Chapter 1: Careers: what they are and how to look at them

Careers are central to people’s lives, but difficult to describe and understand. Building on the notion that everyone participating in the workforce has a career, this chapter presents the major building blocks of careers along three dimensions, i.e. ontic, spatial, and temporal. The ontic perspective on careers centres on various conditions of the persons having a career. This includes issues such as their gender, age, job, career satisfaction, career stage - in short, everything that matters and helps to characterize the person’s condition. The spatial perspective acknowledges that careers unfold not in a vacuum, but in a defined social and geographical space. This space is structured by external and internal boundaries, populated by other individuals, groups, and organizations and governed by formal and informal rules that individuals may or may not be aware of. The temporal perspective points towards time as a crucial aspect underlying careers. In terms of career outcomes, the chapter presents seven facets of career success in three groups - growth, design for life, and material output - that individuals use across the globe: entrepreneurship, learning and development, work-life-balance, positive impact, positive work relationships, financial security, and financial success.