What is a vocational career and what are the factors that can influence it?

Answer 1

We might hear a "vocational career" called a "trade" by some folks. It's about having a group of skills that can lead a practitioner to success and a "happy life" (read: he can earn a living) by the consistent application of those skills (with upgrades as required by any advancements in the field). Probably the best way to look at stuff like this it to look at a couple of examples.

Welders and auto mechanics need to be smart, capable people. But they don't necessarily have to have a four-year college education. (The "major difference" between a "tradesman" and a "white collar worker" is almost always thought of as the college degree.) The welder or mechanic may or may not have some college. They may have a certificate or an associate's degree in their area of specialty. If not, they must have some "trade school" education or a lot of on-the-job training so they can understand the principles on which their trade is built. The welder or mechanic must be competent and capable to work, but he can be paid fairly well for his skills.

It could be argued that the "main factors" that influence a vocational career start with whether or not one wishes to go to college and complete a degree. Some of us can and some of us can't. Some of us who can don't want to. The four-year degree is a basic "divider" or "definer" as regards the vocational career and the "professional" career. (The "professional" here means white collar. Don't sell a welder or an auto mechanic short because he may lack a college degree. Certainly your life depends on the skill of the engineer - the college kid - who designed the plane you're flying in. But your life also hangs on the skill of the mechanic who worked on you car's brakes or the welder who welded up the bridge you are driving over.)

Another factor that influences a choice of a trade is interest. Some folks like working on cars. Some like welding. Why not get good at what you like and do it professionally? That's a no brainer.

Some folks may not be super interested (or may have lost interest) in something they are really good at, and they are applying skills and ability to do a job they don't love just to earn a living. That's the point here. Some folks work in a trade where they have extreme capability - even though their "enthusiasm" or their "love of the work" that they are doing falls well behind their actual ability to perform it. Hopefully the individual can develop a love for his trade or can "jump start" his feelings about his work so he doesn't continue as a "burn out" in a trade he doesn't like any more.