needs for achievement and power (Baumeister, 1991), but opportunities to advance up the organizational hierarch are limited. Due to external constraints, they derive less meaning from work (Duffy et al, 2018), and they are more likely to leave their organization than those with a calling orientation (Mantler et al, 2021). Based on these, we expect those with a calling orientation would report lower turnover intention than those with a job or a career orientation.…”