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The Hero’s Journey: Constructing continuity from discontinuity in millennial career
changers’ narratives
Citation
McCaie, F. & Kotera, Y. (2020). The Hero’s Journey: Constructing continuity from
discontinuity in millennial career changers’ narratives. British Journal of Counselling and
Guidance.
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The Hero’s Journey: Constructing continuity from discontinuity in
millennial career changers’ narratives
Although career construction theory is relevant to today's vocational
climate, empirical research into it is scarce. Accordingly, we explored this
theory by investigating the concepts, structures and processes that
millennial career changers use to construct narratives allowing for
continuity of plot and discontinuity of career direction. Interpretative
phenomenological analysis on semi-structured interviews (N=6) identified
four themes: dissatisfaction, realisation, sacrifice and return. The Hero’s
Journey was identified as an overarching structure for meaning making in
career change. Participants assimilated instability and discontinuity into a
broader framework of continuity, through narrating a quest for a closer
alignment between their work and personality. This study provides useful
insights into career construction theory and suggests further utility of The
Hero’s Journey in career counselling/guidance.
Keywords: career change; career construction theory; career counselling;
narrative; qualitative.
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Introduction
Today’s vocational climate poses new challenges to workers (McMahon, Watson, Chetty &
Hoelson, 2012). Historically workers relied on their employers/organisations to construct their career
trajectory (Lyons, Ng & Schweitzer, 2012). This began changing in the seventies in many western
countries, with some workers seeking greater freedom, self-development and personal fulfilment in
their work. This shifted definitions of success from the objective to subjective: moving upwards in an
organisational structure was no longer the sole definition of career success (Hall, 2004). The term
‘protean career’ describes this change in career orientation (Hall, 1976). The trend of detachment of
career and organisation continued and the term ‘boundaryless career’ was used to capture the increasing
mobility in the workforce and fluidity in organisational boundaries (Arthur & Rosseau, 1996). A
‘boundaryless career’ is characterised by physical mobility (moving jobs, career or organisations),
and/or psychological mobility (working collaboratively across multiple organisations to complete a
project) (Arthur & Rosseau, 1996). The concept of the ‘boundaryless career’ has become increasingly
relevant in recent years (Arthur, 2014). Nowadays, individuals are frequently employed for short-term
projects, have multiple part-time jobs, and change jobs, on average, every five years (Mallins, 2009).
Additionally, self-employment is increasingly common (Standing, 2011).
This shift in vocational climate places new demands on career counselling, and career
construction theory is well-placed to meet those challenges (Savickas, 2011). Matching an individual
with work tasks rather than an occupation, has become the focus of countries’ economic policy
(especially in developed countries), requiring new forms of career information and guidance (Borbély-
Pecze, 2019). To succeed in this volatile climate, workers must ‘assume total responsibility for career
development’ (Zunker, 1994, p.558), authoring their career narratives rather than depending on external
structures for direction (Savickas, 2011). Career construction theory is thus especially pertinent, as it
describes how individuals construct narratives about work experiences to create meaning and make
career decisions (McMahon & Watson, 2013; Savickas, 2011, 2012). Despite this pertinence, few
studies have used career construction theory to structure their explorations of career change.
In addition to the broader context of changing vocational climate, over the last decade workers
have had to navigate careers in the wake of what the International Monetary Fund called ‘the worst
economic crisis since the Great Depression’ (Stewart, 2008, p.1). In 2011, the after-effects of this
economic crisis led to the highest levels of unemployment in the UK among young people since
comparable records began (Allen, 2011). It is suggested that in the context of high-unemployment rates
and austerity, career change may feel riskier, because of the elevated competition for jobs, leading to
mental distress of job applicants (Kotera & Sheffield, 2017).
Career change narratives are optimal for exploring career construction theory (Savickas, 2011,
2012). A career change—an ‘entry into a new occupation which requires fundamentally different skills,
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daily routines, and work environments from the present one’ (Feldman, 2002, p.76)—is a substantial
transition. Savickas argues that the ‘meaning of a career and the process of its construction’ are revealed
in ‘stories about transition’ (2012, p.163). Supporting Savickas, McMahon and Watson (2013) suggest
that individuals seek to craft vocational identity through storytelling during career change, making it a
fruitful area for investigation. Career change narratives thus provide material to explore career
construction theory, and yet there is little research providing such exploration.
Millennials’ work experiences have taken place in this new and volatile work climate.
Millennials change jobs and careers more frequently than previous generations (Lyons, Ng &
Schweitzer, 2012), and by 2030 they will make up 75% of the workforce (Lowyat, 2013). Consequently,
understanding how millennials construct career narratives, establishing feelings of stability amid the
instability of today’s vocational climate, could usefully inform career counselling interventions. Despite
the importance of exploring millennial career changers’ narratives, there is little empirical research
doing so. Research grounded in career construction theory, identifying if and how millennials construct
narratives about career change is needed.
