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• DOI: 10.1108/cdi-10-2021-0251
• Corpus ID: 246293172

The why, what and how of career research: a review and recommendations for future study

• Y. Baruch , S. Sullivan
• Published in Career Development… 25 January 2022
• Education, Business

53 Citations

From wallflower to life and soul of the party: acknowledging time’s role at center stage in the study of careers, toward a sustainable career perspective on contingent work: a critical review and a research agenda, an exploratory study on career models and mechanisms of career advancement of emirati women managers, (re)framing sustainable careers: toward a conceptual model and future research agenda, understanding careers as translations: the importance of bruno latour for the study of careers, self-goal setting as a way to career sustainability: exploring the roles of career crafting and perceived organizational goal clarity, howdo organizational career management activities influence employees’ career outcomes the mediating role of career capital, research on career management and succession planning in the field of business, management, and accounting: a bibliometric perspective, who is successful in career development a person-centered approach to the study of career orientation profiles, academic independent directors in china: factors influencing career decision-making, 111 references, advances in career theory and research: a critical review and agenda for future exploration, mapping methods in careers research: a review and future research agenda, handbook of research on sustainable careers, the changing nature of careers: a review and research agenda, career studies in search of theory: the rise and rise of concepts, making sense of different perspectives on career transitions: a review and agenda for future research, sustainable careers: towards a conceptual model, career and learning: the ins and the outs of it, a systematic review of the career adaptability literature and future outlook, tales of the unexpected: integrating career shocks in the contemporary careers literature, related papers.

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How To Write A Career Research Paper

• July 2, 2020
• How To's

Here's What We'll Cover

A career research paper is a write-up that gives students a better idea of what to expect in a career field they’d like to explore. The paper helps them familiarize themselves with careers they knew nothing or little about. Besides, it also gives them a chance to prove the career choice is indeed suitable for them. And if it isn’t, they can then reconsider their area of specialization . 

For an effective research paper, find a career that suits your interest to score better grades. You also need to conduct detailed research and create an outline to help you organize your work. Examples of career research papers include; How to get an internship and careers that don’t require a college education. Other topics are what should your resume contain and The benefits of working from home.

There are diverse careers out there designated for different people based on their personalities and capabilities. Thus when writing the career research paper, your focus will be a career you have thought about before. It might also be a job that suits you perfectly.

How To Develop a Career Research Paper

If you’ve had any challenges writing your research paper, worry no more. This article will teach you how to write a great career research paper. To do so, consider the following;

• Identify a career
• Gather sufficient information on the chosen career
• Identify professionals in your career line and interview them
• Write your career essay

Identify A Career

Every person has an aptitude and personality. This must be considered when determining an ideal career. If you are not sure what career fits you best, consider taking a personality test quiz. These answers will eventually help you discover careers that best match your personality. In the test, you will answer questions like; are you friendly towards people? Do you prefer working alone? Do you enjoy writing and have tremendous writing abilities ? 

Be keen on your interests and strengths. Carefully examine them with different opportunities. More so, through the research paper, you will be able to access the unfamiliar career opportunities available. A career research paper does not necessarily mean you will pursue that career in life. Nonetheless, it helps present adequate information about the careers.

Gather Sufficient Information On The Chosen Career

Use the internet, library, and career center materials to gather additional information. Your research plays an integral role in gathering sufficient data and facts about the career at large. You can also consult with librarians and career advisors for career recommendations. Therefore, have questions designated for your research. 

Identify Professionals In Your Career Line And Interview Them

Experts in a particular field must be considered for such interviews. They have extensive knowledge and experience. So, find the professionals and ask your burning questions concerning your career choice. Ask relevant questions that will help you understand their experiences, likes, dislikes, and the challenges they face. 

Write Your Career Essay

Because you have already gathered sufficient information, use your outline to start writing your paper. The essay will contain information about the career, the requirements needed to pursue it, the pay range, and its pros and cons. In a situation where you conducted interviews, designate a paragraph for the reporting.

What Should a Career Research Paper Have?

The purpose is to have a paper that is informative and resonates with the reader . Therefore, it should explore the following; 

Highlight Your Career Goals 

Talk about what you want to pursue or achieve in life and the steps to get you there. Here, you’ll need to have long-term and short-term goals. This will answer questions like, where do you see yourself in 5 or 10 years. Examples of short-term goals are; gaining a new professional skill or a self-improvement skill like networking. On the other hand, long-term goals are opening a business, making a career switch, or attaining a leadership position. 

Discuss One Major Career

Talk about one career you’d love to pursue. If you want to become a doctor, you can narrow it down to a cardiologist or a pediatrician. However, if you want to be a reporter, you can focus on being a business or sports reporter.

Talk About Facts Concerning The Career

Some careers don’t necessarily need a degree or professional skills. If yours falls under this category, you can talk about it. And because every career has its strengths and weaknesses, talk about both without sugarcoating anything. For example, if you write about the healthcare industry, you might discuss working beyond the extra hours or lack of advancement opportunities. Discussing the pros and cons will prepare you for the challenges ahead or issues you had overlooked before. 

Discuss Hobbies, Talents, and Interests

A career research paper requires you to talk about what you love to do in your free time. It might be something you are good at or something you’d love to be an expert in. Therefore, this helps you match your personality to a career you are interested in. It also makes you aware of other possibilities you can explore. 

Cite Sources Correctly

Because the paper will require you to do a lot of research, you must document your search sources. Therefore, it is important to cite your sources correctly to add credibility to your paper. 

Guidelines To Help You Write A Catchy Paper

• Examine your goals
• Analyse your skills and interests
• Make a chart of pros and cons
• Explore career sites
• Reseach current trends
• Create an outline
• Identify a conducive environment to write from
• Work with a timeline.
• Edit and proofread your work
• Confirm that all career questions are answered

Examine Your Goals

What are the goals you want to achieve? Is there a particular level you’d love to reach? Is your objective to have money or find a career that will give your life meaning and purpose? Taking time to think about the future can help you identify jobs that will be a long-term fit. You should also consider the salary, working hours, advancement opportunities, and location.

Analyse Your Skills And Interests

A skill is something you have learned to do or something you are good at. You might have a skill in writing, knitting, or fixing appliances. On the other hand, interest is something you like . An area you’ve always loved to pursue. It might be fashion, photography, drawing—anything you like or prefer to do. Most importantly, ask yourself what you are interested in the most, what gives you joy, or what areas you would like to perfect.

Make A Chart Of Pros And Cons

Everything in life has its advantages and disadvantages. If something makes you happy, it will inevitably make you sad. That is why it is important to list the positives and the negatives of a particular career. You might choose an interesting field that is quite demanding. It might require long hours of work or a high level of confidentiality, or maybe creativity. Hence, it is essential to know what you are willing to work with.

Explore Career Sites 

There are many sites you can use to get detailed information regarding certain careers. For instance, some sites will help you take personality tests to match what career types match your personality the best.

Research Career Trends 

What major careers are people pursuing? What careers will bloom in the next five years? Is it technology? Is it healthcare because of the pandemic? The hospitality industry or finance ? If you consider this aspect, it will help you make a wise move.

Create An Outline

An outline is the framework of any good paper. Developing an outline helps you understand the sequence of the paragraphs. Additionally, it will help you know what idea to establish, hence creating a good flow. Having an outline can also help you develop a draft for your paper as well as ensure you have a powerful introduction and a strong thesis that backs up all of your points with good research.

Identify A Conducive Environment To Write From

Writing an essay demands keenness and a high level of concentration. Therefore, choose a welcoming environment to write from. For instance, you could write from the library, a silent coffee shop at the corner, or even your bedroom, where you experience zero disruptions and distractions. 

Work With a Timeline.

Understand the deadline for handing in the research paper and set your timeline. A timeline will certainly help you meet deadlines and also help you submit a high-quality research paper that has not been written in a hurry.

Edit And Proofread Your Work

Edit and proofread your work to correct grammatical mistakes that make you look like a careless writer. Similarly, you can even read your work twice or thrice to ensure that you haven’t left out any errors.

Confirm That All Career Questions Are Answered

How thorough is the essay? Does it cover all the angles about the career? The career research paper needs to present a detailed report about the career. Therefore, reexamine the relevance of the paper as far as the career is concerned.

Crafting this paper has never been a simple task. However, if the guidelines above are followed, the process becomes easier to tackle. So, understand each instruction, and you will be able to write your essay about careers.

An Outline For a Career Research Paper 

A good outline is important for any paper. Most importantly, it helps you create a good flow of thoughts and ensures you have a powerful introduction, body, and conclusion. 

The Introduction 

An introduction has one or two paragraphs. Of course, this depends on the simplicity or the complexity of the paper. The introduction should introduce the paper’s topic, have a good definition of the career, and a thesis statement that clearly explains the paper’s focus. Above all, remember to hook the reader to your paper and give them an easy transition to your work. 

The Body 

The body can have three or more paragraphs depending on the points you want to address. Here are some things that need to be included;

• The most important features of the career.
• The nature of the job and a list of the responsibilities.
• The minimum qualification required for the purpose.
• The challenges involved in pursuing the career.
• A discussion of how easy or how difficult it is to find placement in the sector.
• The possibilities for growth in the career sector.
• An explanation of why that particular career looks more appealing to you than the rest.
• The skills which complement the career responsibilities.
• The shortcomings that might come in the way of your career and how you plan to tackle those situations.

The Conclusion

The conclusion should summarize what you have learned. It should summarise the most important points, a reinstatement of the thesis stated in the introduction, and a concluding statement that effectively winds up the discussion.

An Example Of a Career Reserch Paper

Career Research Paper

Institution

Media ideally refers to means of delivering information to a targeted audience. Throughout the lessons, we have learned of the different types of media that are there. These include print media, broadcast media, and the internet.

Print media uses printed items to pass the information, including magazines, books, newspapers, brochures, and pamphlets.

On the other hand, broadcast media involves using avenues like television and radio to pass information to people. The internet is the other form of media whereby people share and communicate through online platforms.

Some people use the internet as a media channel by using podcasts, YouTube videos, and virtual programs. As time goes by, some types of media lose audiences because of better and convenient platforms for communication.

When the internet had not been developed, print media was the most prevalent avenue for passing information. However, this got to change with the invention of the internet.

I have chosen the type of media is the broadcast media, as a journalist who aspires to work as a news anchor. Journalism career at the most basic level revolves around journalists investigating, collecting, and presenting the information.

This can be done in newspapers and magazines or radio, television, and online sites of passing information. It is the work of journalists to inform the public of important news and activities.

Therefore, I would like to learn more about journalists and the news anchoring profession and their importance. I believe that news anchors are essential in the world of information and communication. They are the link between the listeners and the public.

I hope to learn how they can read the news eloquently with the most minimal errors. Intriguingly, an individual will read news knowing well that a million people are watching yet still not become shy and afraid of the vast multitude.

I am also interested in learning more about how they can maintain professionalism in their interviews without letting their emotions get in the way. News anchoring is undoubtedly an art of presentation.

Broadcast media entails the use of radio and television to convey information. This form of media uses journalists to pass the information to other people concerning the target audience.

Television and radio remain the principal source of information and entertainment for people exposed to mass media. These channels are both influential because they reach a broader audience.

