problem 7 - career management

Question 1

career forms

bureaucratic career

Answer 1

views careers in the narrow sense of predictable moves to jobs of increasing states, usually within a single occupation or organization

Question 2

career forms

professional career

Answer 2

growth occurs through development of competence to take on complex tasks rather than through promotion to another job

status depends more on their reputation with other professionals or clients

Question 3

career forms

entrepreneurial careeer

Answer 3

rests on the capacity to spot opportunities to create valued outputs and builds up one’s own organization or operation

Question 4

objective vs subjective career success

Answer 4

earnings & promotions → objective career success
attitudes & feelings → subjective career success - e.g.measures of job satisfactions

many other factors as criteria of career success - e.g. personal infuence, recognition for achievements & working w intergrity

Question 5

career forms

boundaryless career

Answer 5

proposed due to changing context - a range of career forms that defy traditional employment assumptions
* careers are boundaryless in that, whether by choice or necessity, people move across boundaries between organizations, departments, hierarchical levels, function & sets of skills
* such movement is necessary for individuals to maintain employability & orgs to maintain effectiveness
* boundary between work & non-work is also broken down → bcuz people are more likely to consider job impacts on home life + bcuz more work done at home

Question 6

model of career success

Answer 6

shows the range of factors that might influence the objective & subjective career success a person experiences - factors can be divided into 3 types:
1. structural/social context - includes impersonal factors e.g. labor market + more personal factors e.g. bias & prejudice
2. features of the individual (aka human capital) - sig & meaning of these characteristics depends on how they are interpreted by others + how they influence the individual’s behavior
3. behavioral/event - concerns the individual’s behavior e.g. how much they network with other & how much effort they put into work

Question 7

role of social networks on career success

Answer 7

found 2 main influencing features:
1. structural holes → extent to which an individual’s contacts did not know each other
2. weak ties → extent to which the person had many contact they knew slightly, rather than a few they knew well

effective networks have both of these properties bcuz they allow the person access to many diff perspectives without getting attached to any of them

found that number of weak ties & structural holes predicted the number of contacts at higher levels → in turn influenced their career satisfaction but not salary or promotions

Question 8

what is a psychological contract

Answer 8

an individual’s belief regarding the terms & conditions of a reciprocal exchange agreement between that focal person & another party:
a belief that some form of a promise has been made & that the terms & conditions of the contract have been accepted by both parties

context of careers: psychological contract represents informal, unwritten understandings between employer & employee

Question 9

psychological contracts

relational vs transactional contracts

Answer 9

relational = a long-term relationship based on trust & mutual respect - due to global competition, new tech, downsizing, etc. many employers are not keeping their side of the bargain

→ causes a new deal to be imposed rather than agreed - is transactional rather than relational

transactional = not based on long-term relationship: much more like a short-term economic exchange - employer gives much less than what they would in a relational contract

Question 10

psychological contract

contract breach vs contact violation

Answer 10

breach → often thought of as the realization that what has been promised has not materialized

violation → the belief that a breach was deliberate, or neg emotional reaction to a breach

contract breach does not necessarily lead to reduced employee loyalty & commitment

Question 11

approaches to lifelong career development

4 career stages

Answer 11

1. exploration: of both self and world of work in order to clarify the self-concept and identify occupations which fit it - typical ages: 15-24
2. establishment: person finds a career field, and makes efforts to prove their worth in it - typical ages: 25-44
3. maintenance: concern now is to hold onto the niche one has carved for oneself - typical ages: 45-64
4. disengagement: characterized by decreasing involvement in work and a tendency to become an observer rather than a participant - typical ages: 65+

Question 12

approaches to lifelong career development

levinsons eras of adulthood - early adulthood

Answer 12

• early adult transition (17-22): person seeks a niche in the adult world
• stable phase entering the adult world (22-28): task is to explore various roles while keeping one’s options open
• age 30 transition (28-33): person appraises his or her experiences, and searches for a satisfactory lifestyle
• stable settling down phase (33-40): when that lifestyle is implemented
• midlife transition (40-45): lifestyle is reappraised, often with considerable urgency and emotion

Question 13

approaches to lifelong career development

levinsons eras of adulthood - middle & late adulthood

Answer 13

middle adulthood:
* age 50 transition (50-55): concern implementing and living with midlife decisions
* culmination of middle adulthood (55-60): concern implementing and living with midlife decisions
* late adult transition (ages 60-65)

late adulthood (ages 65-70)

