When asked your occupation, say whatever you want

June 24, 2024
by Noriyuki Morimoto

People need income to live and work to earn income. Since there are many different ways to work and many different types of work, when asked about occupation, the usual understanding is that you should answer with the category of work you engage in.

That said, even if pensioners are not currently working, given that they are living off the compensation for their past work, they can be considered in the same way as someone on an extended vacation rather than unemployed. Since work does not always require monetary compensation, when pensioners engage in walks, travel, or reading, it could be said that they are doing work specific to their occupation.

And if working does not require monetary compensation, then all human activities can be considered work, just as a baby’s job is to sleep, a child’s job is to play, a student’s job is to study, a housewife’s job is to do the housework, and a rich person’s job is to manage his or her property. Since humans are always engaged in some activity, if we call that area of activity an occupation, then there would be no one without a job.

While working does not require monetary compensation, when one obtains the highest degree of expertise beyond that of an ordinary person, it can become a way to obtain monetary compensation. People who climb mountains as a hobby will be able to earn income as mountain guides as they gain experience and acquire advanced skills, and if they become skilled enough to conquer unexplored summits, they can become professional mountaineers backed by corporate sponsorship.

Generally speaking, in the fields of sports and arts, your skill level has to be at a completely different level from that of a hobby in order to make it a profession and earn money from it. In the case of licensed professions, such as doctors, lawyers, and accountants, the fulfillment of advanced technical criteria is already required at the stage of obtaining the qualification.

So, if a profession means a high level of expertise capable of generating income, then if a person has the same high level of expertise but does not gain income from it, and relies on some other source of income, then that source of income is what should be called their occupation. Actually, mountain guides are professional guides, not professional mountaineers, and there can be no such profession as a philosopher, only a university professor who teaches philosophy.

What I mean is, when asked about your occupation, just answer whatever you want.

 

[Category /Work-Style Reform]