Chapter 2

Changes in the
world of work
and careers

Learning outcomes

After studying this chapter you should be able to:

❱ Explain the key features of the Industry 4.0 workplace
❱ Explain the four elements and features of sustainable careers
❱ Differentiate between and explain concepts of career adaptation
❱ Explain the domains of employability capital

2.1 INTRODUCTION
The manner in which people’s careers develop within labour markets resembles an
ecosystem, ie a system comprising loosely coupled or interconnected actors, such as
individuals, employers, businesses, organisations, sectors, industries, nations and societies,
who are interdependent for their survival. The career ecosystem is embedded within a
larger constellation of economic, technological, political and social elements that influence
the career ecosystem (Baruch, 2015). The Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) is crafting a
drastically new and evolutionary ecosystem for work and careers.
Rapidly evolving technological innovation will continue to profoundly influence the career
ecosystem. The digital and the post-digital eras characteristic of Industry 4.0 have already
started to witness revolutionary and transformative changes, growth and decline in the
structures and nature of organisations, work, jobs and occupations (Hirschi, 2018; Lent, 2018).
The focus of this book is careers from an organisational perspective. In the organisational
career context, careers are managed simultaneously by individuals and their employers.

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 Chapter 2: Changes in the world of work and careers

Employees are taking greater ownership and agency of their career management whereas
organisations provide career development support to ensure the commitment, satisfaction,
performance and productivity of their employees. This chapter focuses on the digital-era
career ecosystem aspects of individuals and their careers in a changing, technology-driven,
organisational, employment market context. In Chapter 1, we noted the importance of work
in people’s life. Careers are made possible by the life-long search for, and engagement with,
decent meaningful work, which is of importance to employed, self-employed, unemployed
and underemployed individuals. A career is therefore a salient life element, one that is focused
on the working life of individuals. The career represents the evolving sequence of a person’s
work experience over time, including the process of development and growth along a path
of diverse experiences and multiple roles in one or more organisational and work context
within a specific sociocultural-economic-political-technological labour market space. In the
digital era (and post-digital era), organisations continue to be important sources of work
(whether they are the office or home, virtual or mobile) that offer the economic means for
survival, quality of life and psychological and career advancement through personal growth
and development opportunities (Baruch, 2015).
In Chapter 1, we noted that the changing meaning of work for individuals has the
following key characteristics (DeLoitte Insights, 2019; Intuit Report, 2020; McKinsey Global
Institute, 2015; 2016a; b):
❱ self-regulated career self-management, career agility, personal growth and development,
and an entrepreneurial mindset towards employment creation;
❱ business and digital savvy in creating, marketing and selling niche products and services
with real-time information at lower entry costs on digital platforms;
❱ life-long learning, agency, upskilling, agility and flexibility in adapting to change and
technology;
❱ work-life balance and integration in high-tech living and work community systems;
❱ autonomy, control and flexibility in independent, self-directed forms of work;
❱ value-driven product development and service delivery focused on the human experience
– ‘Am I using my strengths and capabilities?’; ‘Am I making a difference?’; ‘Do I add
value?’; and
❱ being able to move beyond what one wants to ‘be’ to what one wants and is able to ‘do’
for society, so one can find meaningful ways to develop and grow personal strengths and
capabilities that add value regardless of access to particular jobs.
Two of the key fears that individuals may face in the digital and post-digital era include, inter
alia, the following (Hirschi, 2018; Lent, 2018):
1. Fear: Digitisation will lead to the disappearance of work, as a result of automation and
the use of cognitive technologies and Artificial Intelligence (AI). Frey and Osborne (2013)
projected, for example, that a large number of jobs in office and administrative support,
sales, service and production might be automated in one or two decades from now.

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However, some studies show that not all the tasks of a job are necessarily automatable
and humans will need to perform some of them. Workers with higher educational levels
and higher income may be less likely to be at risk, whereas low-skilled and low-income
workers seem to be at risk (Hirsch, 2018).
Studies show that technological progress seems to increase job polarisation. For
example, middle-skilled jobs (eg office administration, machine operation) become
hollowed out, whereas lower-skilled service jobs (eg personal care, cleaning, security) and
high-skilled jobs (technical, education, management) increase disproportionally. This
happens because people who perform middle-skilled jobs tend to be pushed into lower-
paid and lower-skilled occupations, or they are pressurised to sustain their employability
and skills level through life-long learning and continued education in order to avoid this
fate (Hirschi, 2018).
The automation of parts of jobs by means of machines implies that the work that
remains for humans is generally more interpretive and service-oriented. Apart from
smart digital literacy, essential, higher-level human capacities, such as problem-solving,
data interpretation, communications and listening, customer service, empathy, teamwork
and collaboration, will rise in importance and be an integral requirement for people’s
employability. Because these higher-level capacities are not fixed tasks, as in traditional
jobs, organisations will be forced to create more flexible and evolving, less rigidly defined
positions and roles. Hybrid jobs that bring together technical skills, including technology
operations and data analysis and interpretation, with ‘soft’ (ie human) skills in areas such
as communication, service and collaboration, will be in high demand.
Hybrid jobs will be further extended and augmented by superjobs, which combine
parts of different traditional and hybrid jobs into integrated roles that leverage the
significant productivity and efficiency gains that arise when people work with smart
machines, data and algorithms. In the superjob, technology has drastically changed
the nature of the work and the job itself, which requires higher-level human skills and
capabilities (Deloitte Insights, 2019).
2. Fear: Technological progress will lead to mass unemployment, dehumanised work and
an increase in job loss. Although potential job loss, including unemployment and
underemployment, due to automation does occur, the potential for new jobs that emerge
because of entrepreneurial and technological savvy in the creation of new occupations and
industries may be underestimated (Hirschi, 2018; Lent, 2018). As an example, take the
gig economy (ie the matching of businesses with workers willing to engage in temporary,
contract and freelance work). It includes crowdwork and work on demand via smart
mobile technology and apps, which has increased the number of independent workers
(ie workers who exhibit a high degree of autonomy and self-regulated control regarding
work assignments, who are paid by task, assignment or sales, and who have a short-term
relationship with the customer: Lent, 2018; McKinsey Global Institute, 2016a; b). At the
same time, the extent and speed of smart technological possibilities may be slowed down

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 Chapter 2: Changes in the world of work and careers

by ethical, legal and societal resistance to the provision of services by machines and robots
(AI) (Arntz et al, 2016).
Generally, automation removes routine and transactional jobs that take up human
energy and time. As a consequence, this means the jobs that people will do will be more
‘human’, which means that the role of people in a job will rise in importance and value.
Ultimately, the value of automation and AI will lie in the ability of machines and robotics
to augment the higher-level capabilities of the workforce, by enabling human work to
be reframed in terms of higher-level problem-solving, innovation and new knowledge
creation (Deloitte Insights, 2019).
Some of the challenges that South African organisations currently face in an increasingly
technologically sophisticated world include the low-education level and skills base of
the labour force. Although the national skills development legislative frameworks were
established to address the sustainability of the labour force’s employability in Industry 4.0,
South Africa continues to be challenged by low productivity and limited technological
innovation in the workplace. Socioeconomic challenges, and inadequate education and
training pertaining to the development of the higher-level skills demanded by Industry
4.0, limit the digital transformation of workplaces, future employability and mobility of
the workforce. In South Africa, the availability of economic resources, skills development
challenges and further higher-education demands will remain important obstacles to
overcome if the workforce is to be empowered to manage their employability and create
opportunities for themselves to craft a decent living in the digital and post-digital labour
markets (Coetzee, Botha, Kiley & Truman, 2019).
Given the profound changes that will continue to exponentially escalate in the digital era
(and post-digital era), it is important to review some of the key features of the workplace of
Industry 4.0 and beyond, and their implications for careers.

2.2 THE WORKPLACE OF INDUSTRY 4.0 AND BEYOND

Certain features seem to characterise the workplace of the digital era:
❱ Organisations are becoming self-driven, agile and data-driven. The self-driven organisa-
tion recognises the importance of creating a culture that rewards self-empowerment
and self-directedness through true empowerment practices and enabling technologies.
Agility and adaptability are core competencies regarded as being crucial for thriving in
the digital-driven workplace. Employees need to be able to learn, unlearn and relearn at
lightning speed to keep pace with unprecedented technological change. Organisations
and their employees are data-fluent; they understand the value of using data to gain
deeper insights into evolutionary, technology-driven organisational complexities and
transformative decision-making processes (Kohl & Swartz, 2019).
❱ The worker of the digital era prefers a flexible, collaborative, meaningful and unconstrained
workspace that upholds a continuous, agile learning culture. Digital-era workers make
meaningful contributions within virtual workspaces. They are not necessarily concerned

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 Careers: An organisational perspective

with the place they work for, or the workforce they belong to; they are autonomous,
self-determined workers who prefer remote and flexible interactions made possible by
technology-driven communication and collaboration tools (Kohl & Swartz, 2019).
❱ Jobs for life are a thing of the past. Agile, boundaryless careers, protean career mindsets,
life-long learning for sustained employability, and gig-economy-oriented, independent,
multiple project-based assignments, roles and work opportunities are becoming the
norm. Work (and the career) is seen as a sequence of evolving multiple job roles (even
if the individual stays in the same position or within the same company). Agile digital-
era workers focus on job tasks and assignments as short-term, high-impact projects and
rapidly evolving multiple roles that help build incremental knowledge and new higher-
level competencies that showcase their employability. The career is thought of as a series
of meaningful work projects and evolving roles that enhance personal and professional
growth and development, and maximise personal creativity, growth and happiness
(Konstant, 2020).
❱ Growing skills shortages globally made the leveraging and management of the traditional
pool of workers along with ‘alternative workforces’ essential to business growth and
sustaining a competitive advantage in the Industry 4.0 business market. The alternative
workforce includes outsourced teams, contractors, freelancers/independent workers
(who are typically paid by the hour, day or other unit of time), gig workers (paid for
tasks or specific pieces of work) and the crowd (outsourced networks of workers who
compete to participate in a project and who are often paid only if they are among the top
participants in the competition) (Deloitte Insights, 2019). Table 2.1 below summarises
some examples of typical alternative forms of work in Industry 4.0, which were identified
by the McKinsey Global Institute (2016a,b). People may become independent workers
by preferred choice (ie they actively choose this working style as their primary source of
income or to supplement their income), or out of necessary choice (ie they would prefer a
traditional job but are forced to derive their primary income from independent work or
they have a traditional job but are financially strapped and have to do side jobs to make
ends meet) (McKinsey Global Institute, 2016a,b).
❱ Employees will increasingly play a significant role in the way in which they perform
their jobs. Job crafting may become an important feature of workplaces as the human-
technology interface continues to offer options for employees to modify their jobs in order
to better align the job with their personal needs and characteristics. Job crafting occurs
when jobs are modified and augmented with technological tools, based on employees’
own specific high-level knowledge, skills, abilities and motivations (Lazazzara, Tims &
De Gennaro, 2018 McKinsey Global Institute, 2016).
❱ Alternative workforce jobs utilise workers’ unique sets of skills and help to grow their
work experience while enabling them to maintain autonomy and control in regulating
their broader life balance (ie integrating and enriching their life through their work).
Organisations tend to have fewer full-time employed workers and instead upscale

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 Chapter 2: Changes in the world of work and careers

temporarily by hiring part-time and contingent workers (ie alternative workers) to meet
critical skills demands and additional business needs that arise through strategic and
operational projects. The on-demand talent and expertise of the alternative workforce
help address the global shortage of skills crisis and the flexibility of this workforce means
it is able to bridge the talent gap at a competitive price. Industry 4.0 will intensify the
need for talent and provide an abundance of opportunities for learning and development
through the creation of new jobs made possible by technological innovation. However,
some jobs may be obliterated, which may widen the skills gaps, raise unemployment and
increase the risk of sudden skill irrelevancy (Kohl & Swartz, 2019).
❱ Human Resources will increasingly utilise Artificial Intelligence (AI), ie machines
that can imitate intelligent human behaviour, to create a personalised employee and
customer experience that enables organisations to understand and deliver on the real
needs of employees and customers (Kohl & Swartz, 2019). For example, the Industry
4.0 workplace will use AI platforms that enable hyper-personalised learning by means
of automated learning- and training-needs assessment and automated feedback
reports against a pre-determined set of skills. Workers will contribute to the content
of a personalised developmental curriculum. Cyclical reassessment will reinforce a
continuous, personalised developmental loop as an aspect of the self-driven, agile, digital
learning culture.
❱ AI will automatically and scientifically test, track and match employment (person-job
fit) based on job-incumbent requirements (ie competencies, personal characteristics,
capabilities, experience, learning and skills) and the ideal future profile for the ideal
potential future career paths. Career development can include generic interventions
and learner-specific learning modules with learning outcomes matched to the required
skills development (Kohl & Swartz, 2019). Computers have the advantage that they store
large amounts of data, generate consistent algorithms, can avoid humans’ motivational
biases, and can gather relevant data as part of the worker’s digital footprint, without the
need to complete, for example, additional personality measures. Career-relevant data (for
example, values, interests and work experience capabilities) can be gathered as part of
people’s online behaviour. Chatbots (ie AI that simulates human dialogue) can be offered
as real-time, on-demand tools for career coaching, interpreting assessment results,
checking on the progress of gathering career information and giving guidance on career
options (Lent, 2018;).
❱ The increasing use of AI, cognitive technologies and robotics to automate and augment
work is prompting the redesign of jobs in various domains. Jobs have become more
machine-powered and data-driven, and they require more high-level human skills in
problem-solving, communication, interpretation and design, including a unique mix of
high-level competencies that organisations and workers should continuously develop and
upskill. The Industry 4.0 human capabilities comprise (1) intrapersonal, (2) interpersonal,
(3) interdigital and (4) intradigital competencies (Kohl & Swartz, 2019).

