Boundaryless careers

Résumé

According to research on Boundaryless
careers (i.e. careers characterised by inter-firm
mobility and/or professional changes), mobile
professionals should develop specific career
planning competencies, especially networking
(Knowing-Who) and Self-knowledge skills
(Knowing-Why). This hypothesis was tested in
a survey answered by 177 adults enrolled in
continuing education programs. The quantitative analysis of results of the survey highlights
the existence of relationships between Boundaryless career orientations, Career planning
competencies (Knowing) and Emotional skills,
the latter including networking and selfknowledge skills. As anticipated, results reveal
relationships between “Reconversion” career
orientations (people who are eager to change
professions), Knowing-Who skills and a
Dimension of Schutte’s EI scale regarding the
“Emotional Regulation of Others”. This career
orientation is also significantly more feminine
than the others. In addition, the less mobile
career orientation group (named “Specialists”)
is characterised by significantly lower scores
on the EI dimension “Utilization of Emotions
in Problem Solving”. However, some other
Boundaryless career orientations (“Intra-firm
mobile” and “Self-Employment”) also record
low scores on certain EI dimensions. These results
thus point that the fact relationships between Boundaryless Careers, Knowing and Emotional Intelligence
need further exploration.