The same, but different: career orientation profiles in France, Germany, Italy and Switzerland

Purpose Career orientations are a central motivational force driving people’s career goals, choices and career-related behaviors. By identifying career orientation profiles among employees from France, Germany, Italy and Switzerland, we extend our understanding of generalizable and context-dependent aspects of career orientations relevant to adaptive human resource management. Design/methodology/approach We used a multi-group latent class analysis to identify career orientation profiles in a sample of 4,627 employees from France, Germany, Italy and Switzerland. These countries exemplify a number of cultural and economic commonalities and differences, which allowed us to test contextual influences. Findings We found five distinct career orientation profiles named ambitious self-actualizer, unassuming pragmatist, loyal citizen, corporate climber and career explorer, which entail different combinations of boundaryless, protean and advancement preferences. These profiles showed distinct relations to sociodemographic characteristics and work- and career-related attitudes. Moreover, their prevalence varied across the four countries, reflecting systematic contextual influences on career orientations. Originality/value By identifying five meaningful and robust career orientation profiles across four countries, we reaffirm the breadth of career orientations beyond classic distinctions of “traditional” and “contemporary” careers. We also demonstrate the joint relevance of personal and contextual factors in the expression of career orientations and offer an evidence-based approach for effective career management, especially in international organizations where contextual factors create a particularly complex amalgam of career orientations.