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1. Intrapersonal competencies: ability to build cognitive categorisations of objects,

events, observations or ideas that are logically linked; critical thinking skills; general
knowledge of the finance, business and economic industry, concepts and terms;
cognitive agility (ie flexibility in switching between different cognitive functions);
analytical thinking (ie ability to use mathematical algorithms and concepts to solve
analytical problems); emotional resilience; emotional regulation; complex problem-
solving ability.
2. Interpersonal competencies: ability to build and sustain good, constructive inter-
personal relationships; ability to appropriately display emotions (emotional labour);
effective communication skills in the exchange of information.
3. Interdigital competencies: ability to effectively manage interactions with digital
solutions (interdigital relationship capability); ability to engage with a digital culture
(ie incorporate the digital world in all aspects of day-to-day life); digital affinity (ie
tendency to use a digital solution or device as a preferred tool to perform a task); digital
familiarity (ie ability to effectively use the latest digital solutions and devices).
4. Intradigital competencies: tendency to comply with the rules of engagement, policies,
procedures, practices and ethics required by legislative frameworks; administrative
capabilities (ie efficiently organise and structure tasks; digitally assimilate and
disseminate information; plan, file and arrange work digitally while adhering to
deadlines).
❱ Modern-day, flatter organisational structures create a greater need for internal talent
mobility, which is a key leverage for sustaining a competitive business advantage. The
advent of tighter talent markets, and the need for many organisations to globalise their
operations as they expand into the fast-growing economies of Asia, the Middle East and
Africa, also force organisations to create career support programmes for the enterprise’s
own workforce and internal talent market. These programmes focus on improving
internal talent mobility by moving workers more effectively among jobs, projects and
geographies. An internal talent mobility strategy helps to embed collaboration and agility
into the organisation’s culture and improves employee engagement and commitment.
Such internal career programmes help employees reskill themselves for new positions
and job roles within the organisation. Companies typically invest in an interactive,
analytics-based technology solution that allows workers to explore and access alternative
roles and career paths across the company. Active, open, internal talent mobility grants
access to diverse skills sets, backgrounds, expertise and experiences held by the workers
of the company (Deloitte Insights, 2019).

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Table 2.1 Examples of alternative forms of work in Industry 4.0

INDEPENDENT FORMS OF WORK EXAMPLES

Primary earning ❱ Cleaning houses or offices for multiple clients
❱ Freelance editor

On-demand work ❱ Űber driver

❱ High-school teacher who does private tutoring

Temporary work ❱ IT expert hired for three months by a large

corporation
❱ Two-month placement through a temporary
agency

Small businesses ❱ Interior designer

❱ Psychologist, psychometrist, coach or therapist
with own practice

Selling goods ❱ Selling handmade pottery or paintings on social

network platforms or the Web
❱ Renting one’s holiday home on Airbnb

OTHER FORMS OF WORK EXAMPLES

Permanent employment ❱ Full-time employee in a traditional type of job
❱ A ‘mini-job’ as a dishwasher in a restaurant
❱ Company employee contracted out to a client
❱ A full-time employee who telecommutes
❱ Full-time employment with a cleaning service that
has a contract with a hotel
❱ Full-time employment for a security company that
has a contract with a business
❱ Part-time employee

Long-term contracts or fixed ❱ A 36-month contract working a regular 40-hour

working schedules week

Long-term asset renewals ❱ Having a tenant on a yearly lease

Occasional selling of used goods ❱ Selling old furniture or sports or other valuable
goods on eBay

Source: Authors’ own work based on McKinsey Global Institute (2016a,b).

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Activity
Review the case of McDonald’s. In 2015, digital technology enabled McDonald’s to
install kiosks where customers could quickly customise their hamburgers. One occasion
involved the 2015 Super Bowl football championship. McDonald’s used social media to
give away products that related to the commercials they aired throughout the game.
It was important for McDonald’s to be able to respond immediately (in real time) to
consumers and actively monitor social media trends in real time. The effort was a success
and drew over 1.2 million retweets, including some from high-profile celebrities, such as
Taylor Swift (Petersen, 2016).
Reflect on the influence of digital technology on your personal work and life situation.
Think, for example, of how technology has opened up new possibilities in shopping,
leisure, social networking, employment, learning and education.

Although developing countries such as South Africa are incrementally adjusting to the
challenges and demands of Industry 4.0, exponentially accelerated technological innovation
is already setting new trends that will shape the workplace of businesses over the next years.
Post-digital companies are already seeking new ways to differentiate themselves in the post-
digital era. These companies are already investigating the next generation of technologies,
such as AI, distributed ledgers like blockchain, extended reality and quantum computing,
to reimagine entire digital industries. The digital era demands that companies master the
combination of social, mobile, analytics and cloud (SMAC) in their business-technology
strategies and processes. The post-digital era represents digital maturation, that is, people
and companies will have mastered digital technology. Failure to complete a mastery of SMAC
will leave businesses and their workforce unable to serve even the most basic demands of a
post-digital world (Accenture Technology Vision, 2019:9).
Technology is creating a world of intensely customised and on-demand experiences
in momentary market spaces. Every moment (in real time) will represent a potential new
market; technology functions as the fabric of reality and companies can use it to meet people
and customers wherever they are, at any moment in time. One example that comes to mind
is [Link], an e-retail platform and one of the fastest-growing companies in China. [Link]’s
‘toplife’ platform sets the company radically apart by offering a service that helps third
parties sell through JD by setting up customised stores for unique shopping experiences
(Accenture Technology Vision, 2019).
Workforces in the post-digital era will become human-plus workers who perform
superjobs. They will be empowered by their high-level skillsets and knowledge as well as a
new, constantly growing set of capabilities made possible through technology. Technology
designed specifically for human behaviour will shrink the gap between effective human
and machine co-operation and expand the quality of work experience and effectiveness
of technology-based solutions. For example, imagine training and learning settings of

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 Chapter 2: Changes in the world of work and careers

the future in which audiences (learners) live inside digital, movie-like situations and
narratives, fully immersed in fictional worlds, through virtual reality. Human-like artificial
intelligence (AI) characters respond, anticipate and react to the choices of each audience
member (learner) and payments are facilitated seamlessly by distributed ledger technology
(Accenture Technology Vision, 2019).

2.3 SUSTAINING CAREERS IN THE CHANGING WORLD OF WORK

A sustainable career is one that is successfully integrated into the broader life domain, that
is, a meaningful balance is achieved between work- and family-related aspects of life in a
manner that fits with one’s core work, career and life values (Greenhaus & Kossek, 2014).
Individuals remain healthy, productive, satisfied and employable, and feel secure to meet
economic and quality-of-life needs. The sustainable career is characterised by flexibility
and an agility in adapting to changing needs and interests that are aligned with changing
employment contexts. The sustainable career is continuously renewed through proactive
career self-management, and characterises meaningful individual growth and development
over the lifespan (Van der Heijden & De Vos, 2015).
The changing nature of careers in Industry 4.0 and beyond highlights four elements of the
‘new’ type of career: the time frame of careers, the social space of careers, agency in career
management and the meaning of a career for individuals (Baruch, 2015; Hirschi, 2018;
Lent, 2018; Van der Heijden & De Vos, 2015). These four elements characterise the
sustainable career of the new decade, which is described as the sequence of individuals’
diverse set of career experiences reflected through a variance in continuity over time, across
several social spaces and characterised by individual agency and sense of meaningfulness
(Hirschi, 2018; Schreuder & Coetzee, 2016; Van der Heijden & De Vos, 2015).

2.3.1 Time frame of careers

People’s careers are shaped over time. In Industry 4.0 and beyond, careers do not have a
predictable length and order of sequences. Planning and timing, in terms of where one will
work and how long one will work in a specific workspace and organisation, will decrease in
predictability. People will experience more frequent transitions and uncertainty in terms of
career paths and occupations because of exponential changes in the nature of jobs and work.
Careers will be made up of shorter-term sequences and people will have to become flexible,
agile and entrepreneurial regarding their careers. Technological innovation in workplaces
and jobs and greater workforce mobility in global and virtual workspaces have made room
for more options and opportunities to shape one’s career over a lifetime. Shorter-term career
sequences may, for example, comprise portfolio and composite forms of careers.
The traditional and alternative workforce of the future will encounter traditional and
non-traditional forms of work opportunities that will involve frequent transitions across
and within four major streams of careers (see Table 2.2 below): (1) the company world,
which involves traditional organisational careers; (2) free-floating professionalism, which
involves individuals as specialists who have close relationships with one customer at a time;

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(3) self-employment through entrepreneurialism, which involves individuals having several

customers simultaneously who do not change rapidly; and (4) chronic flexibility, which
involves frequent job changes, radical professional transitions and a great diversity of tasks.
The digital transformation of jobs and occupations will exponentially give prominence to
the career stream of chronic flexibility, which will require career self-management, career
agility and adaptation capabilities from individuals (Coetzee, 2019; Latzke, Schneidhofer,
Pernkopf, Rohr & Mayrhofer, 2015).

Table 2.2 Four major career streams

CAREER STREAM DESCRIPTION

Traditional Traditional forms of employment in the company world
organisational careers
Free-floating Independent forms of work – individuals are employed or
professionalism contracted as specialists and have close relationships with one
customer at a time

Self-employment Independent forms of work – individuals are entrepreneurs in

crafting new forms of alternative employment (ie their own
businesses) involving several customers simultaneously who do
not change rapidly

Habitual flexibility Independent forms of work – individuals are employed or

contracted for multiple projects and roles across various, often
boundaryless, workspaces. They experience frequent job
changes, radical professional transitions and a great diversity of
tasks and roles

Source: Authors’ own work.

Individuals are likely to experience having more than one working role and holding more
than one job, implying that they will have to manage their time between these different
roles, companies, locations, clients, teams and schedules. Work in a boundaryless, de-
jobbed organisation is repackaged into projects and assignments and individuals are likely
to be doing several at once (Schreuder & Coetzee, 2016). This composite work life forces
individuals to manage their own time and efforts in the way a self-employed person with
several different clients does (Bridges, 1995; McKinsey Global Institute, 2016a,b). In 2010,
Meister and Willyerd predicted that building a portfolio of contract jobs would be the
path to obtaining permanent full-time employment. Prospective employees would become
more comfortable starting with a portfolio career by working on several projects for several
different employers at the same time. The path to full-time, permanent employment might
first include an unpaid internship, and then a series of project-based assignments obtained
via social networks or through search agents gleaning websites for work.

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The composite career is a way to express those parts of one’s multiple possible selves that are
excluded from the narrow world of one job for life. For example, Jackie is a professionally
registered dietician with her own practice. She is also a successful painter and photographer.
In her case, her trained profession is a sideline and her creativity is her vocation. She leaves
her studio two mornings a week to drive to an office she shares with a medical health clinic
to see her patients. As a professionally registered dietician, she kept her practice going
while she made the transition to her artwork. Now that her art sells well, she keeps the
practice going to give her the opportunity to express all of her talents and skills (Schreuder
& Coetzee, 2016).
Not all ventures develop significant financial value or even become stand-alone businesses.
This may be almost invisible to the people at the organisation where the person has a regular
job. For example, an executive accountant in a large company is a tax consultant on the side,
although few of his colleagues know it (Schreuder & Coetzee, 2016).
Whatever the motivation and the circumstances, the composite and portfolio career is a
significant part of today’s work world. Even after the job became a dominant work paradigm
in the industrial era (as explained in Chapter 1), upper- and lower-income workers kept
their composite careers — the latter because they needed them to survive, and the former
because their mix of leisure, social responsibility and wide experience gave them multiple
points of concern and influence. Only middle-income workers gave up the composite career,
but today even they are returning to it (Schreuder & Coetzee, 2016).
In the 2020s, people create careers across a wide range of possibilities. They can no longer
afford to limit themselves to only taking or passing up one or two jobs. People are much
better off composing their careers according to the myriad possible selves that they could be
by expressing and using the unique skills and talents they have in various creative ways. For
this reason, workers in the 21st century will stop thinking of themselves as ‘having’ a job.
They will increasingly adopt a protean and boundaryless mindset and think of themselves
as ‘experimenting’ with work opportunities and diverse projects that allow them to discover
more about themselves and live meaningful lives — lives that are in line with their unique
life purposes (Coetzee, 2007; Schreuder & Coetzee, 2016).

