McJob, McCheque, McWonderful

'McJob' is sometimes used in a pejorative sense. But an examination of the job-creating ability of McDonald's, its policies towards its employees (including an emphasis on education and training) and its provision of the first rung on the employment ladder for many people suggests that this form of job should be regarded much more positively     

Project work as an antidote to career plateauing in a declining engineering organization

This is a study of the effects of becoming plateaued on the careers of professionals in a declining organization. An unusual “triple ladder” was studied, one with paths in administration and technical specialization (the two typical components of a dual ladder system), as well as project management (a general practice, technical generalist role). In contrast to earlier studies of plateauing, it was found that occupational characteristics mitigate the effects of plateauing. The plateaued technical specialists experienced the expected declines in job attitudes; however, in project management, and to a lesser extent in administration, it was the plateaued group whose career outlook was most positive. Interview data suggested that the critical factor operating here was not plateauing per se, but the extent to which learning is required and experience and acquired skills are utilized and recognized in the work role. Structural career opportunities, intrinsic job rewards, and recognition were all critical factors in mitigating the effects of the career plateau.     

试析大学毕业生初职选择模式及对职业发展的影响

"先就业"与"先择业"是大学毕业生选择初职的两种不同的模式,选择方式会受到各种因素的影响。初职选择模式的不同,对大学毕业生的初职状态和职业发展既有可能产生阶段性的影响,也有可能产生长久性的影响。高等院校和用人单位应当重视大学毕业生的职业发展,大学毕业生也应当以积极的心态和行为对待自身的职业发展,真正实现职业价值。     

A longitudinal analysis of search frictions and matching in the U.S. labor market

This paper takes a partial equilibrium on-the-job search model to a decade (1996–2006) of repeated cross-sections from the U.S. Current Population Survey. Each month, a set of parameters ruling worker mobility between labor market states and along the wage ladder is estimated using wage distributions and individual transitions. In particular, job-to-job mobility is decomposed into a voluntary component (on-the-job search) and an involuntary one (job reallocation). The resulting time series of transition parameters are first used in a longitudinal analysis of labor turnover and search frictions. Job reallocations are shown to be key in the acyclical behavior of the job separation rate, and in the procyclical behavior of the probability of changing job. Moreover, an index of search frictions is computed and shown to follow no cyclical pattern. The paper then turns to an estimation of the matching function with both unemployed and employed job seekers. The transition parameters from the job search model are used as weights in an aggregate indicator of labor supply. The inclusion of employed workers increases the estimates of the elasticities of the matching function with respect to its two inputs (labor supply and job vacancies).     

The interactive effects of organizational and leadership career management support on job satisfaction and turnover intention

In the organizational career management literature, scholars have focused on career management policies, with little attention given to practices that can vary within organizations. And despite its recognized importance, research on the role of leaders in the career management process is also scant. In this study, we investigate the effects of career management practices (OCPs) and leadership career support (LCS) on employee attitudes. Grounded on coping theory, we propose that career support received from line managers can be particularly consequential when OCPs are lacking. We analyze the moderating effects of LCS on the relationship between OCPs and both job satisfaction and turnover intention in a sample of employees from a large Brazilian organization, applying multiple regression analyses. Results showed that OCPs and LCS are positively related to job satisfaction and that OCPs are negatively related to turnover intention. In addition, we confirmed that LCS moderates the relationship between OCPs and both job satisfaction and turnover intention. Finally, we observed that the relationship between OCPs and turnover intention is mediated by job satisfaction. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.     

You're fired! What to do, how to cope, finding a new job

If you find yourself out of a job, do not despair. It has happened to the best and the brightest; you are not alone. If you have never lost a job consider yourself fortunate, but do not become complacent. It very well could happen to you sometime soon. Be prepared. Watch for the signs. And if it happens, remain the professional you have always been. There is always another, and probably better, job awaiting you.     

Employee recruitment and job search: Towards a multi-level integration

This study describes an attempt to develop an integrative model of job search and employee recruitment. Inevitably multi-level in nature, the model demonstrates the interplay between organizational-level factors and individual-level factors in influencing the outcomes of employee recruitment and job search activities. According to the model, influenced by job seeker and organizational characteristics, job search and recruitment activities jointly create job awareness, which is the first step in organizational attraction. Next, depending on the job seeker's current job situation, this attraction leads to job pursuit intention and behavior. The model also emphasizes the longitudinal nature of the process by which individuals gain employment. Finally, since each organization's applicant pool consists of job seekers with some common characteristics attracted to the same position, the model proposes that recruitment and job search can be examined by utilizing a multilevel framework.     

