The Interplay Between Career Adaptability and Foreign Language Skills in an Unstable Labor Market

Abstract

Career adaptability is a soft skill that allows people to cope with professional tasks in an unpredictable labor market. Today's global labor market also requires language skills to facilitate employees' collaboration across linguistic boundaries. The chapter is built around a quantitative study with participants from a large public university in the south-eastern part of Central Europe, and it aims to analyze the connection between career adaptability, foreign languages, and personal traits. The results show significant gender differences regarding adaptability and the perceived role of foreign languages for employability and in one's career development, all in favor of girls. Concerning students' status as employed/unemployed, the tendencies regard only unemployed students' stronger confidence in and lower concern with the future. Career adaptability is predicted by foreign language anxiety, conscientiousness, openness to experience, and self-perceived FL proficiency. Some implications for teachers are presented at the end of the chapter.