Additionally, they combine visual images, sound, motion, and color to empathize with the viewers and listeners. Broadcast journalism involves researching and reporting the news.

Several jobs are available in broadcast journalism. One can work as a reporter or work behind the scenes as researchers and producers who find background details about stories and interview other people.

These jobs include researchers, editors, news reporters, camera specialists, graphic designers, producers, and directors. Researchers are the people who go out and source for information to be passed through either television, radio, or online platforms.

On the other hand, editors edit the information received to ensure that it is safe to be viewed by the audience. Graphic designers and camera specialists ensure that the images displayed on television and online platforms are good for viewing.

News anchoring is what I am interested in, mainly reporting the news through the channels like television, radio, and online platforms.

News presentation is an art of journalism whereby an individual presents news during a news program either on the television, the radio, or online. A news reporters’ role has developed over time to what it now is.

However, these news anchors occupy a contestable role in news broadcasts. The news reporters can be working journalists who assist in the collection of news material. Also, the news presenters may provide commentary assistance during the news program session.

Often, news presenters and anchors work from the studios. These studios can be either television or radio studios. Recently, there has been a new group of news anchoring, which is done online. These online news reporters present the news from remote areas of their interest because not all of them own studios.

I take much interest in learning about journalism, particularly in news reporting. I want to study anchoring in the next two years of college and hopefully work as a news anchor one day in one of these radio or television companies.

News anchors work during news program sessions and when breaking news needs to be communicated to people. News anchors also have the opportunity to run specific programs. 

There are news anchors who report on specific topics like either politics, sports. I want to learn about these anchoring groups and maybe choose one that I can work on in the future.

Working as a news anchor journalist appears to me to be a profession that can take many different aspects from day-to-day life activities. It involves learning about what an issue is and identifying the blur lines while presenting to an audience.

Appealing to the audience is the main aim of a journalist since it is a profession that depends on the public’s interest. News anchors have to learn how to unpackage the stories using headlines that will catch the attention of the listeners and viewers. 

In conclusion, I am very interested in learning more about this profession and hopefully working in this career field in the future.

A career research paper is important for students because it opens their eyes and helps them see the employment world. It also helps them know what skills will be of help to them, what challenges they will face, and how they will overcome them. This way, they will step into the world of opportunities with an idea about how things work.

To help you explore careers, you might be interested in, learn the challenges and maybe reconsider your choice if it’s not an area you’d like to pursue.

Learn about your values, interests, personality type, and aptitude. Then identify areas you’d like to explore. Please do thorough research on them, then after figuring out the pros and cons, make your career choice and write down your goals.

Your career goals, Interests, and talents, the thesis statement, the pros and cons of the particular career, and an outline.

Start by discussing your career goals, describe your talents and interests, focus on one career, cite sources, and then explore the career’s advantages and disadvantages.

Choose a career, then describe your talents and interests, focus on one career, and outline the advantages and disadvantages of the career.

A career research is an extensive research to determine which job is best for you.

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Career indecision: a systematic literature review

Journal of Humanities and Applied Social Sciences

ISSN : 2632-279X

Article publication date: 29 September 2022

Issue publication date: 2 May 2023

Research has been conducted to investigate the factors that influence career indecision. This study attempted to synthesize empirical research on career indecision to (1) find the common determinants over the last two decades and (2) find the factors/areas that need to be addressed for future research on career indecision.

Design/methodology/approach

This study used the systematic literature review (SLR) methodology and the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines. Following the predetermined inclusion criteria, 118 articles from the Scopus database were included for review.

From this research, the authors found four main determinants for career indecision, namely (1) career-related decision-making difficulties, (2) adolescent differences, (3) individual and situational career decision-making profiles (CDMPs) and (4) level of individual readiness for career choice, which have been researched in the last two decades. Additionally, eight factors/areas were found to be addressed in future research on career indecision which include those four common determinants, the other three determinants, namely (1) individual differences, (2) contextual/environmental factors, (3) social factors, and one outcome, subjective well-being.

Research limitations/implications

The study had limitations in conducting this research, and the findings of the study provide some theoretical and future research implications.

Practical implications

The seven determinants and the only outcome provide some implications for practitioners and policymakers.

Originality/value

The study found seven determinants and one outcome of career indecision derived from empirical studies conducted during 2000–2021.

• Career decision-making
• Career indecision
• Systematic literature review

Priyashantha, K.G. , Dahanayake, W.E. and Maduwanthi, M.N. (2023), "Career indecision: a systematic literature review", Journal of Humanities and Applied Social Sciences , Vol. 5 No. 2, pp. 79-102. https://doi.org/10.1108/JHASS-06-2022-0083

Emerald Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2022, K.G. Priyashantha, W.E. Dahanayake and M.N. Maduwanthi

Published in Journal of Humanities and Applied Social Sciences . Published by Emerald Publishing Limited. This article is published under the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY 4.0) licence. Anyone may reproduce, distribute, translate and create derivative works of this article (for both commercial and no commercial purposes), subject to full attribution to the original publication and authors. The full terms of this licence may be seen at http://creativecommons.org/licences/by/4.0/legalcode .

1. Introduction

Career decision-making refers to the ability of an individual's thought processes to incorporate self-knowledge with occupational knowledge to make occupational choices ( Brown and Brooks, 1996 ). Individuals confident of their passion and possessing self-identification skills and abilities can direct their informed occupational knowledge to choose the best career that suits them. This career decision-making process has become a foremost developmental task for many young adults ( Citarella, 2018 ). Nevertheless, when individuals are undecided about their preferred career directions, they become career indecisive, often deemed a critical issue among high school and university students ( Gyarteng-Mensah et al. , 2022 ; Lipshits-Braziler et al. , 2016 ).

Career indecision is “the inability to specify an educational or occupational choice” ( Kelly and Lee, 2002 ). This phenomenon has been extensively researched in vocational psychology ( Gati et al. , 2011a ; Holland and Holland, 1977 ). This phenomenon is described with different determinants grounded by decision theory ( Germeijs and De Boeck, 2002 ), self-determination theory ( Ryan and Deci, 2000 ), social cognitive career theory ( Lent et al. , 2002 ) and Gestalt psychotherapy theory ( Marco et al. , 2003 ), to name a few. The determinants emphasized many aspects. Some research shows that expanding educational and vocational options are determinants of career indecision. These options equip the students with sufficient education and skill development that determine students' commitment to a chosen career field. Such commitments can evoke anxiety and distress among the students as the wrong decision would bring negative repercussions ( Lipshits-Braziler et al. , 2016 ). Other research studies have focused on various determinants ( Dahanayake and Priyashantha, 2020 ; Maduwanthi and Priyashantha, 2018 , 2020 ). Some of these have been categorized as social ( Abu Talib and Tan, 2009 ; Jung, 2018 ), emotional ( Fabio et al. , 2013 ) and cognitive and personality-related facets ( Brown et al. , 2012 ; Gati et al. , 2011a ).

Additionally, various other determinants can be found in the empirical research landscape in various contexts. They require to be analyzed for clustering and synthesizing in a logical base. Such a synthesis will contribute to the theory and instrument development and help identify the research gaps and future research directions. Furthermore, knowing the empirically proven determinants of career indecision might benefit policymakers and career counselors in determining necessary actions and treatments ( Zobell et al. , 2019 ). Even though there were some meta-analyses ( Bian, 2021 ; Udayar et al. , 2020 ), they have limitations in addressing the determinants of career indecision in empirical studies conducted during the 2000–2020 year period. Thus, there is a solid need to synthesize such determinants.

Accordingly, this study was conducted as a systematic literature review (SLR), which systematically and quantitatively analyzed selected empirical literature on career indecision in the last two decades. The objectives of this research were to (1) find the common determinants in career indecision over the last two decades and (2) find the factors/areas that need to be addressed for future research on career indecision.

2. Methods and methodology

2.1 study selection process and methods.

The research was carried out in an SLR. The article selection, analysis and reporting of the findings were made following the “Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA)” guidelines ( Liberati et al. , 2009 ). The PRISMA is highly recommended for SLRs as it prevents bias in article selection, analysis and reporting of the findings ( Petticrew and Roberts, 2006 ; Priyashantha et al. , 2021a , 2021b ).

The PRISMA flow diagram used to select the articles consists of three steps: “identification, screening and included.” The identification stage includes choosing search terms, criteria and databases. Accordingly, “career indecision” was the search term and criterion. Then Scopus was the database used to search the articles.

Article screening included automatic and manual screening, retrieval of screened articles and determining their eligibility for review. At this point, the inclusion criteria were applied to include the articles. The article inclusion criteria are given in Table 1 . Accordingly, the year range from 2000–2021 was selected as an inclusion criterion as no similar studies specifically targeted the period. Empirical journal articles were used as an inclusion criterion for three reasons: first, they are recommended for SLRs ( Tranfield et al. , 2003 ; Xiao and Watson, 2019 ). Second, they maintain consistency in methodological quality in getting findings ( Okoli and Schabram, 2010 ), ensuring all selected articles' internal validity ( Petticrew and Roberts, 2006 ). Finally, journal articles are treated as reliable since they undergo a rigorous peer-review procedure.

The automatic screening was done through the default limiting features of Scopus. Thus, the limiting options included the year range: 2000–2021, document type: articles, source type: journal and language: English based on the inclusion criteria. After that, the remaining articles' complete versions were downloaded and manually screened. At the manual screening, the study authors independently reviewed each abstract of the downloaded article and assessed them against the inclusion criteria. After removing unnecessary articles, the study authors manually and independently examined the remaining articles for their methodological eligibility. The eligibility assessment guarantees that articles of high methodological quality are included ( Meline, 2006 ). A detailed explanation of how many articles were excluded on each criterion is given in section 3.1 .

2.2 Article risk of bias assessment

The quality of a review is reduced due to researcher bias in article selection and analysis ( Kitchenham and Charters, 2007 ). The selection bias can be avoided by following a review protocol, a systematic, objective article selection procedure ( Priyashantha et al. , 2022 ; Xiao and Watson, 2019 ), and performing a parallel independent quality assessment of articles by two or more researchers ( Brereton et al. , 2007 ). The analysis bias can be avoided through a preliminary protocol design that predetermines the analysis methods ( Xiao and Watson, 2019 ). Thus, they all were followed in this study to avoid bias.

2.3 Methods of analysis

The analysis method used in this study was bibliometric analysis. The tools like Biblioshiny and VOSviewer were used to generate the results for analysis. Bibliometric analysis is a scientific technique for examining scientific activity in a study ( Paule-Vianez et al. , 2020 ). Two types of it include (1) evaluation, performance and scientific productivity analysis and (2) scientific maps ( Cobo et al. , 2012 ). The maps, generally called bibliometric networks, are built based on different information from an article ( Callon et al. , 1983 ). One such is the keywords in an article. The co-occurrence of keywords in an article could result in a variety of relationships between keywords ( Aparicio et al. , 2019 ). The relativization of the links between the keywords is required to obtain crucial information in a study. As a result, by default, the VOSviewer employs association strength normalization and generates a network in two dimensions known as “keyword co-occurrence network visualization” that has nodes representing each keyword located close to each other in a cluster if they are strongly related ( van Eck and Waltman, 2014 ). As a result, a cluster can be used to represent a shared theme ( Priyashantha et al. , 2021a , 2021b ). The study's first goal was to identify the common areas addressed; hence, this keyword co-occurrence analysis was used to achieve that.