Turnover culture in the hospitality industry

Although turnover culture is considered to be a major problem in the hospitality industry, there is little to no research examining its influence on an employee's decision to stay or leave. This study attempts to address this deficiency by testing a causal model of employee intent to leave using a sample of 246 employees from six five-star accommodation hotels in Australia. The results indicated that turnover culture was the most important determinant of intent to leave, followed by the variables of job search behaviour, job opportunity, organisational commitment, union loyalty, job satisfaction, career development, routinisation, promotional opportunity, role conflict, and negative affectivity. Based on these findings various HR strategies are formulated, which have wider implications for the management of turnover in other work settings.     

浅谈高职院校毕业生求职技巧的训练与指导

在求职过程中,高校毕业生求职竞争越来越激烈,各方面的要求越来越高,掌握一定的求职技巧可以帮助毕业生更顺利的就业。本文主要阐述求职技巧训练与指导的重要作用,并针对高职院校毕业生的求职特点和现状,提出了求职技巧训练与指导的具体措施。     

The recruitment interview process: Persuasion and organization reputation promotion in competitive labor markets

With very low unemployment levels, competition for the best employees is extremely keen. Firms that strive to maximize job candidates' job offer acceptance should realize increased competitive advantage through more effective recruitment programs. It is clear that applicants are interested in job attributes and pay schemes, but in the current “seller's market,” pay and job enrichment levels may be considerably depreciated. This paper proposes a model of the recruitment interview process, which emphasizes organizations' strategic efforts to maximize the acquisition of top talent in competitive markets through interviewer persuasion and active promotion of organization reputation. Implications of this conceptualization for research and practice are discussed.     

Return-to-job during and after parental leave

Despite a rising career orientation among females and growing efforts of firms to alleviate work–family conflicts, female employees often find it difficult to combine career development with having children. Female careers appear more boundaryless than male careers, and gender differences in the sociological role model persist. Using exceptional longitudinal company data, this paper studies the return-to-job of female employees after first birth in the case of Germany with long Parental Leave coverage. Parental Leave durations often last for 3 years or longer. Our results show that more than 50% of those in Parental Leave do not return to their job afterwards. About 31% of female employees return to part-time work during Parental Leave, and among these, only 57% continue working in their job after the end of Parental Leave. And, having returned to their job after the end of Parental Leave, only 81% continue to work in their job one year after return. Furthermore, female employees have their first child, when their careers have been particularly successful. Overall, the evidence is consistent with the view that the birth of the first child and the experience of the subsequent work–life conflict can lead to a major reassessment of work preferences among female employees. Although a higher career orientation before birth is positively associated with a return-to-job, management must be aware that a sizeable share of female employees, even among the most career oriented and the most successful, may not return to their job after first birth.     

How human resource practices can help plateaued managers succeed

As organizations downsize to increase their competitiveness, flatter hierarchies result in fewer promotional opportunities and more plateaued employees. The definition of career success needs to move away from “up is good,” yet plateauing is still shameful for many employees due to traditional assumptions about the causes and effects of plateauing. A study of 373 middle managers suggests how “successful plateauing” (effective job performance, satisfaction with the job and life in general) can be fostered. The article provides specific examples of how best practices and new approaches in several human resource areas can help plateaued employees succeed. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

When expatriates explore other options: Retaining talent through greater job embeddedness and repatriation adjustment

This paper introduces the concept of job embeddedness to research on international assignments to help explain how the processes of expatriation and repatriation might lead to such outcomes as strengthened personorganization fit or career exploration. It develops a model with a related set of theoretical propositions, based on a comprehensive literature review covering international assignments, adult development and career theories, job embeddedness, and career exploration. The paper also presents implications for future research, as well as practical implications for assignment practices and career interventions for organizations trying to retain their valued repatriate talents and, thus, secure a greater return on their investments in talent development. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

The role of job assignment and human capital endowments in explaining gender differences in job performance and promotion

We test a job ladders theory of career progression within internal labor markets as developed by Lazear and Rosen (1990). The theory argues that gender promotion gaps are due to sorting of men and women into career tracks with different promotion opportunities based on ex ante quit probabilities. Analyzing US federal government employees using a dynamic unobserved panel data model, we find that job assignment is one of the strongest predictors of gender differences in promotion. We also find that women have to jump higher performance hurdles to promote across grades, but, within grades, their promotion probabilities are comparable to those of men. In this organization, women can be found in both fast- and slow-track jobs, based on their promotion history, suggesting that unobserved heterogeneity is revealed to the firm over the worker's career.     

