Labor Day: Work or Career?

September 5, 2017


A little bit of history for you.

Labor Day in the United States is a public holiday celebrated on the first Monday in September. It honors the American labor movement and the contributions that workers have made to the strength, prosperity, laws, and well-being of the country. It is the Monday of the long weekend known as Labor Day Weekend and it is considered the unofficial end of summer in the United States. It is recognized as a federal holiday.


Beginning in the late 19th century, as the trade union and labor movements grew, trade unionists proposed that a day is set aside to celebrate labor. "Labor Day" was promoted by the Central Labor Union and the Knights of Labor, which organized the first parade in New York City. In 1887, Oregon was the first state of the United States to make it an official public holiday. By the time it became an official federal holiday in 1894, thirty U.S. states officially celebrated Labor Day.

More than 80 countries celebrate International Workers' Day on May 1 – the ancient European holiday of May Day – and several countries have chosen their own dates for Labour Day.

Now, perhaps you are asking: so what?


And when I was thinking about the importance of the labor laws to workers across the evolution and how the marketplace was evolved and influenced based on it, I decided to discuss the difference of being just a worker and manage your career.

To work, to have a job is a must.


Basically, you have two choices: be an employer or an employee – or be rich!

Then, if you are an employee, you might fall into the worker category, right?

So, you must have a job, you must be a worker to make things happen in your life. 

But what’s the difference between manage your job and manage your career?

Manage your work/job is a must as I described, so it falls into the “must have” category.

 Manage your career for most of the people (in fact, 90% do not have a career plan) is a "nice to have". 

And that’s the problem.

Well, it’s not the problem, until it is.


Once you lose your job, the desperation comes. And what was optional, now becomes a must.

You must take control of your career.

And why not say that have a job and manage your career falls into the same “must have” category?


Think about it!

Do not let things happen, be the “chief” of your own destiny.

Successful people initiate!


Rodrigo S. Martineli is the Founder & CEO of Career Ladder Institute. He is an accomplished global business executive with well-rounded experience built in an 18-year corporate career working in Fortune 100 companies and growing billion dollar enterprises.


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Frisco, TX, USA

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