The impact of international experience on objective and subjective career success in early careers

There is an ongoing debate in the literature on the long-term impact of international work experience on future career success. In this longitudinal study based on university graduates, we compare expatriates (n = 159), repatriates (n = 395) and domestic employees (n = 2697) with regard to their objective and subjective career success during the first five years of their careers. Results from propensity score matching and ordinary least-squares regressions show that expatriates and repatriates have a higher objective career success in terms of monthly wages. We further find a higher subjective career success for expatriates and male repatriates.     

The relationship of mentoring and network resources with career success in the Chinese organizational environment

The relationship of mentoring and network resources, the two components of social capital, with career success was investigated in a sample of 113 Chinese white-collar workers. The findings suggested that the prevalence of mentoring in the Chinese workplace is substantially higher than in the Anglo-Saxon workplace, and that Chinese employees do not distinguish their network ties or Guanxi into expressive and instrumental. These results were in line with the presumption that mentoring is an integral part of the Chinese culture and with the view that network ties or Guanxi in the Chinese society cannot exist in a purely instrumental form. In contrast to hypotheses, however, the findings suggest a limited relationship between social capital and career success. In particular, the amount of mentoring, participants reported they had received, was related to their intrinsic career success but not to their extrinsic career success; and the amount of network resources or Guanxi was related neither to extrinsic nor to intrinsic career success. These results were largely at odds with the accumulated knowledge on the benefits of social capital for career success. The findings are discussed with respect to the changing nature of the Chinese business and organizational environment, and their implications for human resource practices.     

Personality and salary at early career: the mediating effect of emotional intelligence

Abstract

This paper examines the role of emotional intelligence (EI) as a mediator in the relationship between salary at early career and personality. The longitudinal data was collected from a selected sample of 130 university graduates, who were in the early stages of their professional careers. The results of a path analysis indicated that salary was indirectly predicted by personality traits, as measured by the Big Five model. Salary was predicted by neuroticism (both positively and negatively), extraversion (positively), and openness (positively) via the EI dimensions following the causal chain: perception, understanding and emotional regulation. Our findings have suggested the advantages of using EI measures as a complement to more dispositional measures, such as ability or personality measures, for personnel selection and people development in organizations and have provided real practice with clear suggestions for improving HRM.     

Chinese professional immigrants in Australia: a gendered pattern in (re)building their careers

Few studies have investigated contemporary professional migrant women from mainland China to developed economies like Australia to understand their motives of migration and the strategy they may adopt to advance their careers. This paper fills part of this important research gap by investigating the career rebuilding experience of Chinese professional immigrants in Australia. It examines the motives of their migration, their career aspirations, the strategies they adopt to rebuild their career and the types of career they are rebuilding. It explores how the compounded effect of gender, race, immigration and family commitment may be articulated in the family and social relations, and how these factors affect women's career aspirations and outcomes. This paper concludes that whilst social capital is important for Chinese migrant women professionals who already possess a high level of human capital, to restart their post-migration career, cultural capital is crucial for their managerial career advancement.     

Evaluating the employability paradox: When does organizational investment in human capital pay off?

Abstract

The paper explores the notion of the employability paradox which notes that while organizations investing in the career and competency development of their workforce can benefit from higher performance, they also risk losing more employable staff to competitors. Building on contributions from social exchange theory and signalling theory, we develop a model exploring the circumstances under which investment in career development benefits employees and organizations. We test our model in a longitudinal study following graduates entering the labour market. Our results show that when organizations signal that they care about employees by investing in their career development and individuals are receptive to such signals and proactively seek to manage their careers, investment in career development has a positive impact on organizational commitment and intention to stay with one’s employer. Our findings indicate that the idea of the employability paradox is simplistic and lacks theoretical and empirical support.     

It's All About CareerSKILLS: Effectiveness of a Career Development Intervention for Young Employees

The aim of our study was to investigate the effectiveness of the CareerSKILLS program, a career development intervention based on career competencies and the JOBS methodology, which aims to stimulate career self‐management and well‐being of young employees. In a quasi‐randomized control trial, the effects of the program were tested in a homogeneous sample of young employees with intermediate vocational education (N_intervention = 112, N_{non‐intervention} = 61) and in a heterogeneous sample of employees from a special reintegration program (N_intervention = 71, N_{non‐intervention} = 41). Our results support the effectiveness of the intervention: participants of the CareerSKILLS program, versus a control group, showed increases in six career competencies (reflection of motivation, reflection on qualities, networking, self‐profiling, work exploration, and career control), self‐efficacy, resilience against setbacks, career‐related behaviors, perceived employability, and work engagement. These results provide empirical support for the effectiveness of the CareerSKILLS program. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Organizational career management practices and objective career success: A systematic review and framework

The theorization of the relationship between organizational investments in career development and individual success remains underdeveloped, and empirical tests of this relationship, which have been dispersed among several disciplinary areas, have produced inconsistent results. Addressing these issues, the purpose of this article is to propose a theoretical framework that illustrates why and how organizational career management practices translate into career success and under what circumstances the relationship is effective. Using a systematic review of empirical studies on career management practices and objective success, we identify three theoretical mechanisms - developmental, informational, and relational - and two groups of contingency factors that explain this relationship. Our framework advances the extant literature on organizational career management and provides suggestions to companies for designing effective career management systems.     

Developmental network structure and support: gendered consequences for work–family strain and work–parenting strain in the Australian mining industry

Developmental networks enhance career success through the support received by the protégé via the network structure. This paper extends developmental network research by exploring the extent to which strain is associated with developmental network structure and support in the Australian mining industry, a highly volatile and unique context. Our research tests the popular notion of ‘the more support you get, the better’ which is in need of further exploration in the developmental networks literature particularly in specific work contexts with strain (vs. success variables) as outcomes. Results indicate that bigger, broader networks with more career, psychosocial and role modelling support are not always beneficial for protégés in this context. A smaller network with a broader range of developers is associated with reduced work–parenting strain, but not work–family strain. Increased career support reduced work–family strain, but this was not the case for increased psychosocial support and role modelling support. Further, gender moderated the relationship between psychosocial support and work–family strain possibly due to token group effects.     

Education,Occupation and Career Expectations: Determinants of the Gender Pay Gap for UK Graduates*

Despite anti‐discrimination policies, women are paid 20% less then men in the UK. A large proportion of this wage gap is usually left unexplained. In this paper, I investigate whether the unexplained component is due to mis‐specification. Using a sample of recent UK graduates, I examine the role of choice variables (subject of study and occupation) as well as career expectations and aspirations. The evidence indicates that women are more altruistic and less career‐oriented than men. Career break expectations, for example, explain 10% of the gender wage gap in the favoured model. By omitting attitudinal variables, most studies are likely to overestimate the unexplained component of the gender wage gap. Women with a more traditional view concerning childrearing are also found to have less intensive search behaviour. Since aspirations may reflect perceived discrimination or social pressure, current legislations are unlikely to reduce the gender wage gap.     

Thriving and career outcomes: The roles of achievement orientation and resilience

This research investigated how and under what conditions thriving at work affects career attitudes and behaviors. Using an experimental design (n = 174), Study 1 found that the effects of thriving on career satisfaction, career commitment, and career engagement were mediated by career resilience. The positive effect of thriving on career resilience and the resilience‐mediated effects of thriving on career satisfaction, commitment, and engagement were stronger when achievement orientation was higher. Study 2 verified these findings with a survey of another sample of 296 employees. These studies offer important insights for human resource managers and career consultants or practitioners regarding what may enhance employees' career outcomes. Our findings imply that thriving‐enabling practices might be beneficial among highly achievement‐oriented employees.     