The keyword density visualization is a variation of keyword co-occurrence network visualization. It was used to accomplish the study's second objective: to find the factors/areas that need to be addressed for future research in career indecision. According to the VOSviewer manual, the density of keywords at each location in the density visualization map is depicted by color ranges ranging from blue to green, yellow and red by default. The closer a location's color is red, the more keywords it has nearby and the higher its weight. The fewer keywords nearby and the lower the weights, the closer a point's color is to green. The color yellow denotes that the keywords in a point are average. Thus, the keywords in the blue and green areas are said to be focused on more research.

Biblioshiny of R software was also used to generate “basic information about the article set,” “year-by-year article publishes” and “average citations received.” The VOSviewer software created the “country-wise article publications” and “journal-wise article publishes.” These were shown to give an overview of the profile of the article set chosen for the review.

3. Results and findings

3.1 study selection.

The first stage required identifying the articles as the PRISMA article selection flow diagram was used to select the articles to be reviewed. Scopus generated 450 articles at this point for the predetermined search criteria mentioned in section 2.1 . The automatic screening functionality of Scopus was used for the initial screening of those articles. The task was completed with the inclusion criteria listed in Table 1 .

Out of the 450 articles, 66 were rejected as they did not meet the first inclusion criterion. There were 158 articles with the keyword career indecision, and the remaining 226 articles were excluded because they did not meet the second inclusion criterion. The third inclusion criterion was a focus on publications in academic journals. As a result, the books ( n  = 8), conference proceedings ( n  = 6) and book series ( n  = 2) on career indecision were excluded because they did not meet the third criterion. Then the reviews ( n  = 11), book chapters ( n  = 8), conference papers ( n  = 7) and notes ( n  = 1) were also excluded as they did not meet the fourth criterion. Other than that, the articles in other languages ( n  = 26) were excluded as they did not meet the fifth inclusion criterion, focusing on the article in English.

Then 123 articles were retained for manual screening, and their list containing title, authors, journal, publication year, abstract and received citations were downloaded into an MS Excel sheet. After that, the study authors independently assessed each abstract against the inclusion criteria and found that three articles were irrelevant according to the fourth inclusion criterion. They were excluded based on concept papers ( n  = 2) and irrelevant papers ( n  = 1). The remaining 120 articles were screened by the authors manually for their eligibility assessment. The sixth inclusion criterion mentioned in Table 1 , “empirical research that employed quantitative methodologies and meta-analyses,” was used in that task. Accordingly, three articles (qualitative reviews n  = 2 and viewpoint articles n  = 1) were excluded as they did not meet the sixth inclusion criterion. Finally, 118 articles were retained for review, and the MS Excel sheet was then adjusted to meet the bibliographic analysis. The article selection flow diagram is depicted in Figure 1 .

3.2 Article characteristics

Table 2 shows the primary information of the articles included in the review. There were 118 articles published from 2000 to 2021 in 38 journals by 232 authors in 27 countries. The average citation received per article is 20.76, and the total number of references considered for the review was 5,494. Further, the total keywords included in the review were 288.

Annual article production, average article citations received per year, the most relevant sources from which the articles are published and country-specific article publications are all essential characteristics of the article set. Thus, Figure 2 shows the annual article production, indicating a gradual increase. It also shows researchers’ increasing concern about career indecision. Figure 3 shows the average article citations received per year. It reveals a gradual decrease in citations. Citations received for an article represent its popularity. Thus, the decreasing trend of citations indicates a decrease in career indecision research's popularity. The most relevant sources of the articles published are shown in Figure 4 . It shows the 20 journals which published the highest number of articles. Accordingly, the Journal of Career Assessment (39 articles), Journal of Vocational Behavior (22 articles) and Journal of Career Development (22 articles) are first, second and third, respectively, in career indecision article publications. Besides that, career development quarterly has published seven articles. Three articles each have been published by the Journal of Counselling Psychology and the Orientation Scolaire et Professionnelle . The Australian Journal of Career Development , the Frontiers in Psychology and the International Journal for Education and Vocation have published two articles each. The rest of the journals listed in Figure 4 have published one article each. Figure 5 depicts the number of articles published in each country. The size of the colored nodes in the figure represents the number of publications in each country. As a result, the USA (39 articles), Israel (29 articles), France (9 articles) and South Korea (9 articles) rank first, second and third in country-wise publications, respectively.

Additionally, Table 3 shows the research design used for the selected articles. Out of the 118 articles, 94 used cross-sectional design, 22 used a longitudinal design and two used meta-analyses as their research design. As a result, most of the included articles represented cross-sectional design studies. Thus, Table 3 information reveals the methodological quality of the included articles.

3.3 Results of articles

This section contains the results of the articles and their synthesis. The section is divided into two sections to fulfill the study's two objectives: (1) to find the common determinants in career indecision over the last 2 decades and (2) to find the factors/areas that need to be addressed for future research in career indecision. The first objective is addressed in Section 3.3.1 , while the second is addressed in Section 3.3.2 .

3.3.1 Common determinants in career indecision over the last two decades

The keyword co-occurrence network visualization, shown in Figure 6 , was created using VOSviewer version 1.6.18 to address the study's first objective. The keywords with a minimum of five occurrences and above in the articles were considered to create it. There were 12 keywords, including the main keyword, career indecision and its interrelationships with other keywords are denoted in Figure 6 . The line thickness in the figure denotes the strength of the relationship between the keywords. The size of the node denotes the frequency of occurrences. Higher frequency denotes higher the size of the nodes. Thus, while strongly correlating career counseling, career decision-making and career decision-making difficulty with career indecision, they can be said to have frequently occurred in studies. It means that those four areas have been widely researched.

Four clusters denote the nodes in Figure 6 in different colors: red, green, blue and yellow. Different clusters portray how investigations have differed in different areas of investigations. The different clusters of keywords and their basic bibliometric information are given in Table 4 . Thus, the four clusters seem to represent the common themes of (1) career-related decision-making difficulties, (2) adolescents' differences, (3) individual and situational career decision-making profiles (CDMPs) and (4) level of individual readiness for career choice. These findings related to each theme are explained below.

3.3.1.1 Cluster 1– red: career-related decision-making difficulties

The keywords career assessment, career choice, career counseling and career decision-making difficulties fell into this cluster. As the cluster should share a common theme, including the source journals and citation information for the cluster is crucial. Accordingly, the nine journals which carried articles containing those keywords are listed in Table 4 . Furthermore, 1,110 citations were found for the articles containing those keywords. As a result of the abundance of empirical research and citations, the data in this cluster have a substantial impact. Moreover, the findings associated with each keyword are explained as follows.

Career assessment: The lack of career assessment determines career indecision ( Essig and Kelly, 2013 ). Career assessment tools include the Career Decision-Making Difficulties Questionnaire (CDDQ), the CDMPs Questionnaire ( Gati and Levin, 2014 ) and the Emotional and Personality-Related CDDQ ( Gati and Levin, 2014 ; Saka and Gati, 2007 ). Further, Career Assessment Diagnostic Inventory (CADI) ( Vidal-Brown and Thompson, 2001 ) and the Career Factor Inventory (CFI) ( Abu Talib and Tan, 2009 ) have also been used for career assessments.

Career choice: Career choice difficulties/anxiety determines career indecision ( Faria, 2013 ; Hacker et al. , 2013 ; Hagiwara and Sakurai, 2008 ). The comprehensive information gathering, analytic information processing, a more internal locus of control, more effort invested, less procrastination, greater speed of making the final decision, less dependence on others and less desire to please others are some factors affecting career choices ( Gadassi et al. , 2015 ).

Career counseling: Career counseling is an effective coping mechanism/determinant for dealing with career indecision ( Akyol and Bacanlı, 2019 ; Argyropoulou et al. , 2007 ; Maree, 2020 ; Obi, 2015 ; Stauffer et al. , 2013 ; Vertsberger and Gati, 2016 ). It is sought by its higher expected effectiveness, perceived severity of career-planning difficulties and motivation to engage in career-adjustment activities ( Braunstein-Bercovitz and Lipshits-Braziler, 2017 ). Counselors perceive productive coping and support-seeking as good strategies for career indecision. Productive coping entails six strategies: instrumental information seeking, emotional information seeking, problem-solving, flexibility, accommodation and self-regulation ( Lipshits-Braziler et al. , 2015 ). Support-seeking includes instrumental support, emotional support and delegation ( Lipshits-Braziler et al. , 2015 , 2016 , 2017a) .

Career decision-making difficulties: career decision-making difficulties determine career indecision ( Lam and Santos, 2018 ; Phang et al. , 2020 ; Silva et al. , 2021 ; Taber, 2013 ). Career decision-making difficulties are measured through CDDQ ( Akyol and Bacanlı, 2019 ; Levin et al. , 2020 ). Thus, career decision-making difficulties can be reduced through workshops and counseling programs that develop career decision-making self-efficacy ( Gadassi et al. , 2013 ).

Regarding the findings under each keyword, lack of career assessments, lack of career choice and absence of career counseling are reasonably said to be considered under the common theme of career decision-making difficulties.

3.3.1.2 Cluster 2 – green: adolescents' differences

The keywords that fell into this cluster were adolescence, career exploration, career indecision and personality. Since the subject of the investigation of this study was career indecision, the other three keywords, excluding career indecision, were considered for review. As stated in cluster 1, as these keywords should share common characteristics, evaluating the source journals and citation information for the cluster is crucial. Accordingly, we found nine journals as the sources for articles containing those keywords, while such articles received 360 citations, as listed in Table 4 . As stated in cluster 1, more citations and source journals for the cluster imply an abundance of empirical investigations, and the cluster is deemed to have a significant impact. Further, findings associated with each keyword are explained below.

Adolescence: Most career indecision research has been done with adolescents ( Citarella, 2018 ; Emmanuelle, 2009 ; Faria, 2013 ; Marcionetti and Rossier, 2017 ; Nalbantoglu Yilmaz and Cetin Gunduz, 2018 ; Vignoli, 2015 ) as they are open to different careers.

Career e xploration: Career exploration reduces career indecision ( Faria, 2013 ; Kin and Rameli, 2020 ; Marcionetti and Rossier, 2017 ; Paixão and Gamboa, 2017 ; Park et al. , 2017 ; Vignoli, 2015 ).

Personality: Personality determines career indecision ( Gadassi et al. , 2012 ; Kin and Rameli, 2020 ; Marcionetti and Rossier, 2017 ; Penn and Lent, 2019 ). Notably, emotional intelligence reduces career indecision, and ego resilience and self-control also reduce career indecision through a higher future perspective ( Park et al. , 2020 ). Besides neuroticism and conscientiousness, parents' awareness levels predict career indecision ( Faria, 2013 ; Marcionetti and Rossier, 2017 ; Penn and Lent, 2019 ).

Thus, the career exploration problems with lack of motivation, personality problems and parents' awareness levels mentioned above seem to represent the adolescents' differences.

