Constructing Careers ‘in Chaos’. Exploring Career Progress of Expatriates and Repatriates on Career Ladder or Career Lattice Pathways

Abstract This article explores expatriate and repatriate career progress on career ladder and lattice paths through the theoretical lenses of career construction theory, chaos theory of careers and the career ladder versus career lattice model. The research method is an exploratory, qualitative study, using purposive sampling and snowball sampling techniques. 78 interviews were conducted with expatriates and repatriates originating from countries across the globe. Findings reveal that respondents had multidirectional global careers, shifting from linear, hierarchical career ladder paths to non-linear, unpredictable career lattice paths on which they made career progress. This paper contributes to the international HRD literature by providing insight into the different meanings of career progress of expatriates and repatriates on diversified, multidirectional, dynamic career paths that continually evolve across the lifespan. A limitation of this study was that it relied on self-reports of expatriates and repatriates regarding their career pathways and career progress. Future research should incorporate data triangulation by a multi-actor and a multi-source approach to gain insights into constructing global career paths to facilitate expatriate and repatriate career progress. Implications for practice are the integration of individual career mastery with organizational career path planning to enable expatriates’ and repatriates’ career progress on multidirectional career pathways.