cereer
...e psychological contract is a concept which is proving very useful in explaining peoplefs responses to the changing context of careers. It has been defined:an individualfs belief regarding the terms and conditions of a reciprocal exchange agreement between that focal person and another partyca belief that some form of a promise has been made and that the terms and conditions of the contract have been accepted by both parties.›5 So in the context of careers, the psychological contract represents informal, unwritten understandings between employer and employees. From the employeesf point of view, the psychological contract is the agreement that they think they have with their employer about what they will contribute to the employer vi their work, and what they can expect in return. Herriot and Pemberton draw on a well-established distinction between a relational and a transactional contract. The former refers to a long-term relationship based on trust and mutual respect. The employees offered loyalty, conformity to requirements, commitment to their employerfs goals and trust in their employer not to abuse their goodwill. In return, the organization supposedly offered security of employment, promotion prospects, training and development, and some flexibility about the demands made on employees if they were in difficulty. But global competition, new technology, downsizing, delayering and the rest of it have put and end to all that. Many employers no longer keep their side of the bargain. The new deal is imposed rather than agreed; it is transactional rather than relational. Instead of being based on a long-term relationship, it is much more like a short-term economic exchange. The employee offers longer hours, broader skills, tolerance of change and ambiguity, and willingness to take more responsibility. ›6In return the employer offers high pay, rewards for high performance and, simply, a job. It is clear that many employees feel that their psychological contract has been violated by their employer. For example, Robinson and Rousseau found that 70 of their sample of 128 managers thought that their employer had violated their psychological contract in the first two years of employment. Violations most commonly concerned training and development, pay and benefits, and promotion opportunities. When employees felt that their employer had violated the psychological contract, they were not surprisingly inclined to feel less sense of obligation and less commitment to their employing organization. John Holland has developed over many years an influential theory of career choice. In the course of his earlier work as a careers counselor in the USA, he thought he could discern six pure types of vocational personality. Very briefly, Hollandfs six personality types are: 1. realistic: outdoor-type. Tend to like, and be good at, activities requiring physical strength and/or co-ordination. Not keen on socializing; 2. investigative: interested in concepts and logic. Tend to enjoy, and be good at, abstract thought. Often interested in the physical sciences; 3. artistic: tend to use their imagination a lot. Like to express their feelings and ideas. Dislike rules and regulations; enjoy music, drama, art; 4. social: enjoy the company of other people, especially in affiliative relationships. Tend to be warm and caring. 5. enterprising: also enjoy the company of other people, but mainly to dominate or persuade rather than help them. Enjoy action rather than thought; 6. conventional: like rules and regulations, structure and order. Usually well organized, not very imaginative.›7 Use Hollandfs theories, how can a person make an effective career decision? First, self-awareness: a person needs to have an accurate appraisal of his or her own strengths and weaknesses, values, likes and dislikes. Careful self-assessment is important because research has shown that self-assessments often fail to agree with assessments by objective tests or by other people. Second, knowledge of occupations: there are many workbooks that give guidance on how to find out about occupations. Apart from reading published information, methods include talking to a person in that occupation, and shadowing such a person for a period of time in order to see what he or she actually does. Emphasis is placed on avoiding stereotypes of occupations, and ensuring that one pays attention not only to positions one might ultimately occupy in an occupation, but also to those one will have to fill on the way. Third, putting self-knowledge and occupational knowledge together: often it is surprisingly difficult for people to relate what they know about occupations to what they know about self. This is especially the case when a person is trying to choose between fairly similar occupations. Forth, decision-making styles: Phillips identified three styles: rational, where advantages and disadvantages of various potions are considered logically and systematically, intuitive, where various options are considered and the decision is made on egutfeelingf, and dependent, where the person essentially denies responsibility for decision making and waits for other people or circumstances to dictate what he or she should do. Many social scientists have sought to map out human development in adulthood. They have often identified age-linked stages of development, each with its own specific concerns and tasks for the person. Erikson, working originally from a psychoanalytic perspective, identified four stages of adult life, each with its own task that had to be satisfactorily resolved before the person could move on to the next stage: 1. adolescence: the key task is achieving a sense of identity. Dangers are either remaining unclear about onefs self-concept, or, at the...