Final answer:
The term that describes the series of work-related positions a person holds throughout their life is 'career path'. This path is influenced by personal and external factors and can change due to economic shifts and personal decisions.
Step-by-step explanation:
The term that refers to a sequence of work-related positions occupied by a person throughout the course of a lifetime is career path. A career path includes the progression and milestones a person achieves in their occupational journey. Unlike job rotation, which involves varying one's tasks within the same company, or career ladder, which implies a hierarchical progression often within a single profession or company, a career path is more about the overall trajectory one takes in their work life, which can span across many jobs, fields, and industries. Career decisions are influenced by external factors such as the labor market, personal circumstances, societal expectations, and economic changes. Career inheritance is one way that careers can be shaped, as it references the tendency for children to follow in their parents' occupational footsteps. However, individuals have the personal agency to choose or change their career path over time, especially in a dynamic economic landscape where the idea of holding the same job for a lifetime is increasingly rare.