| In this study, career exploration and job search are examined as coping strategies during involuntary career transitions. The study highlights the role of career exploration for individuals facing career transitions later in life and, most importantly, the potential of career exploration to lead to better quality of jobs upon reemployment and more perceived career growth. The focus of this study is on the three career-related predictors of job search and career exploration, referred to as career-orientation variables: (1) career identity salience, (2) career field tenure, and (3) occupational commitment. In addition, the study also includes some situational and dispositional predictors that are commonly examined in the job loss literature, namely, two types of coping resources, appraisal of job loss and personality characteristics.; It is proposed here that career exploration will be of particular benefit to individuals in career transition, as they may employ exploration as a means of coping with and adjusting to a shifting set of challenges posed by unemployment. Lastly, the study examines several reemployment quality outcomes (job improvement, career growth, time unemployed and turnover intention) and posits that those who engage in career exploration possibly in addition to job search during their transition will be more likely to benefit upon reemployment. |