2.3.2 The social space of careers

Individuals pursue meaningful and decent work within a particular social context that
provides certain career experiences. The career takes shape at the intersection between
(1) the environment (eg an organisation) that provides career and work opportunities, and
(2) the person with specific needs, talents, motives and interests that add to the performance
and sustainability of the organisation. Factors situated within the organisation and factors
that stem from individuals’ life spheres (ie family, culture, community) influence the
direction, duration, sequence and nature of careers over time. People’s careers are currently
situated within a broader societal context that has become boundaryless and more complex
because of, inter alia, increasing globalisation, technological evolution and the concomitant
exponential changes in the nature of jobs and occupations.

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The boundaryless career is characterised by a high degree of personal flexibility and

psychological and physical mobility between, across and within organisations on a
global scale (Hirschi, 2018). People with a boundaryless career mindset do not follow
the traditional intra-organisational career path. They set their own career agenda and
accordingly attach more importance to subjective career success (Verbruggen, 2012:294).
Research by Verbruggen (2012) among 837 business graduates in Belgium revealed that
psychological mobility, which includes a boundaryless mindset, resulted in higher wages
and more promotions (objective career success criteria) but lower subjective career success.
Having an organisational mobility preference (ie an organisational boundedness mindset)
led to fewer promotions, lower job satisfaction and lower career satisfaction.
In practice, the dichotomy between traditional careers and boundaryless careers
may not be as clear as in theory. As a so-called boundaryless career merges with various
organisational contexts without boundaries, new structures in the career emerge that again
present boundaries. The boundaryless career should be seen as an atypical career rather
than a prototypical career (Dany, 2014). Careers are by definition contextually specific
and socially embedded (Dany, 2014). ‘Boundarylessness’ therefore cannot necessarily be
applied to all occupations and work settings. It may be applicable to technical occupations
and knowledge-based and professional occupations, but not necessarily to the boundaries
that affect middle managers in medium-sized organisations. Although boundaries in
organisations and in individual careers have weakened, individuals will inevitably encounter
external, unobvious or subjective boundaries within themselves that define career context,
choices and development (Inkson, 2008; Schreuder & Coetzee, 2016).
Generally, individuals’ careers are no longer confined to a single setting or only a few
employment changes over time. While technological evolutions bring more options and
opportunities and expand the amount of choices individuals have to make across life
spheres, they also bring an ever-increasing amount of unpredictability, uncertainty, periods
of job loss and job insecurity, underemployment and unemployment.

2.3.3 Agency in career management

Careers have become more independent from organisations than the traditional
organisation-based career was, with its predictability, long-term contracts and stable
advancement paths. Individual agency has now become key to continued career success
and sustainability. The individual is seen as the primary owner of the career and not the
organisation in which the career is pursued. However, the organisation has the responsibility
to create the support conditions in which employees’ career goals and aspirations can be
realistically achieved. Individuals have a greater need to integrate their career decisions with
other life domains. Agency in career management requires the development of important
career self-management capability to help sustain the career in uncertain and unpredictable
societal contexts.
The 2020s have introduced the reality of the influence of accelerated technological
innovation in the new work environment. It is now often stated that we tend to overestimate

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the effect of technology on the workplace and careers in the short run and underestimate its
effect in the long run. The following advert appeared in the mid-90s on the noticeboard of
a company that had laid off workers, and it still rings true for the contemporary and future
workplace. This illustrates the reality of the new work environment and it should inspire
individuals to take control of their careers:

We can’t promise you how long we’ll be in business.

We can’t promise you that we won’t be bought by another company.
We can’t promise you that there will be room for promotions.
We can’t promise that your job will exist until you reach retirement age.
We can’t promise that the money will be available for your pension.
We can’t expect your undying loyalty and we aren’t sure we want it. (Hall & Mirvis,
1995a:326)

The expectations above characterised the traditional working relationship in which the
employee offered loyalty, trust, conformity and commitment to the organisation in return
for job security, promotional prospects and training opportunities. A different working
relationship, which emphasises individual responsibility (agency), employability and a
broader range of transdisciplinary or transferable skills, is becoming increasingly evident.
The sustainability of employees’ careers will now stem from mutual benefits for individuals
and organisations, as well as mutual benefits for individuals and their broader life contexts.
The 2020s may see the rise of the so-called entrepreneurial career, which reflects a form
of career agency on the part of the worker in crafting self-employment and independent,
alternative forms of work (Schreuder & Coetzee, 2016). Self-employment requires a great
willingness to take action, experiment and constantly innovate. Decisive and innovative
actions are required to respond to changing market conditions on a continuous basis. The
self-employed person can be regarded as an entrepreneur. For this reason, self-employment
is often referred to as the entrepreneurial career. Entrepreneurship is a form of human
agency that is seen as a proactive and productive (ie protean) response to new demands and
challenges imposed by the changing work environment. Entrepreneurship is on the increase
across the world, and many young people will be self-employed at some point in their career
(Obschonka, 2014).
Entrepreneurship (or following an entrepreneurial career) means managing a business of
one’s own, which requires personal sacrifice, innovation and the desire to produce something
society needs. Successful entrepreneurs have the following skills and aptitudes (Greenhaus,
Callanan & Godshalk, 2010):
❱ They have developed good persuasive powers;
❱ They are good problem-solvers and generally good decision-makers;
❱ They know how to manage their time, having developed the habit of being organised and
systematic;
❱ They know how to handle information effectively and can resolve conflict;

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❱ They are willing to take calculated and intelligent risks; and

❱ They have developed effective business management skills.
Successful entrepreneurs generally display the following qualities and personality traits:
❱ autonomy and independence;
❱ desire to achieve, to be successful;
❱ high initiative and self-leadership;
❱ flexibility;
❱ creativity;
❱ the ability to cope with adversity and change;
❱ self-confidence;
❱ a commitment to their goals and life purpose;
❱ an optimistic mindset;
❱ high levels of motivation; and
❱ a positive outlook on life.
The typical attitudes and values of successful entrepreneurs are:
❱ an internal locus of control (a belief that they can create their own destiny);
❱ a high level of responsibility; and
❱ a high value on money and status, creativity and honesty.
It is a myth that entrepreneurs are born. People can become entrepreneurs. Entrepreneurial
qualities and skills can be learned and improved upon. As entrepreneurs, people should also
assess how self-employment and owning a business affect their families and their family
responsibilities. If important needs are not met, then changes may become necessary, which
could even mean leaving the world of entrepreneurship (Schreuder & Coetzee, 2016).
Becoming an entrepreneur means experiencing a career that is different from the
traditional notion of having a job in an organisation. The entrepreneurial career is
marked by extensive personal commitment to the success of the business, acceptance of
the unpredictability of the business venture outcomes, an orientation towards action and
decisiveness, the simultaneous performance of multiple work roles (eg owner, worker,
salesperson, accountant) and a willingness to accept risk. Because of these distinctive
characteristics, entrepreneurs generally find substantial challenge and stimulation in
their work, realising that they must deal with the unpredictability and instability that
go hand in hand with the entrepreneurial career (Feldman & Bolino, 1996; Schreuder &
Coetzee, 2016).
The growing occurrence of downsizing forces more laid-off workers to consider self-
employment as a career option. As women become a greater percentage of the workforce,
self-employment becomes more attractive to them as a means of balancing work and family
demands. Also, some women may enter self-employment to avoid discrimination in the
workplace (Schreuder & Coetzee, 2016).

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The key reasons people pursue self-employment are to achieve greater autonomy, to increase
flexibility in their lives, to generate wealth and to escape organisational bureaucracy.
However, not all self-employed people experience success or derive satisfaction from this
career path. Some of the challenges that self-employed people have to face are balancing
the desired job autonomy with the loss of social interaction that often accompanies it, and
dealing with the number of responsibilities of being self-employed (Feldman & Bolino,
2000; Schreuder & Coetzee, 2016).
Most entrepreneurs cope with these challenges by starting a small business with a spouse
or partner, or former colleague (a ‘paired business’), to avoid partnership problems. They
also increase their networking activity in professional associations and local business
groups, such as a chamber of commerce, and they may choose to operate the business from
an outside office rather than from home. Other challenges that entrepreneurs have to deal
with are having less time off, less vacation time and less time to spend with their family.
Although the entrepreneurial career offers opportunities for greater wealth, it also has
the potential for financial losses. Many entrepreneurs therefore often start out their self-
employment part-time to grow the business before they enter self-employment full-time.
Some entrepreneurs have the security of a spouse or partner who works full time in a job with
a steady income and fringe benefits. A major challenge is the often uncertain and uneven
cash flow that goes hand in hand with a business. Significant capital, particularly at the
beginning of a business venture, or steady cash flow in its early months, is critical to business
survival. This just reminds us that proper career planning is essential when contemplating
an entrepreneurial career and achieving the success that one aspires to. Effective career
planning must take into account the challenges that one will have to face when pursuing the
entrepreneurial career (Greenhaus et al, 2010; Schreuder & Coetzee, 2016).

2.3.4 Meaning of a career

The traditional career generally consisted of a succession of related jobs arranged in
a hierarchy through which individuals moved in an ordered, predictable and upward
progression. The modern-day career is defined as the evolving sequence of a person’s work
experience over time, including the process of development and growth along a path of diverse
experiences and multiple projects and roles in one or more organisational and work contexts
within a specific sociocultural-economic-political-technological labour market space. People
will attach an idiosyncratic (subjective) meaning to their careers, which will be shaped
by personal life, work and career values and interests. The career is now an individualised
self-project for meaning-making and the construction of a career identity that is culturally
shaped through the collaboration and negotiated interactions with the work-nonwork social
group and community (Coetzee, 2018:4).

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Career success
Peiperl and Jonsen (2007) distinguish between (1) objective, or extrinsic, success (ie cognition-
based career success relating to beliefs and perceptions regarding how well the person has
done in terms of rewards, promotions, recognition and other such visible indicators), and
(2) psychological, intrinsic or subjective, success (ie affect-based, subjective evaluations and
feelings of job, career and life satisfaction, sense of accomplishment and sense of self-worth).
Research indicates that women tend to use more personal (subjective) criteria for career
success, such as employability, work-life balance and career satisfaction, rather than the
traditional ‘male’ objective career success criteria of promotion, organisational level attained
and salary (Ackah & Heaton, 2003; Takawira, 2018).
Self-referent comparisons are often used to compare one’s current success to personal
aspirations, past achievements and future goals and expectations. In other-referent comparisons,
one’s career success is assessed in terms of an external standard, such as the achievements of
co-workers, supervisors, mentors and family members (Ng & Feldman, 2014).
People’s perceptions about their career success are associated with the accumulated
positive outcomes (eg health, well-being and quality of life) and achievements that have
resulted from their subjective and objective work experiences (Haines, Hamouche & Saba,
2014). Career success is not only characterised by vertical progress and by mastering a job,
or achieving the publicly observable career criteria of pay and promotions (objective career
success). Psychological or subjective career success, the feeling of achieving personal goals
and having a general sense of well-being about one’s career, is becoming the benchmark for
career success. The subjective career refers to an individual’s subjective work experiences or
the individual’s own interpretation of life and career, and the psychological fulfilment the
person derives from her or his career situation at any given time (Russo, Guo & Baruch,
2014; Takawira, 2018; Verbruggen, 2012). Verbruggen (2012) found a positive relationship
between the boundaryless mindset and objective career success. However, people with
longer organisational tenure (ie less organisational mobility) tend to be more satisfied with
their careers and experience more subjective career success (Verbruggen, 2012).
Nowadays, the career is more cyclical, ‘reskilling’ is required, and lateral rather than upward
career moves are becoming the order of the day (Baruch, 2004; Schreuder & Coetzee, 2016).
In order to survive in this environment, employees need to base their feeling of security on
processes rather than on structures, on skills instead of job titles, and on the satisfaction they
experience from fulfilling a certain role rather than advancing up the career ladder. This
approach can lead to career growth and to the individual becoming indispensable to the
organisation. The traditional view of the career path (moving upward) is being replaced by
the notion of moving easily across functional boundaries, thus emphasising the importance of
multiple skills (Baruch, 2004). The value of the projects on which individuals work becomes
more important than their level in the organisation, and growth in their profession is perhaps
more relevant than becoming managers (Konstant, 2020 Woodd, 2000; Thite, 2001).

