Two New Book Chapters Published on Career Crafting
In recent weeks, two books have been published in which I have contributed with a chapter. Both chapters relate to the topic of career crafting: one of them presents a conceptualization of career crafting, along with a new validated scale to measure career crafting. The other chapter argues that the school-to-work transition has changed from a one-off "occupational change" moment to a continuous process of career crafting. These chapters were really interesting to write, and I am happy to see that they are now formally published!
Tims & Akkermans (2020): Job and Career Crafting to Fulfill Individual Career Pathways
Published in: Jerry W. Hedge and Gary W. Carter (2020). Career Pathways: From School to Retirement (Oxford University Press).
In this chapter, we reflect on recent job crafting literature to analyze what the effects of job crafting are on work-related and career-related outcomes. We also review some of the literature on career competencies and career self-management, analyzing how all these types of proactive behaviors may share similarities but also have differences. Based on a comparison of the concepts, we then present a definition of career crafting, which we refer to as: "proactive behaviors that individuals perform to self-manage their career and that are aimed at attaining optimal person–career fit". Using this definition, we developed and validated a new measurement instrument for career crafting, consisting of 8 items to measure the two dimensions of proactive career reflection and proactive career construction. In three separate empirical studies, we offer evidence about the reliability and validity of the Career Crafting Survey (CCS) and we offer some suggestions for future research with this new scale.
A preprint version of the chapter is available HERE. If you are interested in the full book, you can find all information HERE.
De Vos, Akkermans, & Van der Heijden (2019): From Occupational Choice to Career Crafting
Published in: H. Gunz, M. Lazarova, and W. Mayrhofer (2019). The Routledge Companion to Career Studies (Routledge).
In this chapter, we discuss how the transition from education to work has significantly changed in recent years. Due to all kinds of societal developments, what used to be a one-off moment in which someone would choose an occupation, has now changed for many people to an ongoing and dynamic process of career crafting. We reflect on the literature on three key concepts that can help young adults craft a sustainable career: employability, adaptability, and career competencies. In addition, we argue that it is important to take into account the (organizational) context when thinking about how people can craft sustainable careers. Finally, we propose an agenda for future research, in which we argue that we need to analyze early career development from different perspectives and levels, ranging from micro (what individuals can do) to meso (what the role of organizations is) to macro (what the role of national policies and labor market situations is).
A preprint version of the chapter is available HERE. If you are interested in the full book, you can find all information HERE.