Career Construction Theory
Formulated by Mark Savickas and grounded in social constructionism, career construction
theory understands individuals as socially embedded learners, actively making sense of their work-
experiences through narrative (2002, 2011, 2012). Savickas posits that individuals construct meaning
from vocational behaviour, making sense of their world-of-work, through interpersonal interactions in
social contexts and through socially learnt intrapersonal processes. These personal, constructed
meanings bind fragmented work-related experiences, and in doing so, replace the role historically held
by organisations. Self-authored narratives are the primary tool for constructing meaning. Thus, for
Savickas, ‘language contains the self, and stories carry the career’ (2012, p.148). Narratives identify
causal relationships between past and present occurrences through chronological ordering, thus creating
a unified account of experience through time (Savickas, 2002, 2011, 2012). Individuals narrate stories
that align with their current situation and goals. Therefore, as Savickas argues, career narratives are not
reflections of historical facts, which may be non-linear and unpredictable. Rather career narratives are
subjective stories from which individuals can make-sense and so give meaning to their present work
situation.
Meaning is constructed through the identification and construction of life themes in narratives
(Savickas 2002, 2011, 2012). Savickas argues that life themes give meaning and coherence to the
narrative and so to vocational experiences (Savickas 2002, 2011, 2012). Vocational experiences are
defined by Savickas as experiences influencing vocational choice, including childhood events,
interpersonal relations and schooling (2011, 2012). An individual establishes life themes by finding
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patterns in similarities, repetitions and salient moments from vocational experiences (Savickas 2002,
2011, 2012). Individuals’ life themes also emerge in relation and response to social narratives, for
example narratives concerning gender, status or race. Narratives give meaning to past experiences while
also guiding future decision-making, including career change (Savickas 2002, 2011, 2012).
According to Savickas (2002, 2011, 2012), life themes are understood to both reflect and
construct vocational personality. The notion of vocational personality emerged from Donald Super’s
assertion (1996) that individuals project their self-concept onto the world of work in choosing an
occupation, and this projection constitutes their vocational self-concept. In entering an occupation an
individual implements this vocational self-concept and, once established in that role, they work towards
self-realisation. Thus, according to Super (1996) work becomes an arena for the development and
expression of self-concept and, as such, is the primary activity through which individuals express
something very private (their personal identity) in the public sphere. For Savickas, self-concepts are
symbolic representations of self that develop from interacting biological, social and personal factors and
are constructed by the individual. Individuals construct self-concepts through introjected socially learnt
processes, including intrapersonal reflection and narration, and through interpersonal interactions
(2012). Thus, for Savickas, self is constructed ‘from the outside in’, and denotes ‘an emergent awareness
that is culturally shaped, socially constituted, and linguistically narrated’ (2012, p.148).
Savickas’ term ‘vocational personality’ describes individuals’ work-related skills, values,
interests and desires. However, in contrast to Super’s term ‘vocational self-concept’, ‘vocational
personality’ emphasises the constructed and adaptive quality of the vocational self-concept. For
example, ‘creativity’ (a skill) or ‘security’ (a need), is understood as an individual’s strategy for adapting
to and making meaning from their history and context, and not fixed, objectively true characteristics
about themself. In the current vocational climate of instability and fluidity—the shift from permanent
jobs to short-lived assignments—Savickas argues that the process of self-making, including the
construction of vocational personality, needs to be understood as a life-long project (2012). That is, self-
making is conceptualised as an ongoing process involving maintaining flexibility and adaptability in
order to respond to changing contexts. In this scenario, self and vocational personality are constructed
rather than discovered and actualised. Flexibility and adaptivity of vocational personality are necessary
as, with the ‘loss of predictable scripts’ (2012, p.150) in career, ‘rather than make plans, individuals
must prepare themselves for possibilities’ (2012, p.149).
Evidence for Career Construction Theory
Though not explicitly addressing career construction theory, qualitative, phenomenological
research concerning career change narratives suggests the importance of finding continuity to construct
meaning from career change. Wise and Millward (2005) used semi-structured interviews and
interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) to explore career change narratives of ten 30- and 40-
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year-olds. Three themes were identified from the narratives: continuity and discontinuity, values, and
contextual influences. Murtagh and Lopes (2011) qualitative exploration of decision-making processes
in voluntary career change is congruent with Wise and Milward’s study. Using IPA, the researchers
found that in constructing their decisions, participants identified points of continuity with their previous
careers and emphasised the rightness of their decision to change careers. Participants were able to justify
their career choices by identifying continuity with their previous occupations.
The importance of finding continuity and coherence in career change is supported by further
studies. Hoyer and Steyaert (2015), operating within a psychoanalytic framework, analysed 30 life-story
interviews with former management consultants for unconscious subtexts relating to their vocational
identity. The researchers found tension between a desire for self-continuity and openness to new
versions of self. This finding reflects career construction theory’s suggestion that individuals need to
identify coherence and continuity in experiences of change (Savickas, 2011, 2012). Williams’ (2010)
case study identified that reconciliation of different identities was important for career change, usefully
detailing the psychological need for coherence in transition. Overall, the limited research suggests that
career changers’ narratives articulate a tension between disruption and change on the one hand and
continuity and coherence on the other.
