Future Career is not a Dream: The Impact of Career Adaptability Process on Career Success
Author
Abstract
The global environment is constantly changing, so employees must adapt themselves to face changes and challenges in their careers. Career adaptability is a psychological resource used by individuals to cope with unpredictable changes and has become increasingly essential nowadays. Based on the career construction theory, we explored the impact of career adaptability on proactive career behavior and the mediating effect of proactive career behavior on the relationship between career adaptability and career success, which includes career satisfaction and career performance. We proposed a moderated mediation model that tested the focus on opportunities, a cognitive-motivational facet of the occupational future time perspective, as the moderator. Moreover, 327 valid two-wave online questionnaires were sent out two weeks apart. The results revealed a significant positive relationship between career adaptability and proactive career behavior. Proactive career behavior mediated the positive relationships among career adaptability, career satisfaction, and career performance. In addition, focus on opportunities positively moderated the relationship between career adaptability and proactive career behavior and positively moderated the mediating effect of proactive career behavior on the proposed relationships. Finally, we discuss the research findings, propose research contributions and limitations, and provide future research directions.
Key Words
career adaptability, career construction theory, career success, focus on opportunities, proactive career behavior