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Career success is also linked to individuals’ goal orientation, which is centred in a particular
sociocultural value system. Research shows that Africans generally relate to an Afrocentric
value system, whereas white people relate more to a Eurocentric value system (Schreuder &
Coetzee, 2016).
❱ In the Afrocentric value system, feelings of career success are based on a preference for
quality of life and rewarding a common vision for communal effort. The Afrocentric
culture is related to the values of a ‘feminine’ culture, which emphasises nurturance, the
commonality of all people, vision, values and efforts, as well as a concern for relationships
and the living environment.
❱ Career success according to the Eurocentric value system is related to achieving material
success, position and rewarding individual merit. The Eurocentric culture is also related
to the values of a ‘masculine’ culture that is characterised by assertiveness, being ambitious
and competitive.
Irrespective of sociocultural goal orientations, career success and progress are assessed by
the amount of learning and upskilling that has taken place over a period, by outputs instead
of inputs, and the value proposition the employee offers the company and the customer
by means of the marketable high-level knowledge and skills of the individual. Technical
specialisation, cross-functional and international experience, collaborative leadership, self-
managing skills, entrepreneurialism, career agility and flexibility also remain critical factors
to future career success (Hall, 2013; Hirschi, 2018; Holbeche, 2000; Khapova, Arthur &
Wilderom 2007; Lent, 2018).
Individuals’ career paths are seldom smooth and uneventful. They often meet setbacks and
obstacles during their course. Career hurdles (ie obstacles that individuals face in the attainment
of their career goals) may originate internally (for example, from the dispositional traits of the
individual) or externally (for example, from environmental conditions, such as low support for
career advancement from the workplace or family members). Career hurdles are categorised
in terms of background-related hurdles, trait-like hurdles, motivational hurdles, skill-related
hurdles, social network hurdles, and organisational and job hurdles (Ng & Feldman, 2014).
❱ Background-related hurdles refer to elements in an individual’s background that can
create a starter advantage or disadvantage in launching a career. For example, people from
economically marginalised and low socioeconomic levels might have fewer opportunities
for high-quality education, which may limit their career options. And people with large
families may need to be more committed to their personal life than to their careers.
❱ Trait-like hurdles include personality traits such as low emotional stability, low
agreeableness and low openness to change and new experiences, which may constrain
individuals in the kind of career options and jobs they will consider. Low core self-
evaluations, such as low self-esteem, low self-efficacy and unclear career identity, may
cause individuals to set lower resource-acquisition goals and to perceive their careers as
less successful.

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❱ Motivational hurdles refer to a weak internal motivation to become successful and a

low likelihood of expending resources to achieve long-term career goals. An internal
motivation is essential in helping individuals persevere when they encounter setbacks.
❱ Skill-related hurdles include a lack of the requisite knowledge and skills needed to
advance in a career, which limits the likelihood of attaining career success. Low education
level and low participation in training and development activities limit the upskilling
and life-long learning that are essential in fast-changing work environments. Other
examples of skills-related hurdles are: lack of international experience; few job position
changes within an organisation; few employer changes over the career lifespan; and lack
of diversity of work experience.
❱ Social network hurdles relate to an individual’s social capital. Little social capital (ie the
lack of meaningful relationships within the workplace and with professionals outside the
company and industry) results in individuals being disadvantaged in terms of learning
about new job opportunities, successfully obtaining those positions, and receiving
sponsorship from senior, experienced colleagues and mentors in the occupation.
❱ Organisational and job hurdles refer to the work environment, such as lack of
organisational support, lack of promotion opportunities, low job challenge and low skills
utilisation in the job, which either enables or disempowers individuals from achieving
career success. Unfavourable organisational and job conditions may signal to employees
that they are not valued members of the team and that they have limited prospects for the
future in the company.
Research shows that employees’ subjective career success is especially influenced by their
perceptions of current job and organisational conditions. Low subjective career success
results in job dissatisfaction, low organisational commitment and low work engagement.
Organisations that take heed of employees’ career goals and needs and their experiences of
subjective career success, and that provide organisational career support (see Chapter 8),
generally benefit from employees who have higher levels of organisational commitment,
work motivation and engagement, and job satisfaction (Ng & Feldman, 2014).

Activity
Reflect on your personal career. Evaluate the extent to which your current work
conditions contribute or thwart your experiences of career success. Identify the career
hurdles that may explain your current career concerns and feelings of job satisfaction or
dissatisfaction.

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The protean nature of careers

The ‘new’ concept of careers suggests that careers will have to become more protean. The
term ‘protean’ is taken from the name of the Greek god Proteus, who could change shape at
will (Hall, 1976; 2013). The protean career is defined as follows:

The protean career is one that emphasises a self-directed approach to the career and a career
that is driven by one’s own values (Briscoe & Hall, 2006; Hall, Yip & Doiron, 2018).
The protean career is therefore a process which the person, not the organisation, is managing.
It consists of all the person’s varied experiences in education, training, work in several
organisations, changes in occupational field and so forth. The protean career is not what
happens to the person in any one organisation … In short, the protean career is shaped more
by the individual than by the organisation and may be redirected from time to time to meet
the needs of the person (Hall & Mirvis, 1995b:333).

The protean career is characterised by a mindset about the career, that is (Briscoe & Hall,
2006; Hall, 1996b, 2013):
❱ psychological success;
❱ self-direction;
❱ freedom and autonomy;
❱ choices based on personal values;
❱ being managed and reinvented by the individual;
❱ a series of identity changes;
❱ identity, adaptability and relational and diversity learning as key career meta-competencies;
❱ continuous learning;
❱ work challenges and relationships (social capital) as sources of development;
❱ the unimportance of chronological age, with the emphasis being on career age;
❱ employability rather than job security;
❱ a high level of self-awareness;
❱ personal responsibility;
❱ value placed on freedom and growth;
❱ a high degree of mobility; and
❱ an emphasis on internal career thinking.
This means that the present career contract is with the self, whereas in the past the contract
was with the organisation (Hall, 1996a, 2013). In its extreme form, a person’s attitude
towards a career reflects a sense of calling in his or her work — ie an awareness of a purpose
that gives deep meaning to the career (Hall & Chandler, 2005).
The positive potential of the protean nature of the career is described as follows:

The relationship is still win-win, but is more equal. The employee does not blindly trust
the organisation with his or her career. The organisation does not assume an unassumable

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burden. The tremendous energy once required to maintain relationships can be turned to
doing good work. The common ground, the meeting point, is not the relationship, but the
explicit task. This task-focused relationship is not only healthier for the individual and the
organisation, it also facilitates the diversity necessary for future survival, since the emphasis
is on the task, not on the gender, race or traits of the person performing the task (Hall,
1996b, 2013).

The protean career offers five forms of flexibility (Hall, 1996a; Van der Heijden & De Vos,
2015):
1. It provides new ways of career thinking. Instead of considering traditional concepts of
the career as a linear progression, the protean concept suggests a flexible career course
characterised by moves between different lines of work.
2. It provides flexibility in terms of career space. The career space is enlarged, allowing
workers to integrate work and family issues, as the two are not treated as separate domains.
3. It allows workers to work from home, virtually or by mobile means, either informally or
as part of a formal home and mobile work programme.
4. It exchanges the traditional long-term employment contract for loyalty and upward
progress with an employability-based, psychological contract.
5. It shifts the mindset of working for a salary, pay progression, upward career advancement
and occupational status (ie external objective career success) to a mindset about personal
growth and learning experiences that enhance one’s employability and satisfy one’s inner
life, work and career values (ie internal, subjective career success).
In essence, the protean career encourages workers to think differently about the relationship
between employer and employee. In the past, the organisation was the figural element, with
the individual as background. However, the protean career places the individual at the centre
and the organisation in the background. The organisation should provide the environment
or context in which individuals can pursue their careers with the necessary support and
tools (Hall, 1996a).
Not everybody adapts to a protean form of career. The lack of external control and the
increased individual responsibility often frightens people. Some individuals suffer when
they operate independently in such an environment. For mid-career employees who have
spent many years in one career tied to a single organisation, this career option can be
alarming, particularly if they suddenly find themselves on their own, expected to adapt to
new requirements (Baruch, 2004; Hall, 1996b). New career management competencies may
be required, and the organisation’s supportive role in this regard is essential.
Obviously, elements of the traditional career will remain as the present work environment
still complements their sentiments and values. A mixed approach will probably emerge as
more and more careerists become ‘proteans’. It is anticipated that the protean group will
become larger as more people adapt to the demands of the environment (Baruch, 2004;
Lent, 2018).

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Lifelong or continuous learning — an important feature of the protean nature of careers — is

a crucial requirement for employees at all levels, as changes occur in virtually all jobs and new
skills and knowledge are required (Hall, 2013; Obschonka, Silbereisen & Wasilewski, 2012).
In 2010, Meister and Willyerd predicted that, thanks to the knowledge-based orientation of
society, lifelong learning would become a business requirement in the workplace of 2020
and beyond.
Continuous learning is the process by which one acquires knowledge, skills and
abilities throughout one’s career in reaction to — and in anticipation of — changing
performance criteria (London & Mone, 1999; Schreuder & Coetzee, 2016). In order to live
up to new expectations, stay current in the labour market, be able to change careers and
organisations more often, adapt to new situations easily and work in new relationships with
the organisations, employees must become perpetual learners (Baruch, 2004). Employees
who cannot adapt to this kind of change will probably find themselves sidelined by the
organisation at an early age.
The knowledge economy, and the requirements of the digital and post-digital eras, will
also increasingly result in a growing number of jobs that require a significantly more complex
set of interdisciplinary skills, such as problem-solving, judgement, listening, data analysis,
relationship-building, and collaborating and communicating with co-workers (Gratton,
2011). These transdisciplinary skills are regarded as essential aspects of an individual’s
employability capital and continuous learning agenda (Coetzee, 2014b).
The protean nature of lifelong learning is characterised by psychological empowerment,
which involves four cognitions:
1. The meaning and value of a work goal or purpose;
2. The belief in one’s ability and competence to perform activities;
3. Self-determination or the sense of having a choice in regulating one’s action; and
4. The impact or degree to which one can influence outcomes at work.
Individuals’ sense of psychological empowerment is influenced by their personal growth
initiative, that is, the intention to build a set of skills for self-improvement and self-change.
These skills involve planfulness (ie having plans for the process of personal growth), readiness
to change and make the necessary preparation, intentional efforts and the use of resources
for personal growth. Personal growth initiative contributes to individuals’ psychological,
social and emotional well-being (Matsuo, 2019). In the sustainable career space, various
concepts of career adaptation help to explain individual predispositions to psychological
empowerment and personal growth initiative. These are examined in the following section.

2.4 CONCEPTS OF CAREER ADAPTATION

The future-fit career is a sustainable career characterised by an individual’s ability to adapt
(Coetzee, 2019). The 2020s herald the pervasive influence of the technological evolution
on new forms of organisational structure, work, jobs and occupations. Industry 4.0 and
beyond is introducing a new cycle of human evolution through technological innovations.

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Adaptation refers to the evolutionary process whereby a population becomes better suited
to its habitat. The capability for adaptation contributes to the survival of a species because
it helps organisms adjust to the demands of a changing environment, such as Industry 4.0
(Van Dam, Bipp & Van Ruysseveldt, 2015). Career adaptation moves beyond survival to
the proactive adjustment by individuals to ensure they remain future-fit and sustain their
employability, career satisfaction and well-being. The protean mindset, of psychological
empowerment fuelled by personal growth initiative and self-regulation throughout life, is a
key hallmark of effective career adaptation.
The concept of career adaptation has psychological and behavioural aspects. Individuals
must first develop adaptive readiness (ie embrace an adaptive orientation towards change),
which activates the use of adaptability resources. Adaptivity is an important psychological
trait, which involves willingness and flexibility to meet the unfamiliar, complex and ill-
defined problems and challenges presented by changing career and work contexts. Adaptive
individuals are willing to make changes to themselves or their work environments in order
to achieve adaptive career outcomes (Guan et al, 2017; Hirschi, Herrmann & Keller, 2015).
The future work self is strongly related to career adaptivity. Career-adaptive individuals have
a self-starting motive, that is, they have a strong reason to pursue desirable future career
possibilities. Individuals with a clear, inspiring future work self eagerly engage in various
proactive behaviours, such as career planning, skill development, career consultation and
network-building (Guan et al, 2017).
Adaptive readiness is characterised by career agility, career motivation and flexibility,
which encourage the use of an individual’s psychosocial strengths. These strengths condition
proactive self-regulation and agency in dealing with the vocational development tasks,
transitions and traumas that people encounter in uncertain career and employment contexts.
Career-adaptive individuals generally accumulate adaptive, self-regulatory resources in the
form of their career adaptability (that is, they respond to future job demands, they take
responsibility for their vocational future, they explore possible future vocational prospects
and they persevere in pursuing their career goals and aspirations despite difficulties).
These resources are malleable (ie they can be developed and improved); they also help
individuals to successfully deal with vocational problems and career hurdles. An individual’s
career adaptability resources are important career-related strengths that, when optimally
employed, facilitate appropriate adapting responses in the form of career self-management
and career development behaviours that help address changing work and career conditions.
The outcomes of effective career adaptation are employability and career sustainability,
career success, career well-being and career satisfaction (Coetzee, 2019; Hirschi et al, 2015).
Figure 2.1 below illustrates the core concepts of career adaptation that are discussed in the
next section.

