Career

A career is commonly understood as an individual’s long-term journey through learning, work and broader life activities. It encompasses occupational roles, personal development and the cumulative experiences that shape a person’s professional and social identity. Although often associated with employment, the term extends beyond the workplace to include life choices, educational pathways and evolving ambitions.

Definitions and conceptual understanding

The term “career” has multiple accepted meanings. One interpretation views a career as an individual’s general progression through life, incorporating education, work and personal growth. Another focuses specifically on the working dimension of life, as reflected in expressions such as “career woman”. A third interpretation equates a career with a profession requiring specialised knowledge, training or formal qualifications, pursued as a long-term vocation. In this sense, a career may refer to a sequence of related jobs within a particular economic sector or industry, such as education, construction or policing.
Scholars in organisational behaviour describe a career as the total pattern of work-related experiences both within and outside organisational settings over an individual’s lifetime. This definition emphasises that careers are not solely shaped by employment but also by learning, voluntary activities and personal goals.

Etymology

The word “career” derives from the Latin carrus, meaning chariot. Through Old Provençal and Italian, the term developed into carriera, referring to a road or racecourse. By the sixteenth century, the Middle French carrière denoted a running course or track. This sense later expanded to describe the metaphorical “course” of one’s public or professional life. The semantic shift appears to have been well established by the early nineteenth century, with references to literary, professional and business careers appearing frequently in publications from that period.
Historically, the structured sequence of public offices in ancient Rome, known as the cursus honorum, provides a premodern analogue to the contemporary concept of a career.

Historic changes in career patterns

During the twentieth century, the expansion of education, diversification of occupations and changing social structures enabled individuals to plan their careers more deliberately. This development contributed to the emergence of professions such as career counselling and career advising.
The late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries have seen increasing numbers of people pursuing multiple careers, either sequentially or simultaneously. Hybrid professional identities—combining skills from different fields—have become common, especially within the creative industries. Economists, including Richard Florida, highlight the prevalence of such patterns within knowledge-based and creative sectors.

Career management

Career management refers to the purposeful planning and control of one’s career trajectory. Frameworks such as the Blueprint model used in the United States, Canada, Australia, Scotland and England, and the Seven Cs of Digital Career Literacy, outline key skills needed for effective management. These include the ability to reflect on one’s current position, understand labour market trends, assess the need for further education, identify opportunities and navigate transitions.
Digital literacy has become increasingly central to career development, enabling individuals to research job markets, network online and access training resources.

Career choice

Choosing a career involves a complex interplay of rational, psychological and experiential factors. Scholars such as Behling have proposed three main theoretical perspectives:

• Objective factor theory: applicants make decisions based on measurable job characteristics such as salary, benefits, location and opportunities for advancement.
• Subjective factor theory: social and psychological elements, including organisational reputation and personal values, strongly influence career decisions.
• Critical contact theory: impressions formed during interactions with an organisation—for example, recruiter behaviour or responsiveness—may be decisive, particularly for experienced professionals.

However, real-world labour markets often constrain individual choice. Scarcity of opportunities, economic pressures and competitive job environments mean many individuals enter careers out of necessity rather than preference. Cultural values can also shape career choices, with varying norms influencing how individuals prioritise stability, status or personal fulfilment.
Contemporary career advice also emphasises personal factors such as natural talents, work style, desired level of social interaction, appetite for stress, work-life balance expectations and financial aspirations. Increasingly, career choice is viewed as flexible; individuals may change direction multiple times as interests evolve and circumstances shift.

Changing occupations

Occupation changes form a natural part of career development. Both personal circumstances and labour market conditions alter over time, prompting many individuals to transition into new roles. Longitudinal data from the United States indicates that people aged 18 to 38 typically hold more than ten different jobs.
Reasons for career change vary widely and include organisational restructuring, desire for new challenges, dissatisfaction with leadership, strained managerial relationships, pursuit of better work-life balance, lack of recognition, misalignment of values, inadequate compensation, and organisational instability. Relocation or unexpected redundancy may also trigger career shifts. Surveys suggest that a substantial proportion of workers explore alternative employment even while currently employed.

Career success

Career success refers to how far an individual can be considered successful in their professional life. Mid-twentieth-century perspectives emphasised organisational definitions of success, including promotions, salary increases and status within a company. Traditional models such as Donald Super’s linear career stage theory reflected an era in which long-term employment with one or two firms was common.
Contemporary career paths, however, are less predictable due to rapid economic and technological change. As employment becomes more fluid, individuals assume greater responsibility for their own career progression. Subjective measures of success have therefore gained prominence. These include job satisfaction, alignment with personal values, perceived achievement and work-life balance. An individual’s sense of success may also be shaped by social comparison with peers, family members or former classmates.
Career capital—comprising social capital (network depth), human capital (skills and knowledge), and psychological capital (resilience, confidence and motivation)—significantly influences the degree of success a person may achieve. These forms of capital interact with external conditions such as economic cycles, organisational structures and cultural expectations.