In what ways can occupation and employment affect identity?

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In what ways can occupation and employment affect identity?

This essay will focus on the process of identity formation; it will explore how a particular occupation can influence identity. And also look at how both employment and unemployment affects identity; it will also examine the importance of paid work.

Identity is marked by sense of recognition, belonging and similarity of people like us, and difference of those who are not. We know which people are like us by categorizing others and ourselves (Mead et al., 1934). We use symbols such as employment, uniforms, and club membership, language we speak or even the car we drive. For instance wearing a policeman's uniform is a public declaration that one belongs to a particular group. To identify with a group as such is to have a collective identity (Sarup 1996).

Occupation is a very useful tool to link a person's situation to class and status, with the knowledge of ones occupation assumptions can be made regarding their political tendencies and even most probably their religious background. The first question asked in many situations of primary social encounters is "what do you do", by which we mean what is your