3.3.1.3 Cluster 3 – blue: individual and situational career decision-making profiles

Two keywords, namely career decision-making and CDMPs, fell into this cluster. Since they could share common characteristics, it is essential to state the source journals and citation information for the cluster. Accordingly, four journals were identified with articles containing these keywords, with a citation count of 151, as listed in Table 4 . The information indicates a reasonably low level of publications and citations compared to the first and second clusters. Further, the findings associated with each keyword are explained as follows.

Career d ecision - m aking: Most CDMPs have been investigated with the keyword career decision-making ( Gadassi et al. , 2012 , 2013 ; Gati et al. , 2010 , 2012 ; Lam and Santos, 2018 ).

Career d ecision- m aking p rofile (CDMP): The CDMP is how individuals make career decisions ( Gati et al. , 2010 ). The CDMP has 12 individual and situational dimensions representing a continuum on a bipolar scale ( Lipshits-Braziler et al. , 2019 ). Out of the dimensions, “comprehensive information gathering,” “analytic information processing,” “internal locus of control,” “much effort invested,” “less procrastination,” “greater speed of making the final decision,” less dependence on others and “less desire to please others” results to lower career indecision ( Gadassi et al. , 2013 , 2013 , 2013 ; Ginevra et al. , 2012 ; Vertsberger and Gati, 2015 ; Willner et al. , 2015 ).

When evaluating the findings, the CDMP describes how individuals make career decisions based on situational and individual factors. Hence, considering a theme on individual and situational career decision-making profiles is reasonable.

3.3.1.4 Cluster 4 – yellow: the level of individual readiness for career choice

Decision-making self-efficacy and career maturity were the keywords that fell into this cluster. The articles associated with these two keywords have been published in seven journals. Table 4 lists the titles of those journals. In addition, the two keywords associated with each article have received 178 citations. The following subheadings explain the findings related to these two keywords.

Career d ecision- m aking s elf- e fficacy: Career decision-making self-efficacy determines career indecision negatively ( Faurie and Giacometti, 2017 ; Mao et al. , 2017 ; Park et al. , 2020 , 2021 ; Penn and Lent, 2019 ). Self-efficacy has different types: generalized self-efficacy, process-related self-efficacy, content-related self-efficacy and self-esteem, which reduces career indecision ( Udayar et al. , 2020 ).

Career m aturity: Career maturity is the ability and stability in a career ( Super, 1980 ). More career matured people make independent career-related choices ( Prideaux and Creed, 2001 ) and less career indecision ( Creed et al. , 2005 ; Park, 2015 ; Patton and Creed, 2007 ).

The findings above appear that both the keywords are related to the individual rather than contextual ( Lipshits-Braziler et al. , 2017a , b ). Moreover, meta-analytic research has proven that the lack of readiness is described by low career decision-making self-efficacy and low career-related maturity ( Brown and Rector, 2008 ; Gati and Saka, 2001 ; Xu and Bhang, 2019 ). Thus, a common theme of “level of individual readiness for career choice” is reasonable for this cluster.

As illustrated in Figure 6 , all keywords are connected to career indecision. It means that each keyword is associated with career indecision. The corresponding findings for each cluster's keywords emphasize that the keywords are determinants of career indecision. Therefore, four common themes, namely (1) career-related decision-making difficulties, (2) adolescent differences, (3) individual and situational CDMPs, and (4) level of individual readiness for career choice, developed for each cluster, can be treated as determinants of career indecision. Additionally, we identified that many journals had published articles on the first and second determinant categories rather than the third and fourth. Furthermore, the amount of citations for an article reflects its impact. As a result, more citations for each category of determinants suggest a greater influence. As a result, the first and second categories of determinants have a significant impact.

3.3.2 Factors/areas that need to be addressed for future research

To achieve the study's second objective, we checked all the keywords used in the research to see whether the factors/areas represented by the keywords could create established knowledge. The areas represented by the keywords that cannot generate established knowledge should be subjected to further research. To determine this, we created keyword co-occurrence density visualization using VOSviewer by entering all the keywords shown in Figure 7 . The density visualization map usually consists of three colors, red, yellow and green, as shown in Figure 7 .

Keywords falling into the red area imply much research related to the area represented by the keywords. Hence, there is established knowledge related to that area ( van Eck and Waltman, 2014 ). According to Figure 7 , career indecision is the only keyword that falls into the red area. Although it is implied that there has been a large amount of research related to career indecision, it is difficult to determine that there is a connection with other keywords as a number of the other keywords have fallen into the red area. Moreover, if a keyword falls in the yellow area, it implies a moderate amount of research, whereas keywords falling in the green area means very little research is done. In that case, moderate and little research does not create established knowledge. Complying with this argument, the four determinants, explained in section 3.3.1 , indicate insufficient research for established knowledge as they fall into the yellow and green areas in Figure 7 . Thus, future researchers need to conduct further research focusing on those areas.

Furthermore, while we discovered four determinants of career indecision using keywords with more than five occurrences, as shown in section 3.3.1 , we wanted to see whether keywords with fewer than five occurrences represented common areas. As a result, we utilized VOSviewer to pick keywords with fewer than five occurrences, which were then clustered into four, as shown in Table 5 .

The four clusters shown in Table 5 share the common themes of individual differences, contextual/environmental factors, social factors and outcomes of career indecision. The theme of individual differences represents 17 keywords. Articles in nine journals have reported those keywords. Since this cluster has received the highest citations compared to the other three clusters, its impact is said to be higher. The second cluster contained three keywords representing the common theme of contextual/environmental factors. Articles in three journals have reported them, and the cluster has received 35 citations. The third cluster represents the social factors, which have three keywords. Articles have reported them in three journals, and the cluster received the least number of citations. The fourth cluster represents the outcome of career indecision. The only keyword included in it was subjective well-being. An article published by the Journal of Vocational Behavior has reported it and obtained 28 citations. In addition to the journal and citation information, the main findings related to each keyword are given below.

Individual differences: Individual differences account for self-oriented perfectionism ( Gati et al. , 2011b ; Kang et al. , 2020 ; Page et al. , 2008 ), level of motivation ( Hagiwara and Sakurai, 2008 ; Jung, 2018 ), decisional procrastination ( Bańka and Hauziński, 2015 ), career decisional ambiguity tolerance ( Park et al. , 2019 ), career readiness ( Kleiman et al. , 2004 ) and valence ( Walker and Tracey, 2012 ). Additionally, emotional intelligence ( Phang et al. , 2020 ; Puffer, 2011 ), dysfunctional thinking ( Boysan and Kagan, 2016 ), perceived effectiveness of coping strategies ( Lipshits-Braziler et al. , 2017b ) and perceived nonproductive coping style ( Lipshits-Braziler et al. , 2017b ) accounts the individual differences. Furthermore, gender differences ( Atitsogbe et al. , 2018 ; Lam and Santos, 2018 ), anxious attachment ( Braunstein-Bercovitz, 2014 ), career anxiety ( Nalbantoglu Yilmaz and Cetin Gunduz, 2018 ) and decision-making strategies (aspiration and procrastination) ( Shin and Kelly, 2015 ) also represent the individual differences. Thus, all these individual differences were found to impact career indecision.

The contextual/environmental factors: The contextual/environmental factors account for the academic major of the students ( Kin and Rameli, 2020 ), barriers to careers ( Jaensch et al. , 2015 ) and level of certainty of the career ( Constantine and Flores, 2006 ). They were found to impact career indecision.

The social factors: The social factors include the parents' and counselors' emotional support ( Mao et al. , 2017 ). They were found to impact career indecision. Additionally, researchers have investigated emerging adults ( Uthayakumar et al. , 2010 ) or young adults ( Park et al. , 2021 ) as the subject of this career indecision, which was also categorized into this category.

Outcomes: The only outcome of career indecision found was subjective well-being ( Uthayakumar et al. , 2010 ).

In a nutshell, as this section deals with the study's second objective of finding factors/areas that need to be addressed in future research in career indecision, two ways were deployed with keywords. The first was the keywords with more than five occurrences, and the second was those with less than five occurrences. Analysis of keywords with more than five occurrences found four determinants as follows: (1) career-related decision-making difficulties, (2) adolescent differences, (3) individual and situational CDMPs and (4) level of individual readiness for career choice. Analysis of keywords with less than five occurrences derived four areas, including three types of determinants, namely (1) individual differences, (2) contextual/environmental factors, (3) social factors and one outcome (subjective well-being). Based on these two analyses, we found seven determinants and one outcome. Since these were systematically and logically identified through the keyword co-occurrence density visualization, as mentioned in Figure 7 , it was revealed that the findings were insufficient for established knowledge. Therefore, future researchers should focus on all these eight areas for more research.

3.4 Reporting bias assessment

The PRISMA guidelines provide a standard reporting format that eliminates biases caused due to missing the results of the included articles to be reported. Thus, the current study's report complied with the PRISMA format that avoided the authors using their format.

4. Discussion

This study was designed based on the SLR that attempted to synthesize the career indecision empirical research published during the 2000–2021 period. It was based on two objectives: (1) to find the common determinants in career indecision over the last two decades and (2) to find the factors/areas that need to be addressed for future research on career indecision. The first objective was achieved by finding four common career indecision determinants. They are (1) career-related decision-making difficulties, (2) adolescent differences, (3) individual and situational CDMPs and (4) level of individual readiness for career choice. The second objective was achieved by finding seven determinants and one outcome of career indecision recommended for future research. The seven areas of determinants include (1) career-related decision-making difficulties, (2) adolescent differences, (3) individual and situational CDMPs, (4) level of individual readiness for career choice, (5) individual differences, (6) contextual/environmental factors and (7) social factors. The only outcome of career indecision found was subjective well-being.

All seven determinants and one outcome can be integrated into a holistic model and tested by future researchers. Since each common determinant and outcome was obtained from different keywords, they might also be viewed as dimensions for each determinant and outcome. These keywords would help construct a measurement instrument to test the suggested holistic model. These are the study's main theoretical contributions.

Additionally, the study found gaps in determinants such as cultural values, institutional and technological support for dealing with career indecision, and more outcomes of career indecision.

Although this study satisfied almost all of the SLR requirements, one limitation was that the articles were drawn from a single database. Extracting more articles could have been done if more databases had been targeted. Moreover, the study selected only the empirical studies to maintain the articles' validity as they complied with the SLR methodology. The results could have been different if other article types had been selected.

5. Conclusion

Various determinants determine occupational decision-making in career-related lives. More research has been conducted to investigate the determinants that influence career indecision. This study attempted to synthesize the career indecision empirical research to (1) find the common determinants in career indecision over the last two decades and (2) find the factors/areas that need to be addressed for future research on career indecision. An SLR methodology, along with PRISMA guidelines, was adopted. Following the predetermined inclusion criteria, 118 articles were included for the review from the Scopus database.

The first objective was achieved by findings of four areas of determinants for career indecision. They include (1) career-related decision-making difficulties, (2) adolescent differences, (3) individual and situational CDMPs and (4) level of individual readiness for career choice. The second objective was achieved by finding eight areas for future research. They include all those common four determinants found for objective one, three more determinants, namely (1) individual differences, (2) contextual/environmental factors and (3) social factors, and the only outcome, subjective well-being.