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CAREER ADAPTATION

Adaptive readiness Adaptability Adapting Adaptation

(adaptivity) resources responses outcomes

Career Career Career Career

motivation adaptability self-management development

Career agility Employability

Figure 2.1 Concepts of career adaptation

Source: Authors’ own work.

Career motivation
Career motivation is ‘a multi-dimensional construct internal to the individual, influenced by
the situation and reflected in the individual’s decisions and behaviours’ (London, 1983:620).
Career motivation has three major domains, namely career identity, career insight and
career resilience. These three domains describe an individual’s psychological readiness to
grow as a person and adapt to change.

1. Career identity
Career identity (also referred to as vocational identity) is defined as ‘a structure or network
of meanings in which the individual consciously links his own motivation, interests and
competencies with acceptable career roles’ (Meijers, 1998:201).
Career identity is the degree to which people define themselves by their work and by their
organisation (London, 1983). It also refers to how central individuals’ careers are to their
identity (Ibarra, 2003; London, 1983; Stringer, Kerpelman & Skorikov, 2011). An individual’s
career identity informs acceptable career goals and the means of achieving these goals,
and influences the individual’s perceptions of subjective career success and employability
(Williams, Dodd, Steele & Randall, 2016).
An individual’s career identity is differentiated from the career self-concept. In career
development, a core life task is the crystallisation of the career self-concept — ie achieving
self-awareness of one’s qualities, characteristics, values, motives, interests and capabilities,
and of how these play out in the career or vocational identity. The self-concept pertains
to the degree of self-awareness and to what extent individuals are able to match their own
vocationally relevant attitudes, values, needs, motives, interests and capabilities with the

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features of their work (Weng & McElroy, 2010). The self-concept influences people’s career
behaviour, attitudes and choices.
Careers are embedded in social contexts and a person’s identity takes shape as the
individual (the psychological self) encounters society’s expectations (about the roles the self
has to fulfil) (Savickas, 2012). Identity develops through occupying certain roles (eg student,
worker, professional, spouse, parent, caregiver, friend or family member), performing
developmental tasks and accepting the expectations that come with these roles (Grote &
Hall, 2013). Identity also constitutes the distinctive characteristics (labels) attributed to the
individual (self-identity or overall personal identity) and those attitudes, values, behaviour
and characteristics that are shared by all members of a particular social category or group
(eg social identity, ethnic identity, gender identity, occupational group identity, professional
group identity, generational group identity and life-stage identity).
Contemporary career theory describes career (vocational) identity as an aggregate of self-
representation that people ascribe to themselves at work, as well as a process of continuous
construction of the self at work by means of a narrative (story) (Nazar & Van der Heijden,
2012:144).
Career identity is organised as a tripartite entity of levels of self-representations that
constitute identity. The three levels are (Nazar & Van der Heijden, 2012:143):
1. The individuated or personal self, which refers to the traits people ascribe to themselves
as part of their self-definition (eg ‘I am an optimist’), including the career self-concept;
2. The relational self, in which dyadic relationships are incorporated into someone’s identity
(eg ‘I am a leader of a team’); and
3. The collective levels of self, which refer to an extended sense of self (eg ‘I am a psychologist’).
Career identity is influenced by the evolving crystallisation of the career self-concept over
time (Coetzee et al, 2016); it is therefore longitudinal, as it helps people make sense of their
past and present, and gives future direction (Bothma, Lloyd & Khapova, 2015).
A person’s career identity is differentiated from his or her work identity (‘Who am
I at work?’). The work identity is developed at the interface between the individual’s
characteristics (eg socio-demographic characteristics, such as age, gender, race, generation,
language, job level and geographic region) and the characteristics of the person’s job (eg job
demands such as work overload, work-home conflict, emotional job demands and work role
problems, and job resources such as supervisor and co-worker support). The work identity
shapes the roles that individuals adopt and the corresponding ways they behave when
performing their work in the context of their jobs and careers as these are experienced in
the specific employment context (Bothma et al, 2015). Congruence between the career self-
concept, career or vocational identity and one’s work leads to a greater sense of subjective
career success and satisfaction (Holland, 2013; Super, 2013). Research by Crocetti, Erentaite
& Žukauskienė (2011) shows that the employment contract influences individuals’ work
identity; in addition, they found that employees tie their well-being to their work identity.

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2. Career insight
Career insight relates to the crystallisation of the career self-concept; it is defined as the extent
to which the person has realistic perceptions of him- or herself and the organisation, and
the extent to which the person relates these perceptions to career goals (Coetzee et al, 2016;
London, 1983). Career insight includes self-knowledge — ie being aware of one’s strengths
and weaknesses — and it can be tied to individuals’ work commitment, organisational
commitment and the feeling of being citizens in the organisation (Feldman, 2002b, 2002c).

3. Career resilience
Career resilience is the ability to adapt to changing circumstances. It encompasses welcoming job
and organisational changes, looking forward to working with new and different people, having
self-confidence and being willing to take risks (London, 1983:55). Career resilience derives from
the concepts of hardiness, self-efficacy and achievement motivation (London, 1983).
The opposite of career resilience appears to be career vulnerability. This is defined as the
extent of psychological fragility (eg becoming upset and finding it difficult to function) when
confronted by less than optimal career conditions (eg barriers to career goals, uncertainty,
poor relationships with co-workers) (London, 1983:621).
The concept of career commitment is closely related to career motivation and is defined
as the strength of one’s motivation to work in a chosen career role (Ballout, 2009). It is
also seen as the passion individuals have for their chosen work roles and how willing they
are to commit to the efforts needed to attain their personal career goals. Day and Allen
(2004) found career commitment to be positively related to career satisfaction, salary level
and performance effectiveness. Poon (2004) provided evidence that career commitment
predicted both objective and subjective career success.

Activity
Assess the difficulties that you personally experience with making career decisions.
1. Complete the Career Decision-Making Difficulties Questionnaire (CDDQ) (Gati, Krausz
& Osipow, 1996). This questionnaire helps locate the foci of difficulties in making
career decisions, namely:
❱ lack of readiness or motivation, or indecisiveness;

❱ difficulties that arise from the decision-making process; and

❱ difficulties that involve the use of information, due to inconsistent or unreliable
information.
2. Complete the Emotional and Personality-Related Career Decision-Making Difficulties
Questionnaire (EPCD) (Saka & Gati, 2007). This questionnaire helps locate the sources
of indecisiveness: pessimistic views, negative ramifications of anxiety, and self-
concept and identity.

➜
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3. Complete the Career Decision-Making Profile Questionnaire (CDMP) (Gati et al, 2010).
This questionnaire helps pinpoint the way you tend to make career decisions.
The three questionnaires can be completed online and are free of charge. Access them at
[Link]

Career agility
Similar to career motivation, career agility signals an individual’s adaptive readiness or
willingness to adapt and proactively respond to technological change (Coetzee et al, 2020;
Konstant, 2020; UBC, 2020). As shown in Figure 2.1, adaptation to the changing nature
of work and careers in Industry 4.0 and beyond starts with individuals’ adaptive readiness
(eg career agility and career motivation), then moves to the use of adaptability resources
(eg career adaptability), then to adapting responses (eg career self-management and
career development) which result in outcomes of adaptation such as employability, career
satisfaction and career wellbeing (Coetzee et al, 2020; Savickas, 2013).
An individual’s adaptive readiness for the exponential changes of Industry 4.0 and beyond
is determined by three facets of career agility:
1) Technological adaptivity;
2) Capability for agile learning; and
3) Career navigation orientation.
These three facets of career agility reflect a positive mindset and function as an internal
adaptivity signal to approach adaptability resources and continue in the advent of
technological change (Coetzee et al, 2020).
Individuals who display high levels of technological adaptivity are generally positive
about technological innovation and evolution. They deem it important to update their
knowledge and skills in order to capitalise on the new job opportunities created by
technological developments. They are confident in marketing their unique brand of values
and portfolio of skills across digital networks (Coetzee et al, 2020).
People with the capability for agile learning are generally eager to search for opportunities
to learn new skills that will improve their career and job success. They eagerly consider
projects and opportunities that build, leverage and maximise their knowledge, skills and
style preferences (Andersen, 2020; Konstant, 2020).
A career navigation orientation shows that individuals are willing to scan the environment
for new career opportunities and to take advantage of changes in the job and career
environment. Such individuals are highly flexible in their capacity to adapt to change and they
are able to apply changes with confidence to their own careers and jobs (Coetzee et al, 2020).
Career agility increases career motivation, confidence and resilience. Individuals with high
levels of career agility are eager to develop career action plans, develop new perspectives on the
job search process, and are able to identify a wide range of professional options and possibilities
which they are eager to pursue (Coetzee et al, 2020; Konstant, 2020; UBC, 2020).

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Generally, career agility fosters the development and activation of career adaptability resources
that facilitate the adaptation approach process (Perera & McIlveen, 2017; Savickas, 2013).

Activity
What is your level of career agility (ie adaptive readiness for change)?
Complete the questionnaire below to get an idea of your current level of career agility.

QUESTION YES NO
1 Do you feel it is important to search for new and better growth
opportunities?

2 Do you feel job roles evolving as a result of new technologies

optimise your creativity, growth and happiness?

3 Do you search for job roles that evolve with changing technological
conditions because they offer opportunities for growth and
creativity?

4 Do you feel that your career development and success are guided
by your response to changing technological and socioeconomic
conditions?

5 Do you feel that the acceleration of technology brings new, exciting

job and career opportunities?

6 Are you updating your knowledge and skills to capitalise on new job
opportunities created by accelerated technological developments?

7 Do you market your unique brand of values and portfolio of skills

across your digital networks?

8 Do you see yourself continually learning, growing and improving?

9 Do you actively set career goals and manage the achievement of

career goals?

10 Do you continuously search for opportunities to learn new skills that

will improve your career and job success?

11 Are you able to easily adapt to changes in your environment and

situation?

12 Do you take advantage of changes in your job and career

environment?

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QUESTION YES NO
13 Are you able to navigate and adapt to change and uncertainty in
your job and career environment?

14 Do you regularly scan the environment for new career

opportunities?

15 Are you continuously on the lookout for gaps in the market and
employment conditions which you could fill in unique ways?

Add the number of Yes answers for:

❱ Items 1 to 7: Technological adaptivity. If you have more than 5 Yes answers, your
technological adaptivity is at a positive level and a strength in your career agency.
❱ Items 8 to 10: Agile learning orientation. If you have more than two Yes answers,
you have a strong agile learning orientation.
❱ Items 11 to 15: Career navigation orientation. If you have more than three Yes
answers, you have a good career navigation orientation.
More than 10 Yes answers: You are on the right track in terms of your career adaptation,
but you could do more to improve your career agility and adaptive readiness.
More than 12 Yes answers: Your career agility and adaptive readiness are at a high level.
More No answers than Yes answers: You need to review your career values (see Chapter
1) and career motivation to identify the internal, psychological beliefs and attitudes that
are hindering your career agility.
In order to activate your career agility, you might find it useful to engage in the following
activities
❱ Create an idea zone, that is, a private space for dedicated, personal time to write
down meaningful and inspiring ideas about new possibilities for your ideal career
and job in Industry 4.0 and beyond.
❱ Create a digital document (for example, notes on your mobile smart phone or a
Google Doc you can access from anywhere). Or buy a small paper notebook you can
carry with you.
❱ Ask yourself: ‘What do I love doing that I cannot imagine getting paid for?’ Think of
ways to pursue your passions in parallel with your current job. Some day your hobby
or passion may turn out to be your next well-paid job!
❱ Pursue a new skill or technique that makes you curious or catches your attention for
the sole purpose of learning something new!

