A job might be part of your career or might be your vocation, but the connotation of a job is closer to getting paid for your time than for your skills. Working at a fast-food joint? Job. Handing out skee-ball prizes at the arcade? Job. Painting fire hydrants during the summer? You guessed it.

• Four words: money in your pocket. People work jobs to make money, so having a job means you will have money. Jobs can also be steps in your career or can fund you in your vocation.

• Jobs arealso often good ways to get used to an industry. If you’re interested in getting into a field, an excellent way to gauge whether you’d enjoy doing it as a career or as more of a hobby is to take an entry-level job in that area.

Lots of folks out there stuck in dead-end jobs or jobs they hate or jobs that pay minimum wage. Don’t be one of those folks.

Careers require much more of a time commitment in terms of education and training (either in school or on the job). The longer you are in a specific career, the more likely you are to have greater responsibilities (and higher pay!).

• A career will make your momhappy. People who have careers have studied for their positions, and are considered higher up on the food chain because they have specialized skills that are hard to come by. And, of course, they generally have higher salaries.

Just like jobs, people can get stuck in career paths they aren’t stoked about. Make sure you’re careful about what you choose to devote yourself to, because getting into a career is a pretty big life commitment.

Keep in mind that, while vocations may technically refer to activities that bring you immense satisfaction, lots of people are going to use this term as a synonym for “technical career”. It is therefore kind of a loose term. You can choose whether you want it to mean “that which makes you happy” or “blacksmith”.

• A true vocation can provide you with a very different level of enjoyment and life satisfaction.

Your true calling might not pay much, if at all. While it may make you immensely happy to collect sea shells, “beachcomber” isn’t a job title that’s going to net the biggest paycheck you’ve ever seen.