Career Shock In Research

Career development is widely discussed topic in both academic and popular literature, as it plays an important role in individual’s life. Yet, most of the literature that has been written on this topic usually does not have specific focus on the events that can have significant impact on a career development. However, in the last decade scope of research swifted towards events that influences someone’s career, as academics discovered how impactful these changes can be. It is in fact supported by many researchers that unplanned events have influence on someone’s career (Hirschi, 2013). However, even though recently more research is conducted about events that influence the career of an individual, there is still a lack of focus on the underlying

To get a better understanding of what career shocks entails some definitions will be presented. Seibert, Kraimer, Holtom, & Pierotti (2013) define a career shock as “any event that triggers deliberation involving the prospect of a change in an important career-related behavior such as seeking further education, changing occupations, or changing employment status (Seibert, Kraimer, Holtom, & Pierotti, 2013).” Slay, Taylor, & Williamson (2004) focus specifically on career shocks defined as “significant occasions that prompt employees to consider their career options.” At last Akkermans, Seibert & Mol (manuscript in preparation) define career shocks in the most specific way, as their definition entails categorizing shocks into positive and negative. Authors describe a career shock

Their definition also considers internal and external cause of such. It is therefore allowing for a better understanding of career shocks, as compared to the common definition found, such as of Holtom, Mitchell, Lee, & Inderrieden (2005) and offers a broader opportunity to categorize career shocks and find out how employees in the Netherlands deal with them.
To support the research question and to get a better understanding of the phenomenon ‘career shocks’ the following sub question is introduced: “What impactful career events should be considered as career shocks?”
Some scholars talk about the career shocks within the specific field, however, our research will focus on a nationality rather than the type of work. Six full-time Dutch employees will be interviewed to get more insight how the career shocks are perceived in the Netherlands. The aim of this qualitative research is to contribute to the current categorizing between positive and negative career shocks by Akkermans, Seibert & Mol. This will be done by exploring what shocks employees identify as the most impactful.
Furthermore, in order to draw conclusions from this research that go beyond the current state of knowledge, participants will be asked to describe how they interpret and deal with such shocks in their