6. Practicality and research implications

When the practicality of the findings is concerned, the seven determinants of career indecision imply that policymakers, decision-makers or employees must systematically assess the causes before taking ad-hoc interventions. Notably, assessing career decision-making difficulties and CDMPs, knowing individual differences and understanding contextual and social factors for career indecision will help decision-makers to make counseling interventions. Knowing those factors by the counselors will help increase their counseling sessions' effectiveness. These different determinants imply that the decision-makers and the counselors are required to follow different strategies. Knowing that there are such determinants and outcomes of career indecision encourages indecisive career employees to seek counseling interventions. Additionally, as our study found that employee well-being can be increased by reducing career indecision, the decision-makers imply investing more effort in increasing career decisiveness.

The theoretical implication includes the seven determinants, and the only outcome, subjective well-being, can be incorporated into a comprehensive conceptual model. As a result, hypotheses can be developed for each determinant and outcome as they have been found based on empirical evidence. In this manner, the model may be empirically tested, and the measuring instrument can be created by utilizing the areas represented by each keyword in each cluster.

The findings have numerous implications for future researchers. First, the seven determinants and outcomes we identified can be researched. The seven determinants include (1) career-related decision-making difficulties, (2) adolescent differences, (3) individual and situational CDMPs, (4) level of individual readiness for career choice, (5) individual differences, (6) contextual/environmental factors and (7) social factors whereas the only outcome derived was subjective well-being. The gaps identified in this research, such as the determinants of cultural values and institutional and technological support on career indecision and more individual, organizational and social outcomes, could be regarded as possible implications in future research.

PRISMA article selection flow diagram

Annual article production

Average article citations received per year

The most relevant sources the articles published

Country-wise article publications

The map of keyword co-occurrence network visualization

The map of keyword co-occurrence density visualization

Article inclusion criteria

Inclusion criterion	Focus on
1	publications from 2000–2021
2	publications with the keyword; career indecision
3	publications in academic journals
4	publications as articles
5	the articles in the English language
6	empirical research that employed quantitative methodologies and meta-analyses

Authors’ conception, 2022

Description	Results
Timespan	2000:2021
Journals	38
Articles	118
Average years from publication	8.56
Average citations per article	20.76
Average citations per year per doc	1.823
References	5,494
Authors' keywords	288
Authors	232
Countries	27

Review Data, 2022

Research design	Number of articles
Cross-sectional studies	94
Longitudinal studies	22
Meta-analyses	02
Total articles	118

Review data, 2022

Funding : No funding was available for this research.

Authors’ contributions: All authors contributed to the study conception, design, material preparation, data collection and analysis. All versions of drafts of the manuscript were written by Author 1. The other authors helped with the article selection process, and the revisions were made per the reviewers' comments. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

Data availability: Data collected during the current study are not publicly available. However, they can be available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

Ethical statement: The authors confirm that this research paper meets the ethical requirements, and the authors have fully considered all foreseeable ethical implications of the research study, both intended and unintended.

Conflicts of interest: There are no conflicts of interest.

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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Career success: analysis and development of career opportunities in students.

• 1 Department of Personal Development and Education, NJSC Toraighyrov University, Pavlodar, Kazakhstan
• 2 Department of Trilingualism, NJSC Toraighyrov University, Pavlodar, Kazakhstan
• 3 Department of Foreign Languages, Plekhanov Russian University of Economics, Moscow, Russia

Effective implementation and development of the career development programmes determine the economic growth of countries. The research aims to discuss and analyze the characteristics and elements of the students’ career opportunities. The results help the scholars select the proper type of analysis and appropriate tools to examine the elements of career opportunities. The sample consisted of 102 third and fourth year students from NJSC Toraighyrov University. The following methods and criteria were used to analyze the initial stage of the student career development: emotional intelligence (based on the methodology proposed by J. N. Hall), communication skills (Test of communication skills by L. Mikhelson), self-assessment (S. A. Budassi’s method of self-assessment), career value orientations (Edgar Schein’s Career Anchors), motivation for success (The Questionnaire by T. Ehlers). The surveys were conducted using Google Forms. The results helped to identify the characteristics and elements of the students’ career opportunities. The data collected at NJSC Toraighyrov University of the Republic of Kazakhstan show that 35% of students have a low level of emotional intelligence, 47% have addictive behaviors during communication, 31% of respondents have low self-esteem, lack of motivation for success was identified in 18% of students. Only a small number of students could clearly define their career orientations regarding Lifestyle Integration, Challenge and Management. The research suggests that it is important to introduce career development programmes that empower students and encourage them to build professional career paths in the future. Used as a learning framework, the Career coaching programme helps to design, develop, assess and implement each element of the career opportunities. The implementation advantages of the Career coaching programme for students as part of the educational process are discussed in the present research. The programme Career coaching will develop awareness and advance careers among graduate students. Moreover, it will provide a guideline for the first steps toward developing a successful career path.

Introduction

High-quality preparation of students and pursuing a career path that interests them is one of the ways for countries to ensure stable economic growth ( Boat et al., 2021 ). The fast development of civilization becomes an obstacle for many students to fulfill their career opportunities and build a successful career ( Van der Horst et al., 2021 ). From year to year, employment requirements for employees are increasing, and some professions are becoming obsolete and even unnecessary. Medium and small businesses are developing, and new requirements for job seekers are changing dramatically ( Emanuel et al., 2021 ).

In addition to professional knowledge, skills and abilities, a graduate must have self-esteem, a desire to continue learning and take advanced training even if they complete formal education and enter the workforce. Moreover, graduates should have the good critical thinking, developed communication skills, high emotional intelligence, the ability to solve various kinds of problems and use modern technologies in the learning process ( Gordieiev et al., 2014 ).

The concept of Career Opportunities is at the initial stage of its development, so the scholars combine two concepts as Career and Personal opportunities into one.

The present research proposes different definitions of a career term. The research analyses scientific sources that examine the career concept, its developments and opportunities for its implementation. Therefore, the concept of career means a process of career development and actions undertaken by an employee to ensure professional progress and advances during the working life ( Kleine et al., 2021 ).

Personal opportunities and the ability to work are important factors for career development. Motivation at work influences the process of building a career. Career development depends upon the ability to work and facilitate overall success in the profession. The opportunities of an employee should not be limited by psychological, physical and pedagogical factors, inclinations, acquired experience and knowledge. They are subjected to life experience, professional skills and overall knowledge about the world ( Kuehn, 2008 ).

The concept of career opportunities includes two important notions: personality and intellect ( Leutner and Chamorro-Premuzic, 2018 ). Career opportunities mean a set of internal resources of the individual and management of these resources. Moreover, career opportunities depend greatly upon the overall success of career building, intelligence viewed as a fundamental component, and the academic performance of each student that is not assessed by employers ( Ganiyeva and Pfeifer, 2020 ).

Career success largely depends on the personal opportunities, skills, professional orientations, motivations, needs and values of young employees. The current research reflects the development of certain aspects of career opportunities, including career orientations as the important incentives for work productivity and output ( Schein, 1996 ); emotional intelligence, perceived as the ability to identify and manage emotions ( Urquijo et al., 2019 ); motivation as a factor of progressive career development ( Day and Allen, 2004 ); self-esteem, as a person’s ideas about himself and his qualities ( Yang and Wong, 2020 ) and communication skills, as the ability to communicate effectively ( Pico-Saltos et al., 2021 ).

The literature analysis identified elements of career opportunities in students. The research was conducted using a sample of third and fourth year students from NJSC Toraighyrov University, analyzing the following issues:

- emotional intelligence;

- motivation for success;

- self-assessment;

- communication skills;

- value orientations.

A high level of emotional intelligence has a positive impact on mental health, work competencies and leadership skills ( Goleman, 1995 ). The ability to identify and manage emotions, as well as the emotions of other individuals, directly affects the labor productivity and profitability of an organization ( Santos et al., 2018 ). Therefore, HR managers, employers and recruiters are looking for employees who are good team members, understand colleagues, demonstrate high productivity and quality of work, and want to move up the company ladder ( Sidebotham et al., 2020 ). It is important to foster emotional intelligence in students. In the final years of education, graduates will be able to analyze the difficult situation, introduce changes and communicate with other employees at the workplace ( Akhtar et al., 2015 ).

Any activity of an individual, including professional life, begins with an impulse to act, or in other words, with motivation to work ( Burk and Wiese, 2018 ). Career motivation differs among individuals. It is important to identify motivation in the final university years. A student, a future employee motivated for success, should be aware of career needs considered the most critical factors influencing organizational performance ( Copuš et al., 2019 ).

In the career development of the individual, self-esteem plays a pivotal role, reflecting confidence in personal and professional strengths ( Modestino et al., 2019 ). Success is always a result of an internal rather than an external stimulus. Self-esteem, an internal resource of career opportunities, is the driving force behind all types of personality development ( Karababa, 2020 ). It is very important for a student to develop effective communication with peers, earn the respect of faculty members and build the trust of the university administration. It is difficult for a student with low or overestimated self-esteem to interact with other members of the educational community because he cannot interpret the world and make the right decisions ( Wang et al., 2021 ).

Moreover, at the initial stages of career building, it is very important for an applicant to demonstrate confidence and attract the attention of employers for successful employment and rapid career advancement ( Takeuchi et al., 2021 ).

Business communication skills, the ability to think creatively and adapt to a certain communication style in the business environment are important elements of professional training ( Karoly, 2008 ). The age of Information Workers means a workplace with employees who possess verbal, informational, technical and visual literacy ( Seitenov et al., 2020 ). Therefore, it is crucial to develop cognitive skills in students such as critical thinking, communication skills, the ability to make correct and on-time decisions, and build teamwork skills. Organizations should use modern methodological approaches and pedagogical innovations to develop the professional skills and competencies of students ( Zarudnaya et al., 2018 ). Many employers introduce training for employees on business communications using psychological training, business games, role-playing games with dramatization, group discussions, advanced training techniques, etc. However, the development of communicative literacy in university students will ensure their competitiveness in the current labor market.

Each employee chooses a way of life and a career path that meets his values and worldviews ( Hirschi and Koen, 2021 ). If the student works within an organization that shares the same values, he will be able to develop a successful career. The analysis of values and career expectations of university students will help to develop career opportunities and choose the right career path ( Cortellazzo et al., 2020 ).

The research aims to discuss and analyze the characteristics and elements of the students’ career opportunities. The research includes the following stages to achieve this goal: determining the main elements of the career opportunities, conducting the analysis, identifying the forms and methods for developing the career opportunities.

Materials and methods

The sample included 302 third and fourth year students (the number of students from each course is 50%) from NJSC Toraighyrov University (Pavlodar, the Republic of Kazakhstan).

The research purpose is to analyze the characteristics and elements of the students’ career opportunities. The gender, year of study and specialities are available in Table 1 . The research involved third and fourth-year students, from 19 to 22 years. In the final years of education, students can establish new contacts, be involved in new communication patterns and demonstrate social behavior. In the research, gender differences and academic specialities were not taken into account. The general level of the career opportunities in students to develop the framework was identified.

Table 1 . Characteristics of participants.

