Job vs. Task: Know the Difference
By Shumaila Saeed || Updated on December 25, 2023
Job is a role involving duties and responsibilities in exchange for payment. Task is a specific piece of work, usually part of a larger project or job.
Key Differences
Job implies a position or role often involving long-term commitment and compensation. Task is a specific, often short-term activity or assignment within a job or project.
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Nov 10, 2023
Job usually entails a broader scope of responsibilities and duties. Task refers to a singular, defined piece of work or objective.
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Nov 10, 2023
In a job, individuals often have multiple tasks to complete. A task is a single activity or goal within the wider context of a job.
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Nov 10, 2023
Jobs are often formalized with titles and defined roles in organizations. Tasks are specific actions or objectives, which can be part of any job.
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Nov 10, 2023
Jobs can encompass a career or professional identity. Tasks are the discrete activities or steps taken within the context of a job.
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Nov 10, 2023
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Comparison Chart
Scope
Broad, often encompassing multiple tasks
Narrow, focused on a specific activity
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Duration
Long-term, often ongoing
Short-term, often with a specific deadline
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Formality
Formal employment, with a title and salary
Informal, can be part of a job or separate
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Objective
Career development, livelihood
Completion of a specific goal or activity
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Job and Task Definitions
Job
A paid position of regular employment.
She started a new job as a teacher.
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Task
A challenging or demanding job.
Solving this problem is a difficult task.
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Job
A role or duty in a professional setting.
His job in the company is crucial.
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Task
An assigned piece of work often to be finished within a certain time.
His task was to finish the presentation by noon.
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Job
A task or piece of work, especially one that is paid.
They did an excellent job repairing the car.
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Job
A responsibility or assignment in a work environment.
Her main job is to manage the team.
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Task
A difficult or tedious undertaking
Finding qualified people to fill these specialized roles was a real task.
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Job
A regular activity performed in exchange for payment, especially as one's trade, occupation, or profession
Her job is doing drug research.
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Task
A function to be performed; an objective
It is our task to renew consumer confidence.
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Task
To assign a task to or impose a task on
The agency was tasked with creating an advertising campaign.
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Task
(Archaic) To subject to strain or hardship
"The Professor's household was a modest one, and yet it tasked his ideas to keep it up to his wife's standard" (Edith Wharton).
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Job
A specified duty or responsibility
Your job is to watch the kids while we're away.
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Task
A piece of work done as part of one’s duties.
The employee refused to complete the assignment, arguing that it was not one of the tasks listed in her job description.
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Job
(Informal) A difficult or strenuous task
It's a real job getting people to help out at these events.
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Job
A specific piece of work to be done for a set fee
An expensive repair job.
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Job
Something resulting from or produced by work
I like the job they did on those shrubs.
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Task
(computing) A process or execution of a program.
The user killed the frozen task.
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Job
An operation done to improve one's appearance, or the result of such an operation. Often used in combination
A face job.
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Job
(Computers) A program application that may consist of several steps but is performed as a single logical unit.
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Task
(transitive) To assign a task to, or impose a task on.
On my first day in the office, I was tasked with sorting a pile of invoices.
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Oct 19, 2023
Job
(Informal) A state of affairs
Their marriage was a bad job from the start. It's a good job that we left early to avoid the traffic.
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Oct 19, 2023
Job
(Informal) An example of a specified type, especially of something made or constructed. Often used in combination
A new building that is just another glass and steel job.
A cowboy hat that is one of those ten-gallon jobs.
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Task
Labor or study imposed by another, often in a definite quantity or amount.
Ma task of servile toil.
Each morning sees some task begin,Each evening sees it close.
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Task
Business; employment; undertaking; labor.
His mental powers were equal to greater tasks.
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Task
To impose a task upon; to assign a definite amount of business, labor, or duty to.
There task thy maids, and exercise the loom.
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Task
To charge; to tax, as with a fault.
Too impudent to task me with those errors.
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Task
Any piece of work that is undertaken or attempted;
He prepared for great undertakings
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Task
A specific piece of work required to be done as a duty or for a specific fee;
Estimates of the city's loss on that job ranged as high as a million dollars
The job of repairing the engine took several hours
The endless task of classifying the samples
The farmer's morning chores
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Job
To arrange for (contracted work) to be done in portions by others; subcontract.
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Task
A piece of work to be done or undertaken.
Completing the report is an urgent task.
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Task
A charge or mission.
The team was given the task of organizing the event.
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Job
An economic role for which a person is paid.
That surgeon has a great job.
He's been out of a job since being made redundant in January.
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Oct 19, 2023
Job
(computing) A task, or series of tasks, carried out in batch mode (especially on a mainframe computer).
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Job
A public transaction done for private profit; something performed ostensibly as a part of official duty, but really for private gain; a corrupt official business.
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Job
Any affair or event which affects one, whether fortunately or unfortunately.
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Job
(colloquial) A thing (often used in a vague way to refer to something whose name one cannot recall).
Pass me that little job with the screw thread on it.
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Job
The police as a profession, act of policing, or an individual police officer.
