A PHENOMENOLOGY OF CAREER CHANGE IN THE MALAYSIAN WORKFORCE IBD

Sinopse

Evolution in economy, technology and social institutions over time have given rise toáboundaryless and Protean careers that promote mobility and self-direction in managing oneâÇÖsácareer. This has led to the phenomenon of career change whereby individuals undertake aáshift from one field of work to a completely different field of work. In career change research,ácareer changers have been studied as a collective, singular group undergoing a similar changeáexperience, which neglects individual differences that may contrast the experience of changeáfrom one changer to another. Furthermore, the emotional experience that accompanies aácareer change has been examined with a primary focus on the role of positive emotions,áwhich overlooks the role of negative emotions in career change. Thus, this book sheds lightáon three key narratives of career change, Rejectors, Navigators and Seekers, that wereáidentified in a phenomenological study of career change amongst Malaysian working adults.áSemi-structured interviews were conducted with 30 career changers across age, gender andáethnicity with a focus on how they made sense and meaning of their lived experience ofácareer change within their environment and context. Each career change narrative was foundáto have different characteristics, motivations and behaviors respectively, which shaped theiráunique career change process. Negative emotions were also revealed as key drivers of theácareer change process, although each narrative expressed different types of negative emotions.Finally, the book also introduces an adaptive perspective to career development by way of theáAdaptive Career Construal Model (ACCM) which was proposed based on the continuous bi-directional relationship between career decisions and career outcomes.