Research design

The following methods were used to analyze elements of career opportunities among university students ( Table 2 ). For the analysis of emotional intelligence, the methodology proposed by J. N. Hall was used. The test identifies the ability to define emotions, the ability to control an emotional sphere through choice and decision-making. The test has five scales and consists of 30 points ( Ramanauskas, 2016 ). Test of communication skills by L. Mikhelson was used for the determination of the level of communication skills. To identify a quantifiable level of self-evaluation S. A. Budassi’s method of self-esteem was used. Career value orientations were determined based on Edgar Schein’s Career Anchors methodology. The methodology defines motives for a career choice, the values of an individual and his understanding of career and professional performance ( Abessolo et al., 2017 ). Motivation for success was analyzed with the help of the Questionnaire by T. Ehlers. The test determines motivation to achieve individual success across the lifespan.

Table 2 . Elements of the career opportunities.

Students of NJSC Toraighyrov University performed five tests to identify the initial level of career opportunities. All research stages were carried out online because of the complicated epidemiological situation and the Covid-19 pandemic restrictions. During the Covid-19 pandemic, NJSC Toraighyrov University has provided remote education, so all students were equipped with necessary technological and Internet resources (laptops and wireless routers for the Internet). The university administration gave consent to collect data for the research. The conference on the zoom platform was held by one of the researchers to familiarize students with the research process. Students were well aware of Zoom and its functions before the research. During the conference, all students confirmed their consent to participate in the research. They were provided with full instructions on each of the proposed methods (tests). Students may ask any questions unclear or ambiguous to them.

The test questions were in Google forms. The questionnaire consisted on the questions from the Test by J. N. Hall, Test of communication skills by L. Mikhelson, Test by S. A. Budassi, Edgar Schein’s Career Anchors Test, Questionnaire by T. Ehlers. Links to online surveys were sent by e-mail to all participants. The survey took up to 2 months because students had to answer many test questions and took time to respond to all tasks. On the first month, the tests collected information on the level of emotional intelligence and the development of communication skills. The analysis of self-esteem, motivation for success and value orientations in a career were carried out on the second month. All tests have been assessed to ensure quality and availability. Each student independently answered the numbered questions, provided to them during the online meeting. The results were recorded in a Google spreadsheet for further analysis, and it made it possible to use descriptive statistics and present the data as a graphic chart.

Research limitations

The research limitations include limited sample size and the data collected in one educational institution. The research includes the initial analysis of the elements of the career opportunities and does not cover the dynamics of its development. Further research on these issues is required.

Ethical issues

The students participated voluntarily in the research. The scholars ensured the anonymity of the results. The online surveys did not include questions on any personal identification and personal data of the respondents.

The results demonstrate the main elements of the career opportunities, which was determined by the purpose of the study. The results of all tests are correlated in such a way that each test is aimed at determining the main elements of the career opportunities (one test - one element of career opportunities). All these tests, which apply to each defined element of career opportunities, are aimed at achieving the goal of the study.

The analysis of emotional intelligence ( Figure 1 ) shows that the majority of students has an average level of emotional intelligence (43%), 35% of students have a low level of emotional intelligence, and only 22% of students have a high level. These indicators indicate the need to increase the level of emotional intelligence of students as one of the elements of career opportunities, which can increase the probability of a positive result when students are looking for a job.

Figure 1 . Emotional intelligence in students.

The results ( Figure 2 ) show that most students received an average level on all tests except the test on Manage your emotions (24%). The research found that students acquired the necessary skills to manage emotions. About 42% of the respondents noted that they experiences difficulties managing emotions, they could not control and sustain in different life situations. The emotional awareness (knowledge of emotions and emotional states) among students was as follows: an average level – 61%, high level – 20%, low level – 19%. The inability or low level of development of the skills of managing emotions by students reduces not only the probability of getting a job, but also complicates communication in the team of employees (at work) and students (at university). A possible solution to this problem is the organization and conduct of psychological trainings and workshops with the involvement of professional psychologists in order to teach students to control their emotions. Self-motivation (emotional mood) was identified in 63% of students, a high rate of self-motivation is demonstrated by 13% and a low rate by 24% of the students.

Figure 2 . The results of tests on emotional intelligence.

The average level of empathy was reported by half of the respondents (53%). The ability to understand the feelings and emotions of other individuals, without experiencing any difficulties, was reported by 18% of students. Less than one-third of students (29%) had a low level of empathy.

The test on controlling the emotions of other people showed that only 10% of students had a high level, 54% had an average level and 36% had a low level of control. Most students needed to develop the ability to evoke powerful emotional responses in other people and reduce negative emotions.

The analysis and results of communication skills among students are presented in Figure 3 . The research identified that only 19% of students demonstrated aggressive communication patterns. The majority of students, being in their teens and studying at school, have passed the stage of risk-taking and disobedience. At the university, students demonstrate positive communication skills. About one-third of students (34%) had well-developed communication patterns and interacted with their peers. Figure 3 shows that the main communication pattern is an addictive one (47%). The students exhibit addictive behavior interacting with peers or adults they respect. A high level of development of communication skills among students increases the chances of finding career opportunities, in particular, improves communication between employees and thus improves the quality of work.

Figure 3 . Students communication skills.

The results of self-esteem ( Figure 4 ) reveal that most students have an adequate average level of self-esteem (47%). Most students show a positive attitude toward themselves. They demonstrate an understanding of strengths and weaknesses, a willingness to analyze situations and choose the best solution to achieve goals. A slight difference is identified among students with high self-esteem. Moreover, 15% of students have adequate high self-esteem and 19% have inadequate high self-esteem. Students with adequate high self-esteem show flexible thinking but painlessly perceive criticism. On the contrary, students with inadequate high self-esteem believe that their actions cannot be criticized. Thus, they often accept wrong decisions due to weak critical thinking skills. Inadequate low self-esteem has 12% of the respondents who cannot fully accept themselves. Most often, such students have lower goals than others. Only 7% of students show adequate low self-esteem. These students accept only positive personal qualities, paying no attention to negative ones. It causes rejection of their personality and misunderstanding of individuals around them.

Figure 4 . Self-assessment among students.

The data ( Figure 5 ) show that the majority of students (42%) accept Professional Competence as the leading career strategy. It supports the need to acquire professional knowledge, skills for a certain type of activity and the desire to succeed in life.

Figure 5 . Career value orientations (%).

The issue of Autonomy is important for 19% of students. They do not follow rules and regulations, but act independently and decide everything on their own. The next issue highlighted by 12% of the students was Entrepreneurship. The students underline that they are ready to take risks, want to start their business, be financially independent and not be employed with other companies. NJSC Toraighyrov University prepares students for entrepreneurial activities, so students receive knowledge and skills to start their business in the future. The tests on Integration of lifestyles, Service and Management show the same percentage in each category (6%). One of the issues related to career orientation, Stability of work environment, got 4%. It means that these students are interested in work mobility and changing organizational environments. Another issue analyzed by the research was Challenge. Only 3% of the students wanted to overcome obstacles, solve complex problems, ensure competence, and compete over others. For 2% of the respondents, the Stability of the place of residence was important. The majority of students are ready to relocate and change their place of residence to develop a successful career.

Figure 6 shows the results on motivation levels in achieving success. Among the respondents, most students (49%) have the average level of motivation to achieve career success. The majority of students do not differentiate success or failure at work. Some students should be motivated to develop a career path. About a quarter of students (26%) had a moderately high level of motivation to achieve career success. These students admitted a strong desire to succeed. They were active and persistent in learning. Only 7% of the students showed a high level of motivation to develop a successful career path.

Figure 6 . Motivation levels in achieving career success.

The obtained indicators testify to the predominance of the average level of motivation of students to achieve career success, which makes it possible to conclude that it is necessary to increase the motivation of students at the expense of conducting various activities for career development and growth, demonstrating various professions and showing opportunities for achieving career success in each of them. Career orientation events, etc.

Most students are motivated for success and focus on achieving career goals. The research showed that only 18% of students had low motivation for success. The main emotions of such students were self-doubt and fear of failure. It affected the assimilation of knowledge that could lead to a negative attitude of the management team in the future.

Using the results, the framework of Career coaching was developed and implemented at the university ( Figure 7 ). The results presented above demonstrated the initial level of the career opportunities for students of the third and fourth years of study. It was considered the starting point in developing the career opportunities of students.

Figure 7 . The career coaching framework.

The first part of the Career Coaching aims to develop the career opportunities identified by the research: emotional intelligence, self-esteem, communication skills, motivation for success and career value orientations. The students examine self-opportunities and self-potential. The second section develops student knowledge about the concepts, types and varieties of careers, the main elements of a career path, and the criteria of its success. Learning the Career Coaching programme students get acquainted with the options for career advancement, methods of planning and career development. The third section of the programme helps students in their final years at the university to develop their career plans.

A well-thought plan where to start a career, rather than where to end it, is a way to choose between alternatives available to every individual. The fourth section helps students to develop tools for effective employment that will help them sell their resume to a potential employer. Students should know how to interact with a future employer, present their candidacy, write a resume, highlight advantages in social networks, and pass interviews.

In the future, there is a need to develop a full programme, based on the framework, and introduce it to the educational process. Moreover, the research will analyze the results and conduct a comparative analysis of the present research and the future one.

Career development is an ongoing process consisting of learning about individuals and the environment. Career growth is influenced by individual changes, career values, and goal setting ( Nagy et al., 2019 ). Similar to our study the research underlines that it is necessary to develop a desire for career development throughout the university years.

The opportunities and personal characteristics of an individual are the keys to success in any activity, including career development ( Hirschi et al., 2021 ). The concept of personal opportunities in one of the researches coincides with the theoretical background of the present research. It defines the opportunities of the individual as a complex concept. Its characteristics are reflected in a wide range of situations and determine the consequences ( Romanova et al., 2020 ). It is important to assist students in the implementation and development of their career opportunities.

The research conducted in the Netherlands was based on a sample of 704 young professionals between 21 and 35 years. The results showed that a modern employee with professional qualities has good employment opportunities ( Blokker et al., 2019 ). Professional competence is important for employment and building a successful career for young professionals, as well as the ability to identify factors of career opportunities for students within their area of study.

Career centers should be an integral part of education around the world. According to the survey results of students studying in the second, third, fourth years and graduates of the University of Michigan, 76.8% of respondents are satisfied with career development services ( Ives et al., 2020 ). Career centers help graduates cope with planning issues, build a career and respond effectively to economic or environmental factors ( Dey and Cruzvergara, 2014 ). Similar to our study the researchers agree that it is becoming increasingly difficult to manage career development and manage the modern workforce.

University career services are staffed by qualified specialists who help students make career decisions and achieve goals. They focus on prospects for further employment of graduates ( Healy et al., 2020 ) and work with a large number of students. Similar to our study the research admits that career centers are overloaded with service requests and enquiries from people seeking advice.

Career adaptation may lead to psychological manifestations such as mania, envy, manic or true reparation, measured using the Dynamic Career Line (DCL; Caputo et al., 2020 ). Therefore, the tools and methods of influence on career adaptation are diverse and may change over time.

The research of 433 undergraduates from the US and Australia, conducted at two universities, finds that university administration pays little attention to career services for students. Universities do not help students develop their career paths and build a career ( Jackson and Tomlinson, 2019 ). Similar to our study the results show that there is a need to develop career services within the curriculum to help students understand what is important to them and develop the career ladder.

Psychological issues play a crucial role in the development of career opportunities among students. Career Development Applications are designed to foster change and help students in career development. The emphasis is on the development of positive emotions of the individual to ensure the personal well-being of employees and the organization ( Dik et al., 2014 ). Similar to our study the authors think that in order to form positive emotions, it is important to develop emotional intelligence and the components of individual career opportunities.

At Marmara University, the administration introduced the career development programme that helped students gain experience and mastered the qualifications necessary for career building. Surveys were conducted before and after the programme. The findings show an increased awareness among students, as well as confidence in career building ( Aydın et al., 2016 ).

The human resource specialists should take into account the family history and a place of residence assessing career opportunities for students. The family business, family-based crafts, migration and the current place of residence of the individual can affect the employment ( Mitrovic Veljkovic et al., 2019 ). These issues were beyond the scope of the present research. In the future, these characteristics should be considered and investigated to improve the research accuracy.

Students in final years of education are focused on preparing for the final exams, rather than on career planning. They do not focus on employment and the first steps toward building a successful career ( Kinash et al., 2017 ). Students should be motivated to plan their careers and think about employment opportunities. Career development programmes should function in parallel with preparation for exams. It will have a positive impact on the results of further career development ( Hansen et al., 2016 ).

Many modern organizations have examined new ways to create jobs and expand career opportunities for employees ( Mulhall, 2014 ). The introduction of career development programmes at universities will anticipate this process. It is necessary to launch career coaching programmes, help students develop career skills and take the first steps toward building a successful career path ( Bear, 2016 ).

Career opportunities are a complex phenomenon that combines resources of various kinds. The final years at the university are decisive for students. They determine success in future employment and building a career path. Some students are concerned about their future careers, but some individuals are indifferent towards their careers. However, most students will get a job after graduation and enter the workforce ( Gunawan et al., 2019 ).

The research examined the individual career resources and career opportunities available for the final year students. The need to explore these issues was caused by the lack of research in this field and the ineffectiveness of future professional activities among students. In the final years of education, students need to make decisions about their further career development, ask questions about a particular type of profession and where to start their career. The problem of career opportunities and professional paths are crucial for third and fourth years students. The results prove that a modern graduate is limited in resources and career achievements. Many students are not able to compete with the high-qualified workforce. In this regard, students may experience difficulties integrating into the professional community.

The data collected at NJSC Toraighyrov University of the Republic of Kazakhstan show that 35% of students have a low level of emotional intelligence, 47% have addictive behaviors during communication, 31% of respondents have low self-esteem, lack of motivation for success was identified in 18% of students. Only a small number of students could clearly define their career orientations regarding Lifestyle Integration, Challenge and Management.

The results of the research can be used to find new ways to expand the career opportunities of students of various specialties and various educational courses. In addition, the obtained indicators can be useful in the development of methods of increasing the motivation of students in achieving success. Further research is needed to investigate the development of career opportunities after the application of the proposed career programme and compare it with the initial career opportunities. The career success of each student and a team member influences labor productivity within the organization. The research highlights the need to assess work opportunities in the final years at the university. A graduate with an understanding of career opportunities and a career path will become a successful professional in the future and a valued employee of any organization.

Data availability statement

The original contributions presented in the study are included in the article/supplementary material, further inquiries can be directed to the corresponding author.

Ethics statement

The studies involving human participants were reviewed and approved by the NJSC Toraighyrov University. The ethics committee waived the requirement of written informed consent for participation.

Author contributions

NP and EP performed the data collection, material preparation, and analysis. MU and AB wrote the first draft of the manuscript. All authors contributed to the study conception and design, read, and approved the final manuscript.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Publisher’s note

All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article, or claim that may be made by its manufacturer, is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.

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Keywords: building a successful career path, career, career development, career opportunities, career success

Citation: Pshembayeva E, Pfeyfer N, Uaikhanova M and Bubenchikova A (2022) Career success: Analysis and development of career opportunities in students. Front. Educ . 7:999541. doi: 10.3389/feduc.2022.999541

Received: 19 August 2022; Accepted: 17 November 2022; Published: 06 December 2022.

Reviewed by:

Copyright © 2022 Pshembayeva, Pfeyfer, Uaikhanova and Bubenchikova. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY) . The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

*Correspondence: Nellie Pfeyfer, [email protected]

Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.

Career Research Paper Topics

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36. Culture and careers 37. Expatriate experience 38. Globalization and careers 39. International careers 40. Multinational organization 41. Virtual expatriates

Ethnicity, Gender, and Diversity

42. Affirmative action 43. Age discrimination 44. Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 (ADEA) 45. Biculturalism 46. Civil Rights Act of 1964 47. Civil Rights Act of 1991 48. Comparable worth 49. Disability 50. Disabilities among college students 51. Diversity in organizations 52. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) 53. Equal Pay Act 54. Gender and careers 55. Glass ceiling 56. Inequality 57. Lockstep career progression 58. Multicultural organization 59. Racial discrimination 60. Religious discrimination 61. Reverse discrimination 62. Sex discrimination 63. Sexual harassment 64. Sexual orientation and careers 65. Stereotyping of workers 66. Tokenism 67. Unbiased hiring systems

The Organizational Environment

68. Industrial Revolution 69. Leadership Development 70. Learning organization 71. Nepotism 72. Organizational justice 73. Organizational politics 74. Procedural justice 75. Toxic leadership

Social Class and Background

76. Blue-collar workers 77. Family background and careers 78. Low-income workers and careers 79. Single parents and careers 80. Socioeconomic status 81. White-collar work

The Work-Life Interface

82. Burnout 83. Careers and health 84. Child care practices 85. Crossover effect 86. Elder care practices 87. Emotional labor 88. Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) 89. Family-responsive workplace practices 90. Flexible work arrangements 91. Job sharing 92. Part-time employment 93. Stress at work 94. Telecommuting 95. Two-career relationships 96. Unemployment 97. Wellness and fitness programs 98. Work-family balance 99. Work-family conflict 100. Work-family enrichment 101. Work/life litigation 102. Workaholism 103. Workplace romance

THE EVOLUTION AND DEVELOPMENT OF CAREERS

104. Anticipatory socialization 105. Assimilation and mutual acceptance 106. Bridge employment 107. Career change 108. Career indecision 109. Career interruptions 110. Career maturity 111. Career plateau 112. Career transition 113. College student career development 114. Continuing professional education 115. Crystallization of vocational self-concept 116. Derailment 117. Early career stage 118. Early retirement 119. Fast-track career 120. Identity 121. Job loss 122. Late career stage 123. Leadership development 124. Lifelong learning 125. Lockstep career progression 126. Mentoring 127. Middle career stage 128. Midlife crisis 129. Obsolescence of knowledge and skills 130. Organizational socialization 131. Phased retirement 132. Pygmalion effect 133. Retirement 134. Reverse mentoring 135. Role models 136. School-to-work transition 137. Self-concept 138. Underemployment 139. Unemployment 140. Welfare-to-work programs

DECISION MAKING AND CAREER DEVELOPMENT

141. Aspirations in career decisions 142. Career appraisal 143. Career decision-making styles 144. Career exploration 145. Career goal 146. Career indecision 147. Career investments 148. Career strategy 149. Environment awareness 150. Human capital 151. Impression management 152. Individual career management 153. Occupational choice 154. Occupational prestige 155. Occupational stereotypes 156. Organizational entry 157. Organizational image 158. Self-awareness 159. Self-efficacy 160. Self-esteem 161. Self-leadership 162. Self-monitoring 163. Social capital 164. Specialty choice 165. Turnover

VARIATIONS IN CAREER PATTERNS AND CAREER SUCCESS

166. Boundaryless career 167. Career anchors 168. Career as a calling 169. Career mobility 170. Career motivation 171. Career salience 172. Career satisfaction 173. Career success 174. Copreneurship 175. Entrepreneurship 176. Job involvement 177. Job satisfaction 178. Lockstep career progression 179. Morale 180. Motivation and career development 181. Needs 182. Occupational commitment 183. Occupational professionalism 184. Organizational citizenship behavior 185. Organizational commitment 186. Protean career 187. Work ethic 188. Work values 189. Workaholism

CAREER DEVELOPMENT INITIATIVES

190. Academic advising 191. Apprenticeships 192. Assessment centers 193. Career centers 194. Career coaching 195. Career counseling 196. Career counseling competencies 197. Career education 198. Career intervention outcomes 199. Career-planning workshops 200. Child care practices 201. Compensation 202. Computer-based career support systems 203. Continuing professional education 204. Cooperative education 205. Cross-training 206. Elder care practices 207. Employee assistance programs 208. Employee participation in organizational decision making 209. Empowerment 210. Executive coaching 211. Family-responsive workplace practices 212. Flexible work arrangements 213. Human resource information systems (HRIS) 214. Human resource planning 215. Human resource support systems 216. Internships 217. Job challenge 218. Job design 219. Job-posting programs 220. Job rotation 221. Job sharing 222. Leadership development 223. Mentoring 224. Merit-based pay 225. On-the-job training 226. Organizational career management 227. Orientation 228. Outplacement 229. Part-time employment 230. Pay compression 231. Pay-for-performance reward systems 232. Performance appraisal and feedback 233. Pygmalion effect 234. Quality of work life (QWL) 235. Redeployment 236. Retention programs 237. Retraining 238. Reverse mentoring 239. Sabbaticals 240. Strategic human resource management 241. Succession planning 242. Telecommuting 243. Three-hundred-sixty-degree (360°) evaluation 244. Training and development 245. Tuition reimbursement 246. Vocational education 247. Wellness and fitness programs

LEGISLATIVE AND REGULATORY MANDATES

248. Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 (ADEA) 249. Civil Rights Act of 1964 250. Civil Rights Act of 1991 251. Collective bargaining 252. Domestic partner benefits 253. Employment contracts 254. Employment-at-will doctrine 255. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) 256. Equal Pay Act 257. Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) 258. Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) 259. Hostile working environment 260. National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) 261. Sweatshop labor 262. Work/life litigation 263. Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act of 1992 (WARN) 264. Wrongful dismissal

ASSESSMENT AREAS AND TECHNIQUES

265. Abilities 266. Allport-Vernon-Lindzey Study of Values 267. Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB) 268. Assessment centers 269. Bennett Mechanical Comprehension Test 270. Big Five factors of personality 271. Business simulations 272. Butcher Treatment Planning Inventory (BPTI) 273. California Psychological Inventory 274. Campbell Interest and Skill Survey 275. Career anchors 276. Career decision-making styles 277. Career Decision Scale (CDS) 278. Career Development Inventory 279. Career maturity 280. Career Thoughts Inventory 281. Cognitive Differentiation Grid 282. Differential aptitude testing 283. Emotional intelligence 284. FIRO-B 285. General Aptitude Test Battery (GATB) 286. Hall Occupational Orientation Inventory 287. Intelligence, schooling, and occupational success 288. Interests 289. Kuder Career Assessments 290. Learning styles 291. Leisure interests 292. Life Style Inventory 293. Life-Career Rainbow 294. Lifestyle preferences 295. Locus of control 296. Machiavellianism 297. Minnesota Clerical Test 298. Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2 (MMPI-2) 299. Multiple intelligences 300. Myers-Briggs Type Indicator 301. Needs 302. Occupational card sorts 303. Occupational classification systems 304. Personal Globe Inventory 305. Personality and careers 306. Proactivity 307. Rokeach Values Survey 308. Self-Directed Search (SDS) 309. Sixteen Personality Questionnaire (16PF) 310. Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scale 311. Strong Interest Inventory 312. Thematic apperception tests (TAT) 313. Tolerance for ambiguity 314. Type A behavior pattern 315. Values 316. Vocational Preference Inventory (VPI) 317. Wechsler Intelligence Scales 318. Wonderlic Personnel Test 319. Work values 320. Work Values Inventory

JOB SEARCH AND ORGANIZATIONAL RECRUITING

321. Electronic employment screening 322. Employment advertising 323. Exit interview 324. Handwriting analysis in hiring 325. Informational interview 326. Integrity testing 327. Internal labor markets 328. Internet career assessment 329. Internet recruitment 330. Job fairs 331. Job interviews 332. Job search 333. Knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSAs) 334. Networking 335. Occupational Information Network (O*NET) 336. Occupational Outlook Handbook 337. Organizational entry 338. Organizational image 339. Organizational staffing 340. Personnel selection 341. Realistic recruitment 342. Recruitment 343. References for employment 344. Resume 345. Unbiased hiring systems

PROFESSIONAL ASSOCIATIONS

346. American Counseling Association 347. American Psychological Association 348. Center for Creative Leadership 349. National Career Development Association

Our goal was to make this collection the premier reference tool for students, scholars, practitioners, and others interested in gaining knowledge or conducting research on career-related research paper topics. We have kept the topical essays concise, easy to read, and jargon free, while ensuring that the content reflects the most current thinking and research on the particular topic. We have provided essays that are directly related to the field of career development and have expressly avoided tangential topics or biographical profiles that add pages but do not improve the content. Browse our career research site.

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Larger teams in academic research worsen career prospects, study finds

Wed, 08/14/2024

LAWRENCE — As the Paris Olympics captured the world’s attention this month, it proved apparent that winning medals often hinged on the success of teamwork.

While such an approach clearly works in sports, new research suggests teamwork is not always the desired method … especially for young scientists trying to find an academic job. 

“We found that if your team size in your discipline is large, your prospects for an academic career go down,” said Donna Ginther, the Roy A. Roberts Distinguished Professor of Economics at the University of Kansas.

Her paper titled “The rise of teamwork and career prospects in academic science” reveals individuals who finish their doctorate in situations where the average team in their field is larger have worse career options. The results demonstrate that academic science has not adjusted its reward structure (which is largely individual) in response to team science. The article appears in Nature Biotechnology.

“The number of authors on papers in our discipline has changed,” she said. “In econ, when I graduated, there were single-author or two-authored papers. Now it’s often three to five -- so it’s essentially doubled. In science fields in particular, it’s grown a lot. And when the National Institutes of Health budget doubled, papers increased by about one author.”

Co-written with Mabel Andalón, Catherine de Fontenay and Kwanghui Lim of the University of Melbourne, this research combined data on career outcomes from the Survey of Doctorate Recipients with publication data that measured research size from ISI Web of Science. It also incorporated a regression on career outcomes at the individual level to control for any changes in the characteristics of young scientists (such as whether the scientists obtained their doctorate from a top-ranked school).

“The questions we asked were if the average team size gets larger, what does it affect? Then how does it affect your career?” Ginther said.

“My co-authors Catherine de Fontenay and Kwanghui Lim developed a theoretical model where if you have large teams, it’s unclear who contributed what to the paper. That makes the signal of your scientific ability noisy. But if there are just two authors, it’s pretty clear you both did a lot of work. Then the signal of your contribution is clear.”

As a result, it’s hard to discern and give individuals credit for their contribution … and that affects their next job and whether they get research funding.

“All of the phenomena we’re seeing about the length of time it takes from the time you get your Ph.D., until you get your first academic job, until you get your first R01 — that can be explained by this growth in team size,” she said.  

Ginther recently spent six months on sabbatical in Australia, which led to a research partnership with her University of Melbourne colleagues.

“I have a whole body of work on early career scientists,” she said. “For this paper, I really liked the model we used and the intuition behind the result. The world is big and complex, and teams are an important part of it. You can’t be this kind of solitary intellectual. Teamwork is something you must be able to navigate.”

Now in her 22nd year at KU, Ginther specializes in labor economics. She is also the director of the Institute for Policy & Social Research, an interdisciplinary campus center for faculty and students doing funded work in the social and behavioral sciences.

The economist believes her findings can be applied to other professions beyond academia.

“I’d be very curious to look at the military because you always operate in teams. How does the size of your team or the composition of your team affect your career?” she said.

Ultimately, Ginther emphasizes the key takeaway of this latest research is how money is correlated with team size.

“To the extent we can make more groups of scientists that are smaller, this could lead to a policy change that is supported by our work,” she said. “Having more smaller teams may be better than megateams, both in terms of scientific discovery and career outcomes.”

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Overarching guide on writing a career research paper.

What is a career research paper? It is a paper written about a chosen career that appeals to the writer (student in this case.) A research paper on career is one of the most common since that is the end goal of education – a flourishing career!

The tenets of a top-notch career research paper are that it should:

Highlight your career goals. Discuss your hobbies, talents, and interests. Major on one career. Bring out the facts about the career Discuss the pros and cons of the possible career

Now, the conventions of a career research paper assignment are more formulaic than you might think. Nevertheless, it also is as simple as counting one to five. How is the latter possible? With this expert articulated article, you will find it smooth writing such a paper.

Are you ready to unravel the secret writing formula? Well, keep on reading. Remember, we always save the best for the last part.

How to Write a Career Research Paper

Why can’t I use a career research paper sample and get done with this once and for all? Before you start aiming all those criticism guns, allow me to tell you why such a comprehensive guide is necessary:

It brings out all the information readers need to know It shows readers the order in which they need to write

You will never find these things when you decide to jump right into a career research paper example. That said and done, let us see how to structure a college research paper on careers. We will begin with the most critical part:

A Career Research Paper Outline

The outline of a top career research paper should entail all the career’s positive and negative perspectives. Also, a thorough evaluation of your skills and shortcomings relevant to the subject are essential when coming up with the outline.

How do you achieve an entertaining, informative, and practical outline for your career research paper? Read on.

The Introduction

Someone once said, “show me your introduction and I will tell you whether I will read your paper or not.” A top-grade career research paper introduction should:

Have information about yourself such as your talents, goals, and interests Include a good definition of a career such as nursing, journalism, and engineering – what does the job entail? Contain a thesis statement that clearly explains the focus of the paper – from which perspective are you handling your paper?

Be sure to end the introduction with a strong declarative statement on your research paper’s career choice.

Depending on the topic you chose for your career paper, the body content may vary. However, these are the standard guidelines to help you write it effectively:

• Hierarchically present the information – begin with the essential details, such as the features of the career.
• Have a topic sentence for each body paragraph of your paper.

If you have a research paper on nursing career, these pointers can come in handy for you:

• What is the nature and responsibilities of nursing as a career?
• Which minimum qualifications do I need for this job?
• What are the challenges involved in pursuing this career?
• What are the positives of nursing?
• Is nursing worth pursuing?

For a research paper on career choice, these use some of the ideas below:

Which skills do I have which complement the career responsibilities? Which schools offer the best programs for the career? How does the job I chose to reflect on my career goals? Where do I need to improve to succeed in this career? How many hours will I need to dedicate to this career?

All these ideas and prompts do not only apply to one career choice; they cut across the divide. Feel free to use them to make your career research paper body as in-depth as possible.

And finally,

The Conclusion

Here, you will make a summary of the most relevant points in your discussion. You should have an appealing concluding statement that effectively wraps up the research paper.

The climax of all this is to justify your decision to pursue a particular career.

Careers Research Paper: Pro Tips

To spice up your research paper on careers; these professionally brainstormed tips will act as your anchor:

• Write on a career that appeals to you; this way, you will have more points to discuss.
• Explore career sites such as Careerbuilder.com or Monster.com to get career ideas.
• Delve deep into the benefits and limitations of possible careers. You can make a chart to achieve this quickly.
• Your career + your goals + your skills + your interests = your topic.
• It should be informative and subjective as opposed to a boring story about a career you like.
• Include the trends in the career path you wish to take

Hopefully, at the end of your career paper, you will have a clear picture of what you would like to do in the future.

Career Research Paper Nailed With Ease

Organizing your thoughts is vital in coming up with a perfect research paper on careers. Fortunately, with this guide, you can accomplish that and get your paper started right away!

Nevertheless, if you are still having challenges, you can count on our top-notch research paper writing services. The rates are pocket friendly, and you will not regret one single bit. Post your order now and see your grades soar higher than the eagles.

SSC JE 2024 paper 1 marks out at ssc.gov.in; final answer key, scorecard

SSC JE Result 2024: A total of 16,223 candidates qualified for the SSC JE 2024 Paper 2 exam. Download the scorecard by September 5.

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Vikas Kumar Pandit | August 22, 2024 | 06:10 PM IST

NEW DELHI: The Staff Selection Commission (SSC) has uploaded the final marks of paper 1 for the Junior Engineer (JE) exam 2024. Candidates who appeared for the exam can download the SSC JE 2024 scorecard by visiting the official website, ssc.gov.in.

“The Commission has uploaded the Final Answer Keys along with Question Paper(s) cum Response Sheet(s) in respect of Paper-I of Junior Engineer (Civil, Mechanical and Electrical) Examination, 2024 on the website of the Commission on 22.08.2024,” the official notice read.

Candidates should enter their registration ID and password to log in and download the SSC JE 2024 marksheet. The SSC JE scorecard 2024 includes details such as the candidate's name, roll number, registration number, category, date of birth, section-wise marks, total marks, qualifying status, and exam details.

The commission has also issued the final answer keys along with the question papers and response sheets for paper 1 on the official website. The facility to download the SSC JE 2024 scorecard and final answer key will be available till September 5 up to 6 pm.

The recruitment drive aims to fill 1,765 vacancies for junior engineer positions in civil, electrical, and mechanical engineering. Of the 16,223 candidates who qualified for the SSC JE 2024 Paper 2 exam, 11,765 are eligible for civil engineering posts, while 4,458 have qualified for electrical and mechanical engineering positions.

Also read IBPS PO, SO registration 2024 deadline extended till August 28; eligibility criteria

SSC JE Scorecard 2024: How to download

Candidates can follow the steps given below to download the SSC JE scorecard 2024.

Visit the official website, ssc.gov.in.

Now, enter the registration number and password to log in.

Click the “Result/Marks” tab and select SSC JE 2024 from the dropdown menu.

SSC JE scorecard 2024 appeared on the screen.

Download it and take a printout for future reference.

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UPSC IES, ISS results 2024 declared; 132 candidates shortlisted for interview

UPSC IES, ISS 2024 Results: Candidates can download result PDFs by visiting the official website, upsc.gov.in and check their roll-numbers.

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