Question 14

approaches to lifelong career development

levinsons eras of adulthood - implication for career management in organizations

Answer 14

if people are going to work effectively, the needs and concerns of their life stage should be taken into account

in early adulthood - ppl must be given the opportunity to integrate themselves into an organization and/or career + demonstrate their worth to themselves and others

in mid-career - may be necessary to provide opportunities for some people to retrain, perhaps in the light of a midlife reappraisal

Question 15

approaches to lifelong career development

nicholson’s transition cycle model of job change

Answer 15

proposed a transition cycle model of job change; four stages undergone by a person making a job change:
1. preparation
2. encounter
3. adjustment
4. stabilization

there is disjunction between stages; each stage has its own characteristics that differentiate it from the others

the stages are interdependent; what happens in one stage has implications for the next

Question 16

approaches to lifelong career development

nicholson’s transition cycle model of job change: preparation

Answer 16

the first stage - concerns what both individual and future employer can do before the individual starts the job
* both sides will try to make themselves seem as attractive as possible
* realistic job preview (RJP) - technique for helping an applicant have accurate expectations of the job, attempt to describe the job and organization as seen by those in it - includes bad points as well as good ones
* RJPs occur at preparation stage but benefits of RJPs are seen at the encounter and adjustment stages

Question 17

approaches to lifelong career development

nicholson’s transition cycle model of job change: encounter

Answer 17

second stage - task at this stage is for the newcomer to establish a ‘mental map’ of their new environment
* 6 types of info a newcomer needs to obtain: performance proficiency, people, politics, language, organizational goals & values & history
* active attempts by newcomers to find this information tend to be successful, → leads to better satisfaction, performance and commitment

Question 18

approaches to lifelong career development

nicholson’s transition cycle model of job change: adjustment

Answer 18

third stage - when the person has already developed an understanding of the work env → now seeks to use it to establish how to go about doing the job
* 3 orientations a person may adopt in a job: custodianship, content innovation & role innovation
* in the long run → role innovators are probably vital for societal advance
* in the short term → many work organizations claim to value content innovators
* but probably in truth they reward custodians more highly because they conform to the existing organizational culture
* extent to which the newcomer’s socialization was institutionalized or individualized influence whether a person became a custodian or an innovator

Question 19

approaches to lifelong career development

nicholson’s transition cycle model of job change: stabilization

Answer 19

the last stage - much of work psychology seems to be built on the assumption that people are in the stabilization stage
* yet the pace of change in the early twenty-first century is that many people spend little or no time in this stage before moving on
* those who do reach it and experience it for any length of time are presumably both sufficiently satisfied with their job and satisfactory to the organization in terms of their performance in it
* career plateau: the point in a person’s career where the likelihood of additional increases in responsibility is very low

Question 20

approaches to lifelong career development

transitions into work

Answer 20

tendency to assume that this transition is likely to be difficult for young people
* because they are entering an unfamiliar world, making important decisions about their future, and simultaneously making the transition from childhood to adulthood
* but most do this without undue stress
* role of wider factors that can influence the way they were brought up, and the opportunities available to them
* their task is to find work which suits them for the present and to continue their learning and expand their interests and abilities for the sake of their futures

Question 21

approaches to lifelong career development

transitions out of work

Answer 21

retirement is often a gradual disengagement from the labour force rather than a sudden change in status
* there is sometimes a gap between subjective and objective retirement
* retirement is often experienced quite positively, though not always

Question 22

stability of interests

Answer 22

study examined longitudinal data from age 12 to age 40 - found compelling evidence for the invariance of interests across time

the stability of interests increased with time, peaking at the age of 25-30 years, and dropping thereafter (slightly)

Question 23

gender differences in vocational interests

Answer 23

• women have significantly lower interest levels than men for technical and scientific jobs - opposite for design and socio educational jobs
• women preferred less structured, more creative, less task-oriented, and more permissive types of jobs, artistically or emotionally involving jobs

Question 24

person-environment fit

Answer 24

is the congruence between a person’s individual attributes and those of the environment - determines the level of job satisfaction and performance

people tend to search for environments that will let them exercise their skills and abilities and express their personality

Question 25

holland’s RIASEC model

Answer 25

posits that there are 6 types of interests for classifying both individuals & environments: realistic, investigative, artistic, social, enterprising & conventional

central aspect underlying interests is not the env or the individual’s personality disposition, but the level of congruence between the 2

Question 26

prediger’s 3 factor model

Answer 26

argued that RIASEC model could be reduced to a 3 factor model incorporating 2 dimensions for work tasks: ideas-data & people-things + 1 general factor of response bias

holland’s theory → circumplex model: each point defines the variable completely
prediger’s theory → structure conceptualizes more than one level per variable

Question 27

prediger’s 3 factor model

what are the 4 dimensions of work tasks?

