Conceptualizing and evaluating career success

Abstract

SummaryWithin the vast literature on the antecedents of career success, the success criterion has generally been operationalized in a rather deficient manner. Several avenues for improving the conceptualization and measurement of both objective and subjective career success are identified. Paramount among these is the need for greater sensitivity to the criteria that study participants, in different contexts, use to construe and judge their career success. This paper illustrates that contextual and individual factors are likely to be associated with the relative salience of objective and subjective criteria of career success. Drawing on social comparison theory, propositions are also offered about when self-and other-referent success criteria are likely to be most salient. A broader research agenda addresses career success referent choice, organizational interventions, and potential cultural differences. This article maps out how future research can be more sensitive to how people actually do conceptualize and evaluate their own career success.

(Re)Constructing Career Strategies After Experiencing Involuntary Job Loss

“…job satisfaction). These objective and subjective sides are seen to be persistently dependent and this interdependence occurs over time (Arthur et al, 2005;Barley, 1989;Heslin, 2005).…”

“…Objective and subjective career outcomes may be assessed relative to personal standards (self-referent criteria) or the achievements and expectations of others (other-referent criteria) (Heslin, 2005). Self-referent factors reflect an individual's career-related standards and aspirations, whereas other-referent elements involve comparisons with others.…”

“…Self-referent factors reflect an individual's career-related standards and aspirations, whereas other-referent elements involve comparisons with others. Individuals can, therefore, evaluate their career success using self-referent and other-referent criteria drawn from both the objective and subjective domains, leading to four potential outcomes (Heslin, 2005):…”

“…All four locate their perceptions of career success within the objective domain (Heslin, 2005). In relation to career agency (Sullivan & Baruch, 2009), the three women have revised their assessment of their sense of control, with the trio feeling that their influence has deteriorated, with only Isobel expecting a future improvement.…”

“…Creed, DeJordy, & Lok, 2010;Ezzy, 2000;Watson, 2008), the aim is not to generalize the findings to a wider population. The objective is to gain insight into the complex nature of how this quartet (re)constructs their career identity when they reflect on the outcome of their career experiences (Heslin, 2005) following a period of employment discontinuity (Weick, 1995). The article argues that their experiences provide an excellent opportunity for studying occurrences of career (re)construction for two reasons.…”