高校贫困毕业生职业生涯规划模式的构建

随着我国市场经济的发展和高等院校招生规模的不断扩大,大学生就业困难的问题日趋突出。而高校贫困毕业生作为毕业生中的一个特殊群体,如何让这个群体在大学期间能享受到与其他学生同等的待遇,不至于因为家庭经济原因而导致学习上面临种种的困难,是我们现在工作的重点之一,积极构建全方位、多层次高校贫困毕业生职业生涯规划是我们目前高校应着手进行的工作。     

Career capital development of self-initiated expatriates in Qatar: cosmopolitan globetrotters,experts and outsiders

This paper explores career capital development of self-initiated expatriates (SIEs) in the Middle East, reporting on data gathered in Qatar from 20 in-depth semi-structured interviews. The findings challenge the notion that self-initiated expatriation always leads to career capital accumulation, arguing instead that contextual features impact individuals' agentic efforts towards career capital accumulation and lead them to experience ‘career capital stagnation’. Qatarisation is the overarching influence on the status of SIEs in the country and places structural constraints that translate into limited organisational opportunities and support for SIEs. Individually, SIEs reside rhetorically within complex dualities characterised by feelings of cosmopolitanism and isolation. Whilst individuals narrate the context in utilitarian terms as a means to a broader aim of global experience, everyday practicalities of their work and life are problematised. Narratives of career capital development are organised in three themes: SIEs as cosmopolitan globetrotters (micro-individual level), SIEs as experts (meso-organisational level) and SIEs as outsiders (macro-country level). The paper contributes to broadening the discussion on the relationship between self-initiated expatriation and context, and its implications on careers. Empirically, it adds to our understanding of SIEs, in particular their experiences of career capital development in the highly regulated context of the Middle East.     

Are freelancers a breed apart? The role of protean and boundaryless career attitudes in employability and career success

Recent economic and organisational changes have fostered an increasing diversification of the workforce, among whom freelancers are an under‐represented population in the literature. This study aimed at examining the role of protean and boundaryless career, professional commitment, and employability activities in fostering freelancers' subjective career success. Data were collected via an online survey among a sample of 425 Italian freelancers and analysed through structural equation modelling. Results partially confirmed several hypotheses: higher self‐directed career management and boundaryless mindset predicted higher employability activities and professional commitment; moreover, employability and professional commitment acted as mediators between career attitudes and subjective career success. The study provides support for the importance of such variables to freelancers' career success, as well as for the significance of protean and boundaryless careers among nontraditional occupational groups. Interventions aimed at fostering such attitudes could support freelancers in improving their attainment of professional progress and perception of career success.     

Gender Roles and Organizational HR Practices: The Case of Women's Careers in Accountancy and Consultancy Firms in China

The Chinese finance industry has experienced significant expansion both within the state sector and into the private sector. Professional consultancy firms have also emerged as a result of the rising interest in the outsourcing of accounting and management services. However, the study of women's careers in the accountancy profession in contemporary China remains largely an uncharted territory. Drawing on data from 69 interviews with auditors in five firms, this article investigates the nature of work of external auditors in China and how women auditors view their work‐life choices and constraints. We explore the likely differences between male and female auditors in their career aspirations and the extent to which these self‐perceived differences are informed by social conventions of gender role, organizational practices, and personal preferences. The study has strong implications for human resource management in professional service firms in China, with particular reference to job design, work organization, career support, and work‐life balance initiatives. The study contributes to the debate on gender, employment, and career development in the accountancy profession in different parts of the world. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

专业技术人员职业倾向与职业成功关系实证研究

在目前专业技术人员流失率居高不下的背景下,管理专业技术人员职业倾向对有效发挥专业技术人员作用具有重要意义。本文围绕专业技术人员职业倾向与职业成功关系展开实证研究,发现专业技术人员呈现多样化的职业倾向,并不是以技能型及其相关的职业倾向为主导;同时发现专业技术人员的一些个人因素会影响其职业倾向和职业成功,不同的职业倾向会影响职业成功的不同方面。论文依据专业技术人员职业倾向特点及其对职业成功的不同影响,提出了保留和激励专业技术人员的建议。     

