The impact of protean and boundaryless career attitudes on subjective career success: Examining the moderating role of perceived employability and exploring the role of person-organization fit Author: Dara Sengler Student number: 4097726 First supervisor: Jan Fekke Ybema Second supervisor: Reine van der Wal Word count: 8654 Publicly accessible

Abstract

The aim of the current study was to gain insight into ways of creating more sustainable careers, when the need for longer professional careers is at an all-time high. Through expanding the empirical work done on the relationships between contemporary career models and career success we sought to provide insight in ways of enhancing employees’ experienced career success and preserving their employability. To do so, we tested a model wherein associations between self-management activities, organizational mobility preference, perceived employability and career success have been specified. A survey was conducted among 171 participants, whom were acquired through social media platforms. Positive relationships were found for both perceived employability and self-management activities with career success. A negative relationship between organizational mobility preference and career success was unearthed, in contrast with previous findings. We set out to examine the potential moderating role of perceived employability on the relationship between self-management activities and career success, no support was found for this moderation. Our results did indicate a moderation effect of low perceived employability on the relationship between organizational mobility preference and career success. Furthermore, our results indicated a mediating role of person-organization fit on the relationships of self-management activities and organizational mobility preference with career success. The implications of our findings for understanding the pathways leading to career success are discussed.