Career Motivation

Career motivation is the desire to

exert effort to enhance career goals. It is a multidimensional construct
that combines elements of needs, interests, and personality
characteristics that reflect the stimulus, direction, and persistence of
career-related behaviors. Career motivation is organized into three
domains. Career insight is the stimulus or energizing component. This
is people’s ability to be realistic about themselves and their careers.
People who are high in career insight have an accurate understanding
of their strengths and weaknesses and set clear career goals. Career
identity is the direction component. This is the extent to which people
define themselves by their careers. People who are high in career
identity are highly involved in their jobs, their organizations, and/or
their professions. They strive for advancement, recognition, and a
leadership role. Career resilience is the persistence component. This is
the ability to adapt to changing conditions and overcome career
barriers. People who are high in career resilience believe in
themselves, need to achieve, and are willing to take reasonable risks
to do so.

Resilience, insight, and identity have their foundation in trait factor

career theories. Resilience is conceptually related to the need for
reassurance, the ability to face barriers, hardiness, self-efficacy,
agency (being assertive, instrumental, and interpersonally facile),
mastery motivation, and achievement motivation. Career insight is
conceptually similar to self-concept, feedback orientation, and
openness. Career identity is conceptually linked to job commitment,
organizational commitment, and organizational citizenship.

The model proposes that resilience results from reinforcement

contingencies during childhood, adolescence, and early adulthood. As
a result, resilience is less likely to change, but it can be supported by
positive reinforcement and chances to learn and achieve. Career
insight and identity are the result of information processing and can be
more easily affected by feedback and changes in situational
conditions. Career insight is affected by support for goal setting,
including information about alternative career paths, advice in
establishing career goals, organizational flexibility, opportunities for
change, and clarity of organizational processes, such as appraisal and
promotion decisions. Career identity is influenced by encouragement
of professionalism, reinforcement for organizational commitment (e.g.,
pay bonuses and pensions), leadership opportunities, and programs
that recognize and reward excellent performance.

Prospective and retrospective rationality explain how situational

conditions influence the career motivation domains and career-related
behaviors. Prospective rationality suggests that situational conditions
affect career resilience, insight, and identity, which, in turn, influence
career behaviors. Retrospective rationality argues that behaviors
influence feelings of career motivation and perceptions of current
conditions. So people who are resilient and high in career identity and
who take action to support their career goals (for instance, participate
in employee development activities) are likely to perceive favorable
situational conditions.

The three career motivation domains form different patterns of career

development. Career resilience sets the stage for meaningful career
insight (e.g., receptiveness to feedback), which, in turn, influences
establishing an achievable career identity. People who are resilient at
the start of their careers are likely to use information about
themselves and the environment to develop accurate career insight
and realistic career identity. They will be able to overcome career
barriers and, if necessary, redirect their careers. Failure or severe
negative feedback may undermine resilience. Career coaches may help
people put these negative experiences in perspective, gain insight into
themselves and the situation, and discover alternative directions for
career satisfaction and success. People who lack confidence from the
start and fail are not likely to break away from an ineffective pattern of
career motivation (low resilience, insight, and identity). They are likely
to have low or unrealistic career goals and are good candidates for
career or psychological counseling.

Career motivation has been measured by developmental assessment

centers and questionnaires. A developmental assessment center
includes a personal history form, a detailed background interview,
personality instruments, interest inventories, exercises on life and
career decisions (e.g., reactions to hypothetical job choices), and a
career projectives test that asks for reactions to ambiguous pictures
of career-related topics. Assessors record and evaluate participants’
scores, reactions, and behaviors and rate them on the career
motivation domains. The results are fed back to participants as input
for career-planning discussions.

Career motivation survey items have also been developed to measure

behaviors and attitudes that reflect the three domains. For example, a
measure of career insight includes these items: “I have a specific plan
for achieving my career goal,” and “I have realistic career goals.” A
measure of career identity includes this item: “I am very involved in my
job,” and “I spend free time on activities that will help my job.” A
measure of career resilience includes this item: “I believe other people
when they tell me that I have done a good job,” and “I am able to adapt
to changing circumstances.” Research has found convergent validity
for different measures of career motivation.

Research has been conducted on the antecedents and consequences

of career motivation. Career mentoring has a positive influence on
performance by first affecting career motivation; that is, career
motivation mediates the relationship between mentoring and
performance. Individuals who are higher in career motivation benefit
more from training than those who are low in career motivation. Older
workers show as much career motivation as younger workers. People
who believe that mentoring and new skill development are appropriate
for older people have higher career motivation. Part-time workers are
higher in career resilience than are full-time workers, perhaps because
part-time workers have to adapt to changing work schedules and
responsibilities. Career resilience is related to career persistence, and
career insight is negatively related to turnover intentions. Overall,
situational conditions can strengthen or lessen career motivation
components, as the model predicts.

The model has been used to generate guidelines to support career

development. Career resilience is reinforced through opportunities for
achievement, rewards for innovation, interpersonal concern, and
positive reinforcement for excellent work. Career insight is supported
by providing career information and performance feedback and
encouraging goal setting. Career identity is supported by providing job
challenge, chances for professional growth, and opportunities for
leadership and advancement.

See also: