Plodders, pragmatists, visionaries and opportunists: career patterns and employability

Citation

Clarke, M. (2010), "Plodders, pragmatists, visionaries and opportunists: career patterns and employability", Development and Learning in Organizations, Vol. 24 No. 4. https://doi.org/10.1108/dlo.2010.08124dad.010

Plodders, pragmatists, visionaries and opportunists: career patterns and employability

Article Type: Abstracts From: Development and Learning in Organizations, Volume 24, Issue 4

Clarke M.Career Development International (UK), 2009, Vol. 14 No. 1, Start page: 8, No. of pages: 21

Purpose – Explores individual approaches to career and employability through the career stories of a group of mid-level to senior managers in career transition. Career patterns are identified and then compared with traditional, boundaryless and protean models of career. The study aims to consider the extent to which individuals in this group had adopted behaviors supportive of future employability as opposed to behaviors more in line with traditional careers. Design/methodology/approach – Adopted an interpretive and qualitative approach. In-depth interviews were conducted with people currently going through a career transition program. The interviews were recorded and then transcribed, coded and analyzed using NVivo, a qualitative research software tool. Findings – Career patterns appeared to be shifting away from traditional careers and more towards protean and boundaryless models. There was evidence of increased responsibility for career self-management and of behaviors supportive of ongoing employability. Self-perceived employability could be linked to degree of job mobility and having a future career orientation. Research limitations/implications – Despite the small sample size and the subjective nature of self-reported career histories the study provides insights into the relationship between career patterns and employability. Both organizations and individuals need to work towards developing attitudes and behaviors supportive of employability such as flexibility, adaptability and a future career orientation. Practical implications – Individual level career management will need to focus more on the development of attitudes and behaviors appropriate to contemporary employment relationships than on the development of formal career plans. At an organizational level support can be provided by encouraging flexibility through activities such as job rotation, short-term projects and opportunities for both internal and external networking. Originality/value – The study provides empirical evidence of how careers are being managed within contemporary employment relationships.Article type: Research paperISSN: 1362-0436Reference: 38AG232

Keywords: Career development, Careers, Employment