Job vs. Career

rosefox was conducting a survey about jobs vs. careers as a proportion of our current lifespan ovah heah, and I ended up getting thinky in my reply.

It's possible that my last answer ("No, and never") is more indicative of my attitude than what an outsider would say after observing my professional trajectory.

I've worked in user support / help desk roles more or less consistently, with breaks for being out of work, and one sabbatical as an office manager cum sysadmin, since 1997 (so, nearly 14 of just under 38 years; ~37% of time-on-planet). At this point, saying I'm resigned to the role would not be wholly inaccurate.

I am not ambitious, have no strivings towards management, and don't want to pursue much in the way of ongoing education (or a postgraduate degree, though mine is in English, rather than any related field).

I do what I do because I'm good enough and experienced enough that it's an easy way to make enough money to live comfortably, if frugally, and I can leave my work at the office without a second thought. At the end of the day, while I take pride in the job I do and like the company for which I do it, it doesn't define me, or, in a very real sense, represent anything greater than a mostly-amenable way to trade a reasonable amount of my time and brainpower for an acceptable number of dollars.