Developing and Utilizing Network Resources: Roles of Political Skill

This study examines the role of political skill in the development and utilization of network resources at the individual level. Drawing on the behavioural and network perspectives as well as political skill literature, we propose that political skill increases one's network resources (developing network), which will benefit his/her performance and career success. Moreover, political skill is hypothesized to strengthen the relationships between network resources and performance and career outcomes (utilizing network). A two‐wave study on a sample of 281 supervisor–subordinate dyads from six electronic firms in China confirms our hypotheses. Our examination of the dual role of political skill facilitates a better understanding of the networking process from the perspective of individual skill/behaviour, thus enriching the behavioural theory and network literature. Implications are discussed and directions for future research are suggested.     

Why Do I Feel Valued and Why Do I Contribute? A Relational Approach to Employee's Organization‐Based Self‐Esteem and Job Performance

Drawing on the relational perspective and self‐consistency theory, we theorize how relationships involving work‐centric, off‐work‐centric, and/or personal components can affect an employee's organization‐based self‐esteem and job performance in Chinese organizational contexts. Matched data were collected from a multi‐source sample that included 219 employee–supervisor dyads from a Chinese bank. Results based on hierarchical regression analyses reveal that a high‐quality relationship with a supervisor through work and off‐work domains (leader–member exchange and guanxi) is positively related to organization‐based self‐esteem. Organization‐based self‐esteem plays a mediating role in the relationship between guanxi and job performance. Additionally, career mentoring from a supervisor (a work‐centric relationship involving personal components) moderates the relationship between organization‐based self‐esteem and job performance.     

Contextualizing the career success of Arab women entrepreneurs

ABSTRACT

Drawing on institutional theory, this study gives voice to Arab women entrepreneurs. Through contextualization and in-depth, semi-structured interviews, I examine Lebanese women entrepreneurs’ conceptualizations of career success, the mechanisms they use to realize it and their overall awareness of it. According to the findings, the entrepreneurs experience career success as an act of disobedience against socially imposed cultural and gender mandates. Furthermore, career success evolves as a contextual, dynamic process that is culturally dependent but individually negotiated, interpreted and constructed using external and internal conceptualizations. In turn, these conceptualizations are intertwined with agency and unfold as a process at the intersection of gender, patriarchy and cultural values. Accordingly, I argue against reducing career success to static, objective and subjective criteria. Doing so undermines the complexity and processual nature of the construct and neglects the importance of cultural values in shaping the understanding and experience of career success in different societies. I also stress the importance of contextualizing women’s entrepreneurial experiences and demonstrate that Lebanese women entrepreneurs’ conceptualizations of career success reflect both Arab social-cognitive and normative institutions and their own agency.     

浅谈辅导员在大学生就业指导中的作用

新时代背景下,大学生的就业形势日趋严峻,毕业生的就业观也在逐步发生改变。辅导员是与大学生接触最为紧密的一个群体,在大学生就业指导中起着举足轻重的作用。研究新形势下辅导员在大学生就业指导中的作用,对于当前做好高校学生就业工作有重要的意义。本文就目前大学生就业现状,辅导员在大学生就业工作中的角色定位,以及辅导员如何发挥在就业指导工作中的角色作用等问题进行了相应的阐述。     

Working to live or living to work? Work/life balance early in the career

This article reports the findings of research that explored relationships between work/life balance, work/non‐work conflict, hours worked and organisational commitment among a sample of graduates in the early years of their career. It concludes that, although graduates seek work/life balance, their concern for career success draws them into a situation where they work increasingly long hours and experience an increasingly unsatisfactory relationship between home and work. The article discusses the causes and potential consequences of this predicament and in particular how work/non‐work conflict is linked to hours worked, the state of the psychological contract and organisational commitment. It highlights the role of organisations' policy and practice in helping to manage the relationship between work and non‐work and the development of organisational commitment through support for younger employees' lives out‐of‐work and effective management of aspects of the psychological contract.