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❱ Create pathways for creative thought, extra income or future job opportunities,
from options such as side gigs, freelance work, consulting assignments, education
or hobbies. This may help expand your expertise and help add to your burgeoning
portfolio of talents.
❱ Take inventory and explore your strengths and capabilities to help you assess where
you want to go career-wise. Examine your range of experiences and value-added
contributions from workplace roles, educational pursuits and volunteer initiatives
in multicultural contexts. What did you like about and learn from each? Evaluate
your job attributes, such as work schedule, commute, responsibilities, tasks, room
for personal growth, travel requirements, technological tools and interface, ability
to collaborate and work-life balance. What types of jobs and roles added to your
creativity, growth and happiness?
❱ Test your aptitude for exploring something new and unfamiliar. Ask yourself: ‘Where
do I see change happening in the workplace?’ Consider exploring and researching
the trends and opportunities in your industry and job role. Grow your skill set
and create a more valuable ‘You’ in your current job. What is your current value
proposition and what actions can you take to enhance and market your portfolio
of skills and talents? Find an opportunity or gap you can fill or an initiative you can
propose through an engaging project that will enhance your career development
and portfolio of experience and skills.
❱ Ask yourself: ‘What is my personal brand story and do I communicate it consistently?’
Your personal brand story highlights your distinguishing characteristics and values,
your experiences, strengths, beliefs and abilities. For example, create a story that
fills in the blanks: I am the go-to person for … People work with me because … I am
happiest when I ….
❱ Seek out the advice of people you most respect. Pose a situation and a question
such as: ‘I am starting a new role and could benefit from guidance on how to set the
course for success in my first six months on the job. Do you have some time to guide
me and give me feedback on my approach?’
❱ Think of your career as a series of projects. If you knew your current job was
a shorter-term project instead of a 30+ year career, what would you want to
accomplish? Start by organising a particular aspect of your current position into a
high-impact project that makes the best use of your talents and interests.

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Career adaptability
Career adaptability is determined by a holistic view of how individuals are perceived in
adaptive interactions with their surroundings or environment, such as the changing
employment context (Savickas et al, 2009; Savickas, 2012). Career adaptability implies
individuals’ psychosocial readiness to proactively and confidently engage in the use of
resources for coping with current and imminent developmental vocational tasks, changing
work and working conditions, occupational transitions and work traumas (Rocha, 2012;
Savickas & Porfeli, 2012; Tolentino et al, 2014). Career adaptability assumes a measure of
career maturity, that is, a psychological readiness for making educational and occupational
choices (Rocha, 2012; Savickas & Porfeli, 2011).
Individual career adaptability grows in four domains, which relate to important
vocational developmental tasks in achieving a primary adaptive goal. When this goal is
accomplished, key adaptability resources will have been accumulated that foster proactive
career self-management behaviours. These behaviours build the foundation for career
success, sustainable employability, future adaptability and growth (Coetzee et al, 2016;
Del Corso, 2013; Hartung, 2013; Savickas & Porfeli, 2012):
1. Career concern: ‘Do I have a future?’ The individual shows concern for his or her
future, and is engaged in planning for it by being aware, involved and prepared. Typical
characteristics include being planful, forward-thinking, optimistic/hopeful and prepared/
ready, and connecting present and future (McMahon, Watson & Bimrose, 2012).
2. Career control: ‘Who owns my future?’ The individual engages and exerts control
over his or her future through decision-making, determination and agency. Typical
characteristics include being independent/autonomous, contemplative/pre-emptive,
accountable/trustworthy, persistent/patient and self-principled (McMahon et al, 2012).
3. Career curiosity: ‘What do I want to do with my future?’ The individual gathers
occupational information and self-knowledge in an attempt to fit into the world of work.
Adapting to changing contexts or situations, individuals must display an inquisitive
attitude and engage in exploration by experimenting, taking risks and inquiring. Typical
characteristics include being investigative, self-reflective, future-focused/oriented,
explorative and observant (McMahon et al, 2012).
4. Career confidence: ‘Can I do it?’ The individual develops a sense of self-efficacy in
overcoming obstacles to implement career goals. Typical characteristics include being
efficient/productive, self-perceptive, reliable, proud and self-confident (McMahon et al,
2012). Career confidence is demonstrated in how individuals deal with the myriad of
stressors they may encounter throughout their life along the career journey, eg sudden
unemployment, lack of available jobs, health problems, family struggles, unexpected
workplace challenges or pressure to learn new skills.
The four resources of career adaptability (career concern, career curiosity, career control
and career confidence) foster adaptive fitness (career adaptability), which is supported by

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 Chapter 2: Changes in the world of work and careers

career motivation, career agility and career maturity. They result in higher levels of career
self-management capability, optimal career development and sustainable employability.
Individual career agility, career motivation and career adaptability are influenced by
career self-efficacy. Career self-efficacy refers to the degree of difficulty of career tasks that
individuals believe they are to attempt, how well they believe they can execute the courses of
actions required to deal with those tasks, and the degree to which their beliefs will persist,
despite obstacles.
Furthermore, career self-efficacy refers to the degree to which individuals’ beliefs can be
transferred to other tasks necessary for making career decisions. While low career decision-
making self-efficacy facilitates avoidance of career decision tasks and prolongs career
indecision, high career decision-making self-efficacy leads to a higher level of participation
in career decision-making behaviours and tasks (Gati & Levin, 2014; Watson, Foxcroft &
Eaton, 2001). Day and Allen (2004) found career self-efficacy to be related to indicators of
career success and performance effectiveness.
To facilitate growth towards career motivation, career agility and career adaptability,
Zheng and Kleiner (2001) suggest that an individual should:
❱ take charge of her or his career: realise that taking responsibility for a career is an ongoing
process, not an event;
❱ develop people skills to improve interactions with others;
❱ sharpen communication skills;
❱ discover and adapt to changes;
❱ be flexible;
❱ embrace new technologies;
❱ keep learning;
❱ clear up misconceptions about the requirements of the company or industry when
considering a new job or industry;
❱ research the options; and
❱ develop new capacities, such as specialised knowledge and flexible and general skills.

Example 2.1: The case of Shakira (a 38-year-old Indian woman)

I was born in East London. I moved to Johannesburg about two years ago when I found
a job in a large manufacturing firm. I am not yet married, although I would love to get
married one day. I completed my matric in East London and then studied at Rhodes
University in Grahamstown. I graduated from Rhodes University with a BCom degree in
1997, and in 1999 I completed a Higher Diploma in accountancy.
I am currently employed at a large international financial consulting firm. I started
as an assistant manager, moved to the position of manager and was later promoted to
senior manager. I am currently employed as a senior finance manager.

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 Careers: An organisational perspective

My father recently passed away, but I still have my mother, two sisters and a brother. I
enjoy gym and reading books. I am a Christian and enjoy going to church and interacting
with fellow Christians.
My career is very important to me. I am happy with what I have achieved thus far, and I
would like to continue working for my current company. Opportunities for growth, being
valued, good working conditions and a competitive salary are important for me. My top
priority is to have opportunities for growth, to understand my career path and to have
a career plan in place. Currently I do not have a clear career path and career plan in the
company, and this frustrates me. My aspiration is to be in a very senior position one day.
I would like to reach CEO level in 10 years from now. My current challenges on the job
include the fact that I am operating in a man’s world, and I have found that acceptance is
not easy. My qualifications and specialised skills make me quite employable, and I know
that I would easily be able to find a job elsewhere. However, I would like to stay with my
current company.
My career adaptability profile, which I obtained from a career counsellor, was as
follows:
Career adaptability profile
Shakira, 39 years

5
4.5
4
3.5
3
2.5
2
1.5
1
0.5
0
Career concern Career control Career curiosity Career confidence

Career adaptability profile

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 Chapter 2: Changes in the world of work and careers

The career counsellor explained to me that I achieved moderate scores in the career
concern and career confidence domains and a somewhat low score in the career
curiosity domain. My career control is currently my strength. The high scores on career
control reflect the sense of ownership and responsibility I have for building my career,
and hence my current preoccupation about my future career path in the company.
However, my concern about my future career in the company is relatively modest, as I
feel quite satisfied with the company and would like to stay within the company. I also
feel relatively confident about my capacity to make things happen for me.
The counsellor made me aware that my low sense of career curiosity reflects the likely
inclination to avoid exploration of possible future selves as well as career opportunities.
Lower levels of curiosity also indicate that I may not be fully optimising information-
seeking and risk-taking behaviour, or exploring options for developing new skills and
competencies to promote my future opportunities for career advancement. This might
potentially have a negative impact on my overall adaptability and future employability.
My career adaptability profile brought me insight about my current sense of career
frustration and what I can do about this.

Activity
Reflect on the four domains of career adaptability (career concern, career control, career
confidence and career curiosity). Think about your current career.
1. How would you describe your personal level of career adaptability?
2. Which domains of career adaptability do you perhaps need to explore further?
3. How does your career adaptability influence your current and future employability?

Career self-management
Individual career self-management capability reflects the orientation or attitude towards the
working world. The way people relate to the working world influences which opportunities
they pursue in the socioeconomic context of work (Williams et al, 2016).
Career self-management is the proactive, self-regulatory, behavioural adapting response
to changing conditions in work and careers. It is a proactive attempt to attain congruence
between career values, motives, interests and the changing requirements of the work
environment. Career self-management is the ability to keep pace with the speed at which
change occurs within the organisation and the industry and the ability to sustain one’s
employability through continuous learning and career planning and management efforts.
Career self-management requires planfulness, the ability to plan, optimism and taking
initiative in and directing one’s future. Self-management (managing and monitoring
one’s own behaviour and taking responsibility for the decisions one makes) is an essential
aspect of individual career self-management. Self-management increases self-motivation

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and facilitates behaviours that contribute to the achievement of goals and employability
(Breevaart, Bakker & Demerouti, 2014; Coetzee, 2018; Williams et al, 2016).
Three career self-management behaviours have been identified as adapting responses
(Wilhelm & Hirschi, 2019):
1. Behaviour directed at the individual self: Individuals actively apply, maintain and further
develop personal resources in managing their careers and employability. These behaviours
include, for example, self-exploration of personal strengths, values, interests, needs and
work experience; exploration of opportunities in the employment environment, job
search strategies and actions; investment in further learning, education and development
to enhance human capital; job crafting; and self-initiated mobility behaviour.
2. Behaviour directed at the work environment context: Individuals actively apply, maintain
and further develop contextual resources in managing their careers and employability.
These behaviours include strategies and actions for self-promotion, creating visibility,
networking, seeking guidance and feedback and influencing others.
3. Behaviour directed at the regulation of career self-management processes: Individuals
regulate the process of career self-management and the relation between multiple life roles
and career projects. These behaviours include goal-setting, -planning and -monitoring,
and life domain boundary management.
Individuals’ career motivation, career agility and career adaptability support their career self-
management behaviours. The psychological assets of adaptivity and adaptability resources are
enhanced by capabilities such as the capacity for psychological adaptation, intrapreneurial
self-capital, work self-efficacy and relational career capital. Individual core self-beliefs and
a sense of self-efficacy regarding solving complex problems creatively (intrapreneurial self-
capital), managing and coping with different situations in the search for job opportunities
(work self-efficacy) and building career-relevant social networks (relational career capital)
are important foundations for effective career self-management behaviours (Coetzee, 2019).
Research has shown that individuals practice a range of career self-management
behaviours in the implementation of their strategies to achieve their career goals. These
behaviours include (Schreuder & Coetzee, 2016; Sturges, 2008):
❱ networking behaviour: getting to know influential people;
❱ visibility behaviour: drawing attention to work achievements, getting credit for work
done and maintaining a high profile within the organisation;
❱ positioning behaviour: pursuing valuable job opportunities and making sure that roles
and jobs enhance one’s career;
❱ behaviour relating to building human capital: through training and education and
informal on-the-job learning;
❱ validating behaviour: proving oneself or one’s competence and capability to perform a
job; and
❱ behaviour relating to the management of the work/non-work boundary: preventing work

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 Chapter 2: Changes in the world of work and careers

activities from permeating the home environment, maximising control over one’s work–
life balance and protecting one’s life or out-of-work interests.
Career self-management emphasises the individual’s need to keep learning, because jobs
that are held today may evolve into something different tomorrow or may simply disappear
entirely. Career self-management also involves identifying and obtaining new skills and
competencies that allow the individual to move to a new position. The pay-off of career
self-management is more highly skilled and flexible employees and the retention of these
employees. Career self-management requires commitment to the idea of employee self-
development on the part of the organisation and the individual, and the provision of self-
development programmes and experiences for employees (Byars & Rue, 2004; Schreuder &
Coetzee, 2016).