Answer 27

1. people = encompasses interests & tasks characterized by high interpersonal contact (enterprising, social & artistic)
2. things = interests & jobs characterized by low interpersonal contact & typically impersonal in nature (conventional, realistic & investigative)
3. data = defined by concreteness and practicality (conventional & enterprising)
4. ideas = thinking, creativity & knowledge (investigative & artistics)

Question 28

gottfredson’s circumscriptions & compromise theory

Answer 28

argues that career choices are determined by a complex interaction between individuals’ self-perceptions & beliefs about jobs & their abilities, traits & available opportunities

theory enables one to make specific predictions about vocational choices:
* individuals will compromise jobs (and even fields) rather than move outside their circumscribed social status space
* individuals will compromise social status rather than move outside their circumscribed sexual space

Question 29

trait complex theory

Answer 29

attempts to integrate different constructs in differential psychology (personality, intelligence & interests) to better understand & predict learning outcomes like academic performance & knowledge acquisition

4 main trait complexes

Question 30

trait complex theory

what are the 4 main trait complexes

Answer 30

1. social: combination of extraversion & both enterprising & social interests - not coupled with any cog ability but represents individual differences in interpersonal skills
2. clerical / conventional: conscientiousness, high perceptual speed & traditional/conventional interests
3. science / mathematical: realistic interests, mathematical reasoning & visual perception ability
4. intellectual / cultural: crystalized abilities, creativity, openness & artistic interests

Question 31

types of careers

steady-state careers

Answer 31

a lifetime commitment to a single job

people who have steady-state careers are generally very satisfied with what they do
work at job for so long = become highly skilled experts

Question 32

types of careers

linear careers

Answer 32

sticking with a certain field & working your way up the occupational ladder - taking on greater challenges

the traditional path

Question 33

types of careers

spiral careers

Answer 33

where people evolve through a series of occupations, each of which requires new skills & that builds upon existing knowledge & skills

people w spiral careers are constantly growing & improving as they explore different facets of the same profession

typically spend about 7-10 years in each position → become pretty good at what they do

Question 34

types of careers

transitory careers

Answer 34

moving between many different unrelated positions, spending about 1-4 years in each

many people in transitory careers are those who have not discovered the kind of work that allows them to derive satisfaction

some people don’t find work the major source of fulfillment in their lives → make a career out of their hobbies

Question 35

what are career anchors

Answer 35

a person’s occupational self-concept based on their self-perceived talents, abilities, values, needs & motives

develop as you spend time working

Question 36

what are the 5 major career anchors

Answer 36

1. technical or functional → concentration on jobs focusing on specific content areas
2. managerial competence → focus on jobs that allow for analyzing business problems & dealing with people
3. security & stability → attraction to jobs that are likely to continue into the future
4. creativity or entrepreneurship → interest in starting new companies from visions of unique products or services, but not necessarily running them
5. autonomy & independence → attraction to jobs that allow for freedom from constraints & working at one’s own pace

Question 37

managing established careers

career plateau

Answer 37

is the point at which one’s career has peaked and is unlikely to develop further
* been in a particular job for 5+ years → considered immobile and to have reached a plateau
* assumption - employees whose careers have plateaued are no longer motivated or effective at their current jobs HOWEVER this isn’t always so
* can be a source of dissatisfaction for individuals who believe that the only path to contentment is via upward movement in the company

Question 38

managing established careers

career development interventions

Answer 38

used to avoid the problems associated with career plateaus and other career-related issues
systematic efforts to help manage people’s careers while simultaneously helping the organizations in which they work

examples:
* employees counseled to seek outside hobbies during periods in which their jobs offer little gratification
* encouraged to make lateral moves within the company in order to keep their work lives stimulating
* job posting systems and career resource centers through which employees can learn about new career options within their company

Question 39

managing established careers

making career changes

Answer 39

major reasons why people make sig career changes:
* either don’t like, or can’t succeed, at their chosen profession
* prospects are poor for future employment in their current occupation
* their needs or interests have shifted, requiring a life change

traditional way of making a major career change is by starting completely anew → can be difficult, both emotionally and financially

Question 40

managing established careers

advised way to make a career change

Answer 40

career experts advise making the changes in two steps to minimise disruption:
changing your occupation THEN changing your field of expertise
or vice versa