Why do most of us judge a person by their occupation?

I don’t. I never ask anyone, “So, where do you work?” or “What do you do?” I find work-related chats to be about as interesting as watching paint dry, and I don’t define people by their jobs. I’d much rather learn about the whole individual – family, hobbies, interests, etc.

@SadieMartinPaul if your being honest,then good for you, your one of a very few, our work seems to consume us,and we tend to let it run our lives.

Programming, status, snobbery, ego, equating what one does with who one is.
I agree with looking at the big picture of the whole of ones life, interests, self, world view over a narrowly defined box based on career,job.
I am one of those that dwells in the gray area and am working in a job that is so not me right now, because I need the money and it was all I could get in the moment after crashing from this economy this last few years.

@SQUEEKY2 Yep, that’s the absolute truth. I never enjoyed having a job, and I didn’t define myself by work. I felt trapped and unfulfilled. Even though I hold professional licenses and have a small, home-based practice, that’s one of the last things people learn about me.

I’m equally disinterested in other people’s jobs. When someone starts a monologue about “My Career,” my eyes glaze-over and my mind wanders.

I think it’s interesting that the ideal resume describes a well-rounded, involved human being – diverse background, volunteering, community service, etc. That’s all attractive to employers and what they seek when vetting job applicants. Then, the moment somebody gets hired, that person’s expected to be a one-dimensional workaholic who puts in obscene hours and lives for the job. It’s an absurd game of perceptions vs. reality.

The thinking goes something like this: All of the possible occupations out there can be arranged hierarchically in order of prestige or social value or talent required. Every person should be striving to snag a job as high on that hierarchy as their abilities will allow. If we assume that this is what everyone is trying to do, then it should follow that where someone’s occupation falls on the hierarchy says something about that person’s capacities.

There may be plenty of people who are stuck doing a certain job because they don’t have what it takes to do what they’d rather do, but there are also plenty who simply love what they do even though they could be doing something “higher” on the job hierarchy. There really isn’t much to the whole “hierarchy” scheme anyway. In most cases, a job is what you make of it. A person whose heart is really in their work elevates that job to a level of nobility that has nothing to do with the socially contrived hierarchy.

I watched a documentary last night about “scrappers”, the guys who cruise city alleys looking for discarded metal that they can sell for scrap. On the surface, that’s the kind of job that only some loser should end up in, but it was clear that some of these guys really love that work. Someone who can give themselves fully to what they do and find joy there is a true inspiration. That’s the kind of people I like to hang around.

Probably because the real world does not operate like the movie good will hunting where highly sophisticated beings are disguised as janitors. In the real world, a janitor is a strong indication that the individual is unintelligent and unskilled among many other facets such as character.

I don’t judge a person by what they do. I realize that for example many waiters are people going through their first or even second degree. More than that every person deserves respect for the job they do. Maybe this or that person didn’t have a cushy life with parents guiding them to write a degree and feed them while they were doing it. We don’t know peoples circumstances so why judge them? Those that judge that in my opinion have low self worth themselves.

A person who earns a decent living and tries, gets up each day to be reliable to that job gets my respect any day.

@thorninmud My husband does scrapping sometimes. He keeps a lookout for wood furniture for me, which I refinish and sell (or keep, whatever). We both get a hobby out of it. ^_^

For many of us, our occupations are an accident – simply how the chips fell. For ten years I’ve been an administrative assistant, because when I was 18 a friend of a family friend needed a fill-in temp for three months when her records clerk broke her leg. Clerical work was my first work experience, and thus became the only thing I could get a job in because it was the only thing I had experience in. I HATE HATE HATE the dull cubicles, the repetitive, un-challenging workload, the snooty rich bastards you inevitably work for, the catty office girls who talk about everyone – but only when they’re not talking about reality television, and the “I pay your salary” attitude of the customers/visiting public.

Soul-sucking corporate America.

I’d much rather hear about people who love jobs most other people would cringe at. One of my closest friends runs an erotic toy store. Another friend is a stripper, and on the weekends teaches an aerobic striptease/pole dancing class. Now they have stories.