Activity
Example 2.2: The case of Vicky (a 30-year-old white woman)
Vicky was a conscientious worker at school. The subjects she enjoyed the most
were business economics, English and life guidance. She matriculated in 2001. After
leaving school, she wanted to study psychology. However, under the influence of her
entrepreneurial father, she chose to register for a BCom in industrial psychology, which
she completed in 2004. She then went on to do her Honours in 2005. She is currently
enrolled for her Master’s degree in industrial psychology and hopes to register as a
professional industrial psychologist with the HPCSA after completion of her degree. She
has a strong passion for people and for the field of psychology.
Vicky’s career started after she finished studying and took a gap year in 2006. She
began working as a recruitment administrator at a recruitment agency. She performed
well in her role and she was being groomed to become a recruitment consultant.
However, she was not happy with earning a commission-based salary and she disliked
the ‘sales’ element of recruitment. After 18 months, she moved to another recruitment
agency that offered more growth. She was appointed as an executive assistant. The
motivation for her move was that there was no room for growth at the smaller agency.
She was hoping to gain more experience in a bigger agency, with the hope of moving
into the HR department. She was referred to this new role by a friend.
After two years, no room for growth was evident, so she decided to move to a
large corporate bank, where she worked as a role-profiling specialist. A role clean-up
project was underway, by means of which she gained experience in role profiling and
job evaluation as well as organisational structure and design. After 18 months, the role
project ended. Vicky felt this role was becoming too specialised.

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She was unhappy with the mundane work and she was having difficulties with a colleague.
So when the opportunity arose, she rushed into a new role as industrial relations co-
ordinator within the bank. This role was, again, very administrative, and opened up to
another specialist field of HR. After 10 months, she felt that her career was becoming too
administrative and specialised. Nine months ago, she moved into the role of junior HR
business partner, a role in which she is gaining a much broader understanding of the HR
field. She thrives in the challenges of the current corporate environment and enjoys her
role. She sees herself remaining with her current company for a long time.
Vicky enjoys the values and culture of the company she is currently working for,
including the nature of her job. However, she feels challenged by her self-efficacy in how
she conducts her job, as she has only been in the role for nine months. She is interested
in applying for the role of senior HR business partner. She believes that she has learnt a
great deal as a junior HR business partner but she feels strongly that her long-term goal is
to follow her passion of becoming an industrial psychologist. She finds herself doubting
her own ability in that she feels she has not made good career decisions up to now. She
also beats herself up for not having progressed as far in her career by the age of 30 as she
aspired to do when she started out. She doubts her capabilities to be a successful senior
business partner, as this is the first time she has been in a generalist HR role.
The year is full of change for Vicky, as she is getting married while also pursuing her
Master’s studies. She is anxious and fears that she will not be able to balance all these
roles. Time is a major challenge as it is, and she does not want to set herself up for failure
by not putting in extra hours at work. Her bonus and increase are performance-based, so
should she not be successful, she will not qualify for a good bonus and increase. At this
point in her life, improving her income is an important career need for Vicky. She would
like to move up the career ladder, as she feels she is putting a lot of effort into her job but
not being compensated enough. She is getting married and would like to be in a better
financial position to buy a house and start a family.
Vicky would like to enhance her self-efficacy and career motivation. She wants to be
equipped to make a decision regarding whether she should apply for the senior business
partner position.
A career development practitioner tested Vicky for career adaptability and career self-
management, and these are the scores Vicky obtained:

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Career adaptability and career self-management profile

Vicky, 30 years

5
4.5
4
3.5
3
2.5
2
1.5
1
0.5
0
Career Career Career Career Career
concern control curiosity confidence self-management
Career adaptability/career self-management profile

1. Review Vicky’s career path history. Compare her career path with your own. What
challenges and frustrations did you encounter?
2. Now review the various concepts of career adaptation. Which of these concepts
helped you to feel successful in your career? Which concepts do you personally need to
develop further? Which concepts do you think may help Vicky to strengthen her career
self-efficacy, career motivation, career adaptability and career self-management?
3. Reflect on Vicky’s career story. Can you identify aspects of objective career success and
subjective career success in her career story?
4. Reflect now on your personal career story. Write down the elements of objective
career success and subjective career success in your career story.

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Career development
Optimal career development throughout life is an adaptation outcome of successful career
self-management behaviours in response to changes in work and career conditions.
From an individual perspective, career development can be defined as an ongoing process
by which individuals progress through a series of life and career stages (see Chapter 5),
each of which is characterised by a relatively unique set of issues and themes of career
preoccupations and developmental career-stage activities and tasks of career adaptability
(Coetzee, Roythorne-Jacobs & Mensele, 2016; Greenhaus et al, 2010; Savickas, 2013).
Career development consists of four phases, namely (Strauser, Lustig & Çiftçi, 2008):
1. Developing appropriate work-related behaviours — known as a work personality — that
allow individuals to meet the interpersonal demands of the work environment (eg
appropriate social interactions with others, timeliness and appropriate on-task behaviour);
2. Developing a vocational (career) identity through which individuals become aware of
their career interests, goals, skills and talents (ie self-concept crystallisation);
3. Engaging in effective career decision-making by identifying appropriate work
environments that allow individuals to express their vocational identity; and
4. Developing the ability to effectively find a job, resulting in employment as well as
sustaining one’s employability.
A career consists of different stages (exploration, establishment, management and
disengagement) and the individual is confronted with different issues during each of these
stages (see Chapter 5). Effective career development requires knowledge of the distinctive
physical and psychological needs of the individual. The career development needs of the
emerging adult and early-career adult, those of the employee in mid-career and those of the
employee approaching retirement are not the same. Individuals experiencing career transitions
will also have different career development needs than those who, for example, are in the
establishment and management stage (of upholding the current job) (see Chapter 5).
From an organisational perspective, career development is viewed as an ongoing, formalised
effort by the organisation that focuses on developing and enriching the organisation’s human
resources in light of both the employees’ and the organisation’s needs (Byars & Rue, 2004).
Career development is thus a formal approach taken by an organisation to ensure that people
with the proper qualifications and experience are available when needed. In view of this, career
development helps organisations avoid the dangers of an obsolescent, unacceptable workforce
(Zheng & Kleiner, 2001).
Career development is seen as a joint effort between the employee and the organisation,
and the outcome of the interaction between individual career planning and the organisational
career management process. In career development and transition, the employee is responsible
for career planning and the organisation is responsible for career development support in the
career management process. As employees grow and change, the types of work they want to
do may change as well.

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Employers should assist their employees in making decisions about future work and help
prepare them to be effective when they take on new positions. The individual is driven
by his or her skills, knowledge, abilities, attitudes, interests, values and life situation.
Employers provide the job and the information about the job as well as the opportunities
and constraints within which employees may pursue other jobs in the future. Organisations
are also responsible for tracking career paths and career ladders (Zheng & Kleiner, 2001).
The career development support that organisations can offer employees is discussed in more
detail in Chapter 8.
At the national level, the South African Department of Higher Education and Training
(DHET, 2012, 2013, 2015) defines career development as lifelong guidance for learning and
work, including the provision of quality career development services such as career information,
career advice, career guidance, career counselling and career planning to all citizens of all ages
requiring these services. Career development services and activities are intended to assist
individuals of any age and at any point throughout their lives, to make educational, training
and occupational choices and to manage their careers (DHET, 2015).
The professional training of competent career development practitioners and the
establishment of quality career development services in all sectors and industries have become
a national imperative (DHET, 2012, 2015). The Framework for Co-operation in the Provision
of Career Development (Information, Advice and Guidance) Services in South Africa (DHET,
2012) stipulates that career development services should enable all citizens to:
❱ build foundational career management skills;
❱ develop intentional career plans;
❱ access information on learning and career paths that link for articulation on the National
Qualifications Framework (NQF);
❱ cope with and adjust to changes in personal and labour market conditions;
❱ find learning and work opportunities by making informed career and learning decisions;
and
❱ know where and how to access career development services (eg career advice, career
guidance, career counselling and career planning) throughout their lives.
The South African Qualifications Authority (SAQA), on behalf of the DHET (Department of
Higher Education and Training), is responsible for developing a national career development
web-based system that will provide a centralised information service on all learning options in
the post-school environment, a learning pathways directory and an occupation information
centre. The national framework thus advocates and supports the development of an integrated
career and labour market information system that can be accessed free by all (DHET, 2012).
In the labour market sector (the focus of this book), career development services include
career and employment counselling, therapy and guidance, career education and placement,
employability and career adaptability enhancement and career management coaching
(career self-management and career planning). Career development services may be found
in schools, universities and colleges, in training institutions, in public employment services,

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in the workplace, in the voluntary or community sector and in the private sector. These
services may be for individuals or groups, face-to-face or at a distance (including self-help
lines and web-based services). Career development services may also include (DHET, 2015):
❱ the provision of career information (in print, ICT or other forms);
❱ assessment and self-assessment tools;
❱ counselling interviews;
❱ career education programmes to help develop self-awareness, opportunity awareness and
career management skills;
❱ work search programmes; and
❱ transition services.
The national framework also emphasises the training of competent and professional career
development practitioners through the establishment of the Competency Framework for
Career Development Practitioners in South Africa (DHET, 2015). Career development
practitioners (CDPs) are individuals who help people manage their careers, make
occupational and study decisions, plan career transitions and find career information.
Levels of competency for CDPs range from those who are highly qualified (having formal
academic qualifications) and experienced (having exposure to working in one’s field of
expertise), to those with no formal qualification or significant experience (DHET, 2015):
❱ Level 1: Entry level CDP (ELCDP): The CDP is able to collect, evaluate and assimilate
career-related information and is able to refer clients to these various sources of
information. The CDP is also able to conduct information-sharing sessions with both
individuals and groups.
❱ Level 2: Advanced level CDP (ALCDP): The CDP meets all the Level 1 requirements,
but has additional skills and knowledge enabling him or her to provide more advanced
services (eg career advice and guidance, applying career development theories and
decision-making models, administering non-standardised assessments, interpreting
assessment results in relation to client’s circumstances, developing possible career
paths and study paths with the client and designing a plan of action to investigate these
paths). The CDP is also able to perform employability interventions (eg assisting clients
to develop a cover letter and CV, checking the quality of work applications, preparing
clients for an interview, developing networks and conducting job-seeking activities, and
conducting career development interventions with individuals and groups).
❱ Level 3: Specialist CDP (SCDP): The CDP meets all the Level 2 requirements and is
a specialist in one or more areas of career development work. Areas of specialisation
may include career counselling, executive coaching, career development research,
course content development, CDP training, psychometric testing, outplacement centre
development and others, as the professional body may determine from time to time. The
CDP may be registered with one or more related professional bodies, such as the South
African Career Development Association (SACDA) and the HPCSA.

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The national framework envisages that the South African Career Development Association
(SACDA) will in future function as the professional body for career development
practitioners in South Africa, with the aim to (DHET, 2012):
❱ grow and develop the professional status of career development services in South Africa;
❱ establish and maintain minimum standards for career service delivery;
❱ promote the role of Life Orientation teachers, career information officers and career
development practitioners (career advisors and career guidance practitioners or career
counsellors);
❱ improve the continued professional development of Life Orientation teachers, career
information officers and career development practitioners (career advisors and career
guidance practitioners or career counsellors); and
❱ oversee the development of competency requirements for career development practitioners
(outlined in the national Competency Framework for Career Development Practitioners)
that are specific to the South African context, in collaboration with the DHET.

Employability
Sustained employability is an important outcome of successful adaptation to changing work
and career conditions through effective career self-management (Williams et al, 2016). Research
suggests that the notion of lifetime employment is being replaced by the notion of lifetime
employability (Gandolfi, 2007; Williams et al, 2016). Job or employment security therefore lies in
employability rather than in employment (Hall, 2013; Savickas, 2011; Schreuder & Coetzee, 2016).
Employability refers to an individual’s capacity and willingness to become and remain
attractive in the labour market (in other words, firm internal and firm external employability).
It also refers to the individual’s capability to be successful in a wide range of jobs (job match
employability) (Carbery & Garavan, 2005). Employability is about being capable of getting,
or creating, and keeping fulfilling work and having the knowledge, understanding, skills,
experience and personal attributes to move self-sufficiently within the labour market and to
realise one’s potential through sustainable and fulfilling employment experiences throughout
the course of one’s life.
While employment means a guaranteed job, employability can be viewed as the person’s
value in terms of future opportunities. As multiple careers become more common in the
knowledge economy, individuals should have the competitive skills required to obtain
work when necessary. The focus is on reputation-building by means of which employability
will be increased. Individuals will be sourced, recruited, hired and promoted based upon
their reputation capital (the sum total of an individual’s personal brand and expertise, and
the breadth, depth and quality of his or her social networks) (Meister & Willyerd, 2010;
Schreuder & Coetzee, 2016).
An employee’s sense of security and stability is threatened to a large extent by the modern
organisation. The flattening of organisational structures, downsizing and new employment
relations have resulted in fewer formal career opportunities. Large organisations no longer

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offer stability and security as in the past, and people are now confronted with risk and
unpredictability. In 1997, Hammer (1997:28) stated: ‘Like it or not, security, stability are
out because there simply isn’t anyone on the scene who can provide them’. Security has
thus shifted from the organisation to the individual and is no longer in employment but in
employability. Employability security comes from the accumulation of human, social, career
and cultural capital that can be invested in new opportunities as they arise.

