A SOCIAL CAPITAL THEORY OF CAREER SUCCESS. By: Seibert, Scott E., Kraimer, Maria L., Liden, Robert C., Academy of Management Journal, 00014273, Apr2001, Vol. 44, Issue 2
Career success was measured in terms of promotions, salary, and career satisfaction. Respondents reported the number of promotions they had received over their entire careers. Promotions were defined as "any increases in level and/or any significant increases in job responsibilities or job scope." They also indicated their current annual salaries (including bonuses and other direct income). Self-reports of income have been shown to correlate highly with archival company records (Judge et al., 1995; Turban & Dougherty, 1994). Because a Z-test on the skewness statistic indicated a nonnormal distribution for salary (Z = 36.5, p < .001), we followed Gerhart and Milkovich's (1989) recommendation and used a natural logarithmic transformation of salary for all analyses. Career satisfaction was measured using Greenhaus, Parasuraman, and Wormley's (1990) five items (1 = "very dissatisfied" to 5 = "very satisfied"), which were summed to form a composite (alpha = .83). An example item is, "The progress I have made toward meeting my goals for advancement."
- Greenhaus, J. H., Parasuraman, S., & Wormley, W. M. 1990. Effects of race on organizational experiences, job performance evaluations, and career outcomes. Academy of Management Journal, 33: 64-86.
http://www.msu.edu/~morgeson/fulmer_barber_derue_morgeson_2006.pdf
Proactive personality was measured using the ten-item Proactive Personality Scale (Seibert,
Kraimer, & Crant, 2001). Participants were asked to indicate their agreement with each statement in the scale, using a five point scale (1=strongly disagree, 2=strongly agree). Sample items include: “I am constantly on the lookout for new ways to improve my life,” and “No matter what the odds, if I believe in something, I will make it happen.” The proactive personality measure demonstrated good internal consistency (α = .86).
Job search self efficacy was measured using a subset of items from the job search efficacy subscale of the Career Search Efficacy Scale (Solberg, Good, Nord, Holm, Hohner, Zima, Hefferman, & Malen, 1994). Participants were asked to rate their confidence in their ability to engage in various job search behaviors, using a five point scale (1=not at all confident to 5=very highly confident). Ten out of fourteen items from the job search efficacy subscale were used (this scale was administered four times with an average α= .92). We did not use the items “Know how to relate to your boss in order to enhance your career,” “Deal effectively with societal barriers,” “Deal effectively with personal barriers,” or “Dress in a way that communicates success during a job interview” due to low loadings of these items in the pilot study and in an effort to shorten the 2004-5 survey.
To get a rough assessment of job search effort, we adapted a single item measure from Barber, Daly, Giannantonio, and Phillips (1994). Respondents are asked to answer the question, “How much effort have you put into your job search over the past two weeks?,” using a five point scale (1= “very little effort,” 5= ”a great deal of effort”). To get a rough measure of time spent in the job search, we adapted another item from Barber et al (1994). Respondents were asked to answer the question, “Think back over the past two weeks. How much time have you devoted to your job search during that period?” Answers are scored on a seven point scale (1=less than one hour, 2=1-5 hours, 3=6-10 hours, 4=11-20 hours, 5=21-30 hours, 6=31-40 hours, 7=more than 40 hours).
Study participants who were still actively searching for a job or internship at each survey date were asked to indicate how many first interviews they had had in the prior two weeks, how many second (or subsequent) interviews they had in the prior two weeks, how many first interviews they definitely had scheduled in the coming two weeks, and how many second (or subsequent) interviews they definitely had scheduled in the coming two weeks. These numbers were combined into one measure of self-reported interview activity to obtain a snapshot of job search activity around a particular point in time.
- Barber, A.E., Daly, C.L., Giannantonio, C.M., & Phillips, J.M. 1994. Job search activities: An examination of changes over time. Personnel Psychology, 47: 739-766.
- Seibert, S.E., Kraimer, M.L., & Crant, J.M. 2001. What do proactive people do? A longitudinal model linking proactive personality and career success. Personnel Psychology, 54: 845-874.
- Solberg, V.S., Good, G.E., Nord, D., Holm, C., Hohner, R., Zima, N., Heffernan, M., & Malen, A. 1994. Assessing career search expectations: Development and validation of the career search efficacy scale. Journal of Career Assessment, 2: 111-123.