I don’t do that, but you asked not about me, but about most people. It is primal. It goes back to before we stood on two legs. Humans have always placed themselves, and each other at varied levels of value. Human sacrifice to the gods, kings and emporeres, women follow their mates, kids follow them. We haven’t always used the same measure, but we have always measured. It used to be, in certain civilizations, particularly England, offspring were considered to inherit the life skills of their parents, and would not likely be suitable for anything else. You weren’t only judged by your occupation, you were born to it, and therefore your ultimate station in life. Big sigh. Considering how long this has gone on, and on, I would say any degree we’ve moved from that way of thinking is a plus. It can be unfortunate, sometimes, but there is a purpose. The best way to see that certain people get some very important respect, we have to place certain professions higher in the scheme of things. Police, firefighters, leaders of nations, religious leaders, all require an abundance of respect to be at all effective.
By the way, I always sort of figured that the reason women are supposed to follow men is because they won’t pick up after themselves, so that puts us there handy to do it.
I’m sorry you are unhappy. Personally, I’ve always thought of truck drivers as being very skilled individuals, til recent years. Lately, there are schools putting through guys who should not drive, and skilled drivers too soon.

I came across a story recently about a Japanese company that had an ongoing problem with graffiti in its men’s bathroom. The company brass issued a string of memos to try to stop it, but none of that worked. One morning a note was taped to the wall of the bathroom in unrefined penmanship. It said, “Please do not disrespect my fine workplace with your dirty graffiti”, and it was signed by the woman who cleaned and took care of the bathroom. The graffiti stopped immediately, because people understood that someone of great honor was behind that note. The honor had nothing to do with where she worked, but what she made of it.

I spent a month in Europe in 1999 and that was one of the biggest differences I noticed. When I meat someone for the first time the first question is usually about how I get money. In Europe it was usually about my family.

@tomathon Not always. I am very bright but, I don’t have an advanced education.
Not having an advanced education may keep someone from having a more prestigious job and income but has nothing to do with intelligence itself. Not everyone can afford an advanced education, and for many, like myself, a divorced, middle aged woman in my 50’s, not only can’t I afford to go back to school, I don’t WANT to.

I feel it’s because of expectation. People with designations and titles are expected to have the knowledge of the profession that they are involved with, it’s interesting to ask this specific questions based on the several nationalities that we all encounter on a day to day basis. Each person based on their own personal experience I feel expect different things from certain designations and titles. I feel it’s one of the reasons why disagreements and sometimes eventual conflict occurs.

I suppose it’s part of who we are as humans to be competitive. We just want to know who is deemed to be behind us in life in some way. I don’t think it’s a constructive way of being but it’s part of life I guess. That’s my take on it anyway.

People are judged by their level of income and a person’s job is an indicator of income. You can scoff at this, but worldwide women find richer guys more attractive.

When I meet someone for the first time, I like to know what the person does for a living. It gives an indication of the person’s interests, personality and education and helps in finding something of mutual interest to talk about.

Knowing someone’s job allows one to estimate their income and place them in a social class. the one’s with low paid jobs are considered some kind of underachiever. Judging people based on their job makes some feel better about themselves (a sort of superiority). It is not right to do, of course, but it is what normally most of the people do.

For me, it’s not so much about the job but the job AND lifestyle choices. I definitely judge and laugh at people who live like they make 80k a year when they really only make 20k. It’s downright laughable and yes, I definitely judge. I only make $11/hour myself and I think poorly of those at my work who make about as much as I do, yet choose to waste their money on big TVs, fancy phones, going out a lot, having 2–3 father-less kids not by accident, and then wondering why they can’t pay rent.

And yeah, I don’t associate with idiots like that. I need to budget my money.

We shouldn’t but we tend to think that those who make a sizeable income have more on the ball than those who are living paycheck to paycheck.

Recently there seems to be a movement in this country that the rich are somehow evil or that they don’t deserve the benefits that come with their labor.

I don’t believe it is wise for us to judge a person by dollar amounts but we should measure them by their character rich or poor.

I went to an art show/reception last night, and I spent quite a bit of time chatting with a nice, young lady. We talked about sports, politics, our husbands, where we grew up, where we live now…everything except, “What do you do?” It was a lovely conversation.

It’s just one of several factors.