Human capital
Human capital refers to the cumulative educational, personal and professional experiences
that might enhance an employee’s value to an employer. An individual’s psychological capital
(ie ability to offer optimal performance within the role offered) adds value and credibility to
his or her human capital Williams et al, 2016).
Employers evaluate individual human capital (and employability) by education level,
qualifications (ie diplomas, degrees and professional certifications), work and life experience,
work-related skills (occupation-related and company-specific) and generic, transferable
skills regarded as being important for sustaining business success in competitive markets
(Cai, 2013; Haines et al, 2014; Maurer & Chapman, 2013). Generic skills encompass an
individual’s scholarship skills (problem-solving and decision-making skills, analytical-
thinking skills and enterprising skills), global/moral citizenship skills and attributes
(presenting and applying information skills, interactive skills and ethical and responsible
behaviour) and lifelong learning attributes (continuous learning orientation and goal-
directed behaviour). They are all seen as important employability capacities required by
employers in the Industry 4.0 workplace.
Research has shown that these capacities positively influence an individual’s career
adaptability (Coetzee, 2014b, 2015). Apart from these capacities, individuals’ perceptions of
their external marketability (marketability in the external labour market) are also related to
their human capital (Haines et al, 2014).

Social capital
Social capital refers to an individual’s ‘knowing whom’ assets (attachments, relationships,
reputation and sources of information) which are manifested in networking and the creation of
personal contacts which can be improved through graduate studies and professional networks
(Cai, 2013; Cocchiara, Kwesiga, Bell & Baruch, 2010). Social capital reflects the interpersonal
aspect of employability and relates to the goodwill inherent in social networks (eg Facebook,
and formal and informal job search networks). The capacity to network (networking skills)
and maintain mutually beneficial social relationships is increasingly essential for long-term
career success (Fugate, Kinicki & Ashforth, 2004; Ryan & Hopkins, 2013).

Career capital
The intelligent career framework of Parker, Khapova and Arthur (2013) highlights three
domains of career capital that influence the employability of individuals. These domains
reflect three ways of knowing that underlie an individual’s ability to successfully adopt a

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boundaryless career, in which the individual no longer relies on an organisation to provide

for career development, but becomes a proactive career agent in managing her or his career
and employability (Duberley & Cohen, 2010). These three domains are:
1. Knowing why: career motivation, personal meaning and personal identity, including
understanding why one works, reflecting on one’s personal values, interests, motivation
and work–family issues;
2. Knowing how: human capital and career-relevant skills and job-related knowledge,
including how one works, and reflecting on the skills and expertise one has to offer; and
3. Knowing whom: career-relevant social networks, including the people with whom
one works inside and outside the workplace, occupational and professional society
attachments and further contacts with family, friends and social acquaintances as sources
of information and building reputation.

Cultural capital
Cultural capital refers to the effective fit between employers’ goals, customs, values and
social behaviours and those of potential employees. Individuals who exhibit the motivation
to engage in the company’s expected work practices and who strive for company goals are
able to enhance their employability. Socially desirable behaviour signals to the employer
that potential and current employees are fitting in with the organisation to a greater or lesser
degree (Williams et al, 2016).

Employability and the individual

A study in the United Kingdom indicates that people are taking up the challenge of
employability; 98 per cent of the respondents in a survey indicated that, should they lose
their jobs, it would be relatively easy to find alternative employment (Holbeche, 2000;
Schreuder & Coetzee, 2016). It appears that as companies start to realise that it is not their
responsibility to provide long-term employment, but rather to provide opportunities for
personal growth, the contract has changed from a guarantee of employment to a commitment
to employability (Baruch, 2004; Schreuder & Coetzee, 2016).
To remain employable demands from the individual a commitment to the ongoing
development of skills and abilities to such an extent that the individual is able to offer what
will be required in future. If organisations do not want to lose their employees, they should
provide such opportunities and play a supportive role in helping employees develop and
manage their employability capital. Research by Stoltz (2015) suggests that employees’
employability is significantly related to their satisfaction with organisational practices (ie
career development and training and development opportunities) that support the retention
of valuable staff members.
Individuals’ commitment to the development of their employability capital (human, social,
career and cultural capital) (Coetzee, Roythorne-Jacobs & Mensele, 2016) is supported by certain
psychosocial employability attributes. These attributes relate to individuals’ career behaviour
(career self-management, career resilience and an entrepreneurial orientation), intrapersonal

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attributes (proactivity, self-efficacy and emotional literacy) and interpersonal attributes

(sociability or capacity for networking and cultural competence) (Bezuidenhout, 2011).
Other career competencies that are regarded as being important for managing one’s
employability include (Akkermans, Schaufeli, Brenninkmeijer & Blonk, 2013):
❱ reflective competencies: the capacity to reflect on one’s motivations, values and passions, and
to reflect on one’s qualities, strengths, shortcomings and skills with regard to one’s career;
❱ communicative competencies: including networking (the awareness of the presence and
professional value of one’s network, the ability to expand this network for career-related
purposes) and self-profiling (presenting and communicating one’s personal knowledge,
abilities and skills to the internal and external labour market); and
❱ behavioural competencies: encompassing work exploration (actively exploring and
searching for work-related and career-related opportunities in the internal and external
labour market) and career control (actively influencing learning and work processes related
to one’s career by setting goals and planning how to reach them).

Employability and economically marginalised groups

Marginalisation is often a result of exclusion from resources as well as discrimination based on
one’s identity, ethnicity, gender and age. Economic marginalisation and economic constraints
influence individual perceptions and experiences of employability. Due to the rising costs of
education, many individuals from lower-income groups and families may be limited in their
ability to freely choose where they will attend tertiary education and the choices they can make
in terms of further studies. Economic marginalisation negatively influences the human capital
of individuals and their prospects of decent work employment (Garriott, 2020).
Marginalised groups generally tend to enhance their employability by cultivating their
aspirational capital, social and navigational capital, familial capital and resistant capital
(Garriott, 2020).
Building aspirational capital means individuals from marginalised groups maintain
hope despite barriers. Aspirational capital is evident in the ability to exhibit high levels of
resilience and to cope with disadvantaged conditions (Garriott, 2020).
Social and navigational capital derive from the ability to connect with supportive
communities. Familial capital refers to the emotional support and aspirational capital
is drawn from the family, and the desire to support one’s family and community, which
enable individuals to remain resilient in the job search. Family and community capital may
include the emotional support and encouragement received for pursuing higher education
or a specific career path, and the sense of pride, meaning and motivation one derives from
experiences that represent the family and community (Garriott, 2020).
Resistant capital arises from the knowledge and skills fostered through oppositional
behaviour that challenges inequality (Garriott, 2020). In South Africa, the #FeesMustFall
movement and demand for free high-quality tertiary education for students is an example of
resistant capital.

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Activity
Example 2.3: The case of Abigail, 20 years
I am a single, 20-year-old, Zulu-speaking African woman who lives in Jeppestown in
Johannesburg, South Africa. I am currently unemployed and a first-year student studying
teaching (intermediate phase) at university. I have always been zealous about helping
people and making a difference in people’s lives.
I was brought up by my grandmother, as my mother had me when she was in matric
and had to seek employment in order to provide for me. My dad passed away three
months before I was born. I believe I had a good upbringing; however it came with its
challenges as I had to move between families as my mother did not send any money
home. During my primary years I had to sell sweets at school to make pocket money.
These challenges had made me question how the prospects of my future would look but
I still had hopes that my future would be bright regardless of the circumstances.
I am still a fresh student with no income. My studies are being funded by a bursary;
however I encountered financial issues as the bursary did not fund my textbooks. This
was a setback for me as I was behind with school and had to make means to purchase
textbooks I needed. This experience enabled me to want to be independent because, as
from a young age, my mother could not fully provide for me, therefore I was driven to
have the need for independence.
In the course of my current studies, I have been conflicted between continuing with
studying teaching or branching into a different field called Information Systems. Initially,
I did not want to pursue teaching as I had no interest in it. However, my mother had an
influence in my choice of study. That being said, I became comfortable with the decision
and am now starting to enjoy the teaching course.
I have always been a bit concerned with my confidence when I do a teaching practical.
I tend to be shy, overwhelmed and tend to question if this is the right career choice for
me. Moreover, I am worried about employment as more people are pursuing teaching
and the demand for teachers is becoming less which makes me worry that I may struggle
to find employment which will also impact my financial stability, career growth and
personal motivation.
1. Reflect on Abigail’s career-life story. Review the different forms of capital that
economically marginalised individuals employ to craft their future employability.
Which of these forms of capital does Abigail exhibit in her career-life story?
2. Review the concept of career success. Which career hurdles is Abigail experiencing
that may influence her experience of subjective career success in life?

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2.5 CONCLUSION
Changes in work and careers are the result of external pressures brought about by the
knowledge economy and the rapid advances in technology that characterise the Industry
4.0 workplace. The challenge is to remain adaptable and employable, and individuals
should regard themselves as entrepreneurs in crafting sustainable careers even if they
are permanently employed. The career of the 2020s is about experience, skill, flexibility,
career agility and personal development. It does not involve pre-defined career paths or
employment security.
Employers should heed the psychological impact of the digital-era work environment
on people. Organisations should guard against being insensitive to the fact that people have
social needs to satisfy and that work is regarded by many as a source of economic income,
creativity, identity, mastery and fulfilling a higher purpose. Individuals should be educated
and trained in the processes and capabilities of career adaptation for ensuring decent work,
quality of life, career well-being and sustainable employability.

REVIEW AND DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

1. What are the key features of the Industry 4.0 workplace?

2. How does the digital era influence work and careers in the 2020s?
3. What are the key characteristics of sustainable careers?
4. How do the psychological states of career motivation, career agility and career adaptability
contribute to individuals’ career adaptation capabilities?
5. Why is career self-management an important career adaptation response?
6. Why is sustained employability an important career adaptation outcome?
7. What are the core domains of employability capital?

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REFLECTION ACTIVITY
Read Nkele’s and Bella’s accounts of their careers. Explain how the concept of a
sustainable career applies to their career narratives. Elaborate on the extent to which the
features relevant to the time frame of a career, social space of a career, agency in career
management and the meaning of career are evident in their career stories. Also, identify
the employability capital exhibited by Nkele and Bella.
Nkele (26 years old)
I would like to share with you the past eight and a half years of my life as an employee of
an internationally successful company.
I started as an accounting clerk, GR IV. With lots of ambition, I envisioned myself
reaching accountant, GR V, within three years. Most people take over five years to reach
that level. I kept my line manager informed about my ambitious goals. The company had
a strict hierarchy, with advancement based on performance. Within two years I advanced
three levels and was one level away from reaching my goal. I felt like I was achieving
success, and I enrolled for my BCom degree to show my potential to the company. Then
the company started flattening its structures. I was forced to take a transfer to another
department, as the financial department was centralised in head office.
My dreams were shattered and I felt like a failure. However, I picked myself up and
attacked my new designation with just as much drive and ambition. I had a mentor in
my new position, where I learnt a great deal with regard to following processes. This also
helped me to advance in the field of my interpersonal communication skills.
Over the next three years I transferred laterally within the logistical department,
handling product dispatches, local sales and eventually production and export sales.
I built a network of contacts to assist with information and to support my function.
This exposed me to a knowledge diversity ranging across all the dimensions of the
department, and it was great for my employability.
I felt I had reached the point where I had nothing more to learn in that department,
and I applied for a transfer to the contact centre of another business unit in the
organisation. There I had personal contact with clients of the organisation, addressing
their concerns and learning more about the corporate affairs department as well as the
procurement and supply department. I was then seconded to the PSM department, as
I showed promise in that direction. Again, I was placed under mentorship, and by using
interpersonal career-enhancing strategies I learnt a lot about their processes.
By taking ownership of my career and enhancing my career development continuously
over the past eight and a half years, I managed to get my dream job as a consultant on
behavioural safety — a mere year after completing my degree and just in time to assist
my future studies.

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