Career Resilience
Change in the workplace continues at a rapid pace, affecting careers and career development. Mergers, acquisitions, reengineering, and downsizing are influencing employment patterns and altering the career directions of many. No longer are individuals advised to think in terms of spending their entire careers in one organization. Rather, they are being led to recognize the temporary nature of all jobs and the need to prepare themselves for redefined career paths that require resilience and an ability to be self-reliant. This Digest defines the concept of career resilience, including the characteristics of individuals who are career resilient and the characteristics of organizations that support career resilience.
Definition of Career Resilience
Collard et al. (1996) present several definitions of career resilience. One of these is “the ability to adapt to changing circumstances, even when the circumstances are discouraging or disruptive” (p. 33). Another definition of career resilience is “the result or outcome of being career self-reliant” (p. 34).
Although career self-reliance and career resilience have been used interchangeably, there is a slight difference in the focus of each term. Career self-reliance refers to individual career self-management taking responsibility for one’s own career and growth while maintaining commitment to the organization’s success; career resilience refers to individual career development developing the knowledge and skills required to make a visible and personally motivated contribution to the organization and its customers.
The Need for Career Resilience
The emphasis on the self-management and self-development of one’s career is a reflection of the shift in the . .ouse on Adult, Career, and Vocational Education, 1996. (ED 396 191)
Filipczak, B.
“You’re on Your Own.” Training 32, no. 1 (January 1995): 29-36. Fox, D. “Career Insurance for Today’s World.” Training & Development 50, no.
3 (March 1996): 61-64.
Hall, D. T. and Mirvis, P. H. “The New Career Contract: Devel-oping the Whole Person at Midlife and Beyond.
” Journal of Vocational Behavior 47, no. 3 (December 1995): 269-289.
Hequet, M. “Flat and Happy?” Training 32, no. 4 (April 1995): 29-34. Kaye, B.
, and Farren, C. “Up Is Not the Only Way.” Training & Development 50, no. 2 (February 1996): 48-53.
Koonce, R. “Becoming Your Own Career Coach.
” Training & Development 49, no. 1 (January 1995): 18-25.
Waterman, R. H., Jr.; Waterman, J.
D.; and Collard, B. A. “Toward a Career-Resilient Workforce.” Harvard Business Review 72, no. 4 (July-August 1994): 87-95.