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Job
To subcontract a project or delivery in small portions to a number of contractors.
We wanted to sell a turnkey plant, but they jobbed out the contract to small firms.
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Job
(intransitive) To seek private gain under pretence of public service; to turn public matters to private advantage.
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Job
A piece of chance or occasional work; any definite work undertaken in gross for a fixed price; as, he did the job for a thousand dollars.
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Job
A public transaction done for private profit; something performed ostensibly as a part of official duty, but really for private gain; a corrupt official business.
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Job
Any affair or event which affects one, whether fortunately or unfortunately.
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Job
A task, or the execution of a task; as, Michelangelo did a great job on the David statue.
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Job
A task or coordinated set of tasks for a multitasking computer, submitted for processing as a single unit, usually for execution in background. See job control language.
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Job
The hero of the book of that name in the Old Testament; the prototypical patient man.
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Job
To do or cause to be done by separate portions or lots; to sublet (work); as, to job a contract.
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Oct 19, 2023
Job
To buy and sell, as a broker; to purchase of importers or manufacturers for the purpose of selling to retailers; as, to job goods.
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Oct 19, 2023
Job
To hire or let by the job or for a period of service; as, to job a carriage.
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Job
To do chance work for hire; to work by the piece; to do petty work.
Authors of all work, to job for the season.
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Job
To seek private gain under pretense of public service; to turn public matters to private advantage.
And judges job, and bishops bite the town.
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Job
The principal activity in your life that you do to earn money;
He's not in my line of business
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Oct 19, 2023
Job
A specific piece of work required to be done as a duty or for a specific fee;
Estimates of the city's loss on that job ranged as high as a million dollars
The job of repairing the engine took several hours
The endless task of classifying the samples
The farmer's morning chores
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Oct 19, 2023
Job
The performance of a piece of work;
She did an outstanding job as Ophelia
He gave it up as a bad job
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Job
An object worked on; a result produced by working;
He held the job in his left hand and worked on it with his right
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Job
A state of difficulty that needs to be resolved;
She and her husband are having problems
It is always a job to contact him
Urban problems such as traffic congestion and smog
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Job
A damaging piece of work;
Dry rot did the job of destroying the barn
The barber did a real job on my hair
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Job
A crime (especially a robbery);
The gang pulled off a bank job in St. Louis
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Job
A Jewish hero in the Old Testament who maintained his faith in God in spite of afflictions that tested him
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Job
(computer science) a program application that may consist of several steps but is a single logical unit
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Job
A book in the Old Testament containing Job's pleas to God about his afflictions and God's reply
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Job
Invest at a risk;
I bought this house not because I want to live in it but to sell it later at a good price, so I am speculating
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Repeatedly Asked Queries
Can a job consist of only one task?
Rarely, as jobs usually encompass a variety of tasks and responsibilities.
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Nov 10, 2023
What is the main difference between a job and a task?
A job is a role with broader responsibilities, while a task is a specific activity or assignment.
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Nov 10, 2023
Can a task be part of a job?
Yes, tasks are often components or duties within a job.
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Is a job always paid?
Typically, a job implies a paid position, but some jobs like internships may not always offer payment.
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Can someone have multiple jobs?
Yes, it's common for people to have more than one job.
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Nov 10, 2023
Are all jobs formal and structured?
Most jobs have some level of formality and structure, but the degree can vary.
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Nov 10, 2023
Can a job exist without tasks?
No, tasks are fundamental components of a job.
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Nov 10, 2023
Is a task always part of a job?
Not necessarily; tasks can exist independently of formal jobs.
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Nov 10, 2023
Do tasks have a specific duration?
Yes, tasks usually have a defined timeframe or deadline.
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Do tasks require specific skills?
Yes, tasks often require specific skills relevant to the activity or objective.
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Nov 10, 2023
Is a job a long-term commitment?
Generally, jobs are seen as longer-term commitments compared to tasks.
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Nov 10, 2023
Can tasks be part of personal projects?
Yes, tasks can be part of both professional and personal projects.
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Nov 10, 2023
Are tasks limited to work environments?
No, tasks can occur in various contexts, including personal and volunteer settings.
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Can a task turn into a job?
In some cases, a task can evolve into a more permanent job if it expands in scope and responsibility.
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Nov 10, 2023
Can a job change over time?
Yes, the nature and scope of a job can evolve with time and circumstances.
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Nov 10, 2023
Are tasks always assigned by someone else?
Tasks can be self-assigned or given by someone else, like a supervisor or client.
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Nov 10, 2023
Do jobs define one's career?
Jobs often contribute significantly to one's professional identity and career path.
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Nov 10, 2023
Is a job title important?
Job titles can be important for clarity, professional identity, and career progression.
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Nov 10, 2023
Are tasks always clearly defined?
Ideally, tasks should be clearly defined, but this is not always the case.
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Nov 10, 2023
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About Author
Written by
Shumaila SaeedShumaila Saeed, an expert content creator with 6 years of experience, specializes in distilling complex topics into easily digestible comparisons, shining a light on the nuances that both inform and educate readers with clarity and accuracy.
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