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Amy Wrzesniewski is an organizational psychologist at New York University's prestigious Stern School of business. Wrzesniewski's findings in the area of work orientation are some of the most exciting, dynamic, and promising for those interested in job satisfaction and other workplace considerations. Wrzesniewski describes three work orientation categories as follows:

1. Jobs: People with a job orientation are not particularly excited about their work. These are individuals we typically think of who are working because they "have to." These are people who do not like or value the nature of their work, and look forward to breaks and the end of their shift. They would not recommend their work to a friend, and tend not to think about their job when they are off the clock. Those with a job orientation are primarily motivated by money or other tangible benefits that their work provides, such as health insurance.

2. Careers: People with a career orientation are more likely than their "job" counterparts to like their work. Those with a career orientation are motivated by both primary (such as income) and secondary (such as social status) benefits of their work. In particular, these individuals are attracted to the power, responsibility, and possibility for advancement that their work brings. The idea of promotions, pay raises, paid vacations, and supervisory roles appeals to them. They may or may not like all aspects of their job, but they are motivated by the possibility of advancement. Career-oriented individuals sometimes look at their work as a steppingstone to somewhere better.

3. Callings: People with a calling orientation typically love and value what they do in and of itself. They may be paid well for what they do but typically espouse the idea that they would "do this for free." Calling-oriented individuals commonly be­lieve that their work contributes something necessary and good to the world and improves quality of life not only for themselves, but also for others. These people like to think about their work, even when they are off the clock, and would be likely to take their work with them on vacation. It is important to note that these are not simply workaholics (although some may be) who are absorbed only with their jobs but are people who believe they are creating a better world.

In an early study, Wrzesniewski assessed 135 people from a wide range of occupations. She found that the people in her study unambiguously fell into one of the three work orientation categories. That is, people in the real world actually tend to have a job, career, or calling attitude toward their work. Not only did Wrzesniewski find that these categories accurately describe how people relate to their work, but she found that roughly a third of her sample fell into each orientation, suggesting that people are equally distributed among them.

Do you have a job orientation, a career orientation, or a calling orientation?

In any given occupation, people can be in the job, career, or calling orientation. It doesn’t matter if people deliver pizza for a living or are highly specialized surgeons, it only matters how they perceive their work. There are lawyers who hate their jobs and bus drivers who love theirs. There are plumbers who would quit in an instant and salespeople who have to be dragged kicking and screaming into retirement. Work orientation is less about qualifications and educational background, or even about a specific profession, and more about how an individual interprets her work, whether she sees value in it, sees it as a possibility for advancement, or dreads it.

You will not be surprised to learn that Wrzesniewski found that people with a calling orientation report higher job satisfaction, higher life satisfaction, and teams made up of a majority of calling-oriented individuals generally perform better. Interestingly, for teams comprised of a majority of career orientation members, there is more conflict, less “team spirit”, and worse communications. This is not an emotional death sentence for those with a career or job orientation. These people can certainly derive personal fulfillment but tend to take their satisfaction from leisure rather than work.

Job-crafting: Among the most interesting results from Wrzesniewski’s research is the finding that many calling-orientation individuals naturally engage in making minor changes to the tasks and relations of their work. By taking initiative in small ways, job crafters perform on the job in a way that is meaningful to them and gives them an increased sense of purpose. Anyone can make their work more meaningful by modifying their tasks and relationships on the job.  There are several forms of job crafting: click here for more on this. For ways to turn a career, even a job, into more of a calling: click here.