Managing global talent: solving the spousal adjustment problem

Spousal adjustment issues, increasingly career related, are a major reason for expatriate assignment failure. Employer-provided spousal assistance programs have been proposed to address this situation. This field study of 238 expatriate spouses found that those who experience a severe disruption or cessation of employment have significantly lower interaction adjustment to the expatriate experience than others. For spouses with a career orientation to work, females had higher cultural and interactional adjustment than males. Only 18% of the spouses received employer-provided career assistance, and there was no significant difference in adjustment between spouses who received assistance and those who did not. Interviews with 100 spouses indicated that their greatest needs are for networking information to assist with their job search and for a ‘go to’ person for practical settling-in assistance.     

Emotional intelligence and career-related outcomes: A meta-analysis

The concept of emotional intelligence has spanned researchers' interest to a considerable extent over the last decades and is now considered as a critical resource that helps individuals to deal with career challenges. However, no empirical effort to integrate these studies has been carried out yet. The current research addresses this gap by proposing an integrated theoretical model and conducting a systematic review and meta-analysis of emotional intelligence and its associations with career-related outcomes. Out of a total of 150 independent samples from published and unpublished studies representing N = 50,894 participants, our random-effects meta-analysis showed that emotional intelligence was significantly related to career adaptability, career decision-making self-efficacy, entrepreneurial self-efficacy, salary, career commitment, career decision-making difficulties, career satisfaction, entrepreneurial intentions, and turnover intentions. However, no significant correlations were found with job search self-efficacy and self-perceived employability. Overall, our work conveys important theoretical contributions but also provides recommendations and an agenda for future research.     

The retraining and mobility motivations of key personnel: dependencies in the Finnish business environment

Key personnel's long-term commitment to an organization will soon become a fiction unless companies really begin to pay attention to improving it. To a great extent the cause of this development is the increasing uncertainty in the permanence of one's job, which leads those interested in career advancement to unexpected career changes. This paper studies the retraining and mobility motivations of 726 key personnel in Finnish companies, by endeavouring to discover possible correlations, on one hand, with the key person's background and set of values and, on the other, with various company-related factors. Most of those with both retraining and mobility motivations turned out to be dynamic young people either at the early or mid-stages of their career, although mobility motivation at least appeared to last throughout. Strong career commitment was linked with mobility motivation, whereas a commitment to personal and professional development was linked with retraining motivation. Thus, objective career development is promoted primarily by mobility, and subjective career development by retraining. Both motivations were linked with the company's poorly implemented career management programme. Consequently, companies should look upon this as an important covert personnel risk and endeavour to turn this into a personnel development opportunity through internal mobility or training, in order not to lose its key personnel with highest competence and development potential.     

Are contingent jobs dead ends or stepping stones to regular jobs? Evidence from a structural estimation

The proportion of part-time, dispatch, and temporary workers has increased in many developed economies in recent years. These workers receive lower average wages and benefits, and are subject to lower employment stability. This paper analyzes the effects of initially taking such jobs on the employment careers of young workers. We build an on-and-off-the-job search model, using Japanese data to perform a structural estimation of the model parameters and simulate career paths, in order to study the effects of the initial choice of employment on the probability of having a regular job in the future and on the welfare of the worker. We find that although contingent jobs are neither stepping stones towards regular employment nor dead ends, starting a career in a contingent job has a lasting effect on the welfare of the individual in Japan.     

The perception of teaching methods and the retraining of mature managers

The comfortable progression from the childhood perception of career through college or university to a job for life, is being shattered for many managers. Mid-life they are now being forced to change career and retrain. This paper looks at their perceptions of learning methods, often related to the choice of career and confirmed by both experience and actual training. The paper discusses how preferred individual styles can be classified according to their response to the Kolb Learning Style Inventory (LSI) and by their Egograms and offers advice on how the methods used for retraining can be tailored to individual perceptions.During the research study upon which this article is based, it was noted that the Kolb classification most often associated with senior managers (Assimilator), did not fall into what could be termed definable “personality type”.     

Career plateauing reactions: the moderating role of job scope,role ambiguity and participation among Canadian managers

The purpose of this study is to investigate the moderating effect and the interactive effect of job scope, role ambiguity and participation in decision-making on relationships between career plateauing and outcomes. A cross-sectional survey of 3,065 Canadian managers shows that these job characteristics can contribute to limiting the negative consequences associated with career plateauing. Moreover, in accordance with the theory of work–situation fit, some double moderating effects are found. The attitudes and behaviours of plateaued managers are significantly more positive when their job is richer and offers an opportunity to participate in decision-making. However, contrary to evidence in the literature, results show that reactions to career plateauing are more positive for managers who perceive that their job is richer and their role more ambiguous. Implications and directions for future research are discussed.