Today there are a lot of people who can be considered in society as having multiple careers or various career experiences. Thus, it is possible to speak about the tendency to switch careers under the influence of a number of factors. These significant factors are actively discussed by the psychologists and sociologists.
It is typical to state that the fact of changing the person’s career is often a result of the individual’s intention to reach definite goals and realize the opportunity for the personal growth. Thus, this decision is affected by the personal factors. However, in her article “Changing Careers: The Effect of Social Context”, Monica Higgins provides the idea that the individual’s decision to switch careers is in many cases influenced by certain interpersonal relations which form the social context for the individual.
Although people usually decide to switch their career because of a range of subjective and personal factors, the social context and the role of advisors can be considered as influential aspects of the person’s final decision to change the career because they acquire the necessary informational and emotional support for realizing the idea of changing the job.
The dissatisfactory situation at the workplace and such factors as the conflicts with coworkers, the lack of interest in work, and the lack of the work success or recognition provoke the development of the idea about possible changing the career as a way to solve the definite difficulties, and this idea becomes the personal intention when the individual receives the emotional support and begins to see the perspectives and the opportunities for his or her further career progress at the other place.
Thus, “current dissatisfaction, attractive alternatives, obstacles, confidence to overcome obstacles” can stimulate the development of the idea that it is necessary to change the career in order to use the opportunities for the development and not to follow the stream (Higgins, 2001, p. 597).
However, the person can only think over the idea without realizing it till those people close to this person provide the emotional or psychological support and encourage the individual to make a decision. According to Higgins, these people are discussed as “advice networks” and form the social context (Higgins, 2001).
The decision to change the career is usually affected by a combination of subjective and objective factors. As it was stated, in many cases people decide to switch their careers in order to complete their professional goals. That is why “a career change occurs when an individual changes jobs and employers, objective aspects of one’s career, and when an individual perceives that such changes in his or her career constitute a career change” (Higgins, 2001, p. 596).
Thus, this process is very important for the person and to decide to switch the career, he or she should analyze all the advantages and disadvantages of this decision. In this situation the informational support of the advisors can be discussed as the key factor for making the final decision and forming the full picture of the further perspectives.
Therefore, people switch careers when they have a strong intrinsic motivation and intentions to reach the professional aims in the other sphere or in another company, and they are affected by the social context.
Having the permanent interpersonal contacts with “advice networks”, individuals evaluate their possibilities with references to the factual information about the career opportunities provided by their friends, relatives, and acquaintances (Higgins, 2001). Such interconnections help the person pay attention to the situation in the market, to assess his or her individual abilities, and to receive the psychological support.
In spite of the fact the personal inner motives were considered as the most influential factors for changing the career during a long period of time, today the impact of the social context is also discussed as a significant cause for the person’s focusing on the information provided by the public. Moreover, the factor of the emotional support contributes to the growth of the individual’s self-esteem and confidence which can lead to changing the career for achieving the professional goals.
Reference
Higgins, M. C. (2001). Changing careers: The effects of social context. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 22(6), 595-618. doi: 10.1002/job.104