While useful in their rich exploration of qualitative data, the above studies are limited in their
ability to illuminate the processes millennials use to create narrative coherence in moments of change
and to detail career construction theory. First, none of the studies addressed career construction theory
nor located their findings within this framework. Second, the studies’ participants were not millennials
(they were in their 30s and 40s at the time of career change) and were not changing careers in a recession.
Consequently, the findings may not be salient to millennials changing careers in their 20s in the context
of high levels of unemployment and an unstable job market. Third, Murtagh and Lopes (2011) focussed
exclusively on the decision-making process associated with career change, rather than the whole process
of career change and establishment in the new role, and so was more limited in its scope than this study’s
aims.
Research into career change more broadly has identified factors that remain constant across
career change, indicating possible sources of continuity and coherence. Work values (Kuron, Lyons,
Scweitzer & Ng, 2014) and transferrable skills (Grier & Johnston, 2009) have been found to remain
constant across career change. Therefore, both may be found in career change narratives providing a
source of continuity in transition. Furthermore, research suggests that career change is often gradual,
with career changers retaining their old careers while using hobbies, volunteering and/or part-time work
to explore new careers (for example, Ebaugh, 1988; Huang & Gimeno, 2003; Moore & Buttner, 1997).
Thus, narrative coherence may be achieved through gradual transition, rather than thematic similarity
between two disparate roles.
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Summary
This study seeks to provide needed empirical research exploring career construction theory, and
to expand on findings of tension between continuity and discontinuity in career change (Hoyer &
Steyaert, 2015; Wise & Millward, 2005). LaPointe highlights the need for qualitative research about
career change to increase ‘our knowledge of how people can deal with the shifting boundaries,
ambiguities and greater uncertainties in careers’ (2010, p.7). This study aims to provide such
knowledge.
Career construction theory suggests that:
• individuals create career narratives, establishing causal relationships between past, present
and future vocational experiences;
• life themes draw from childhood experiences, establishing continuity across the lifespan and
reflect and construct vocational personality; and
• in career change, individuals seek continuity in discontinuity by using life themes and
vocational personality to guide future work-related decisions (Savickas, 2011, 2012).
This theoretical foundation guides this study, which asks (our research question): what concepts,
structures and processes do millennial career changers use to construct narratives that simultaneously
allow for continuity of plot and discontinuity of career direction?
Method
Theoretical Approach
This study draws on phenomenological and constructionist theories in its approach.
Phenomenological psychology conceptualises of individuals as only having access to their subjective
experience, and so focusses on subjective accounts of consciousness (Flick, 2014). Thus,
phenomenological psychologists reject positivist notions of access to and existence of objective-truth
(Willig, 2013). Despite limits on access, phenomenological psychologists argue that through
intersubjective experience, meaningful knowledge of other minds is obtainable. As knowledge is
perceived through the researcher’s consciousness, phenomenological psychologists acknowledge that
the researcher’s subjectivity influences the research process and findings (Willig, 2013). Appropriate
subjects for phenomenological methods include subjective experiences of consciousness and processes
for making-sense of these experiences (Flick, 2014). Thus, a phenomenological approach aligns with
the aims of this study—to explore how career changers’ narratives are constructed and utilised to
support individuals’ sense-making.
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Constructionism is an epistemological position proposing that the world exists independent of
human minds, but knowledge of that world is always a human construction (Raskin & Bridges, 2002).
Constructionist psychology describes humans as active agents constructing reality by giving meaning
to and organising experiences into knowledge, rather than passive receivers of reality. Thus, even
scientific knowledge is constructed based on subjective beliefs, experiences and feelings about the
world (Raskin & Bridges, 2002). Social constructionism acknowledges that social forces influence the
sense-making processes, and so also influence knowledge content (Willig, 2013).
Phenomenology and constructionism share certain epistemological foundations and are
relatively compatible as applied in social sciences (Smith, Flowers & Larkin, 2009). First, both
disciplines reject the positivist notion of objective scientific knowledge about external phenomenon.
Second, both consider subjectivity and subjective experience to be socially constructed to some degree
(Flick, 2014). Third, shared information concerning subjective experience (for example, interview data)
is viewed as an interpretation of experience (Flick, 2014). Being compatible, both phenomenology and
constructivism inform this study without methodological contradictions arising.
Given these phenomenological and constructionist underpinnings, a hypothetico-deductive
model—a model of enquiry that assumes objective truths exist and science moves closer to establishing
truths through falsification of hypotheses (Willig, 2013)—is inappropriate. Thus, this study aims to not
establish objective, generalisable truths about career change, but to better understand the subjective
experience of change and the structure of narratives. Additionally, career construction theory is used
only as a guiding framework for exploring career change—not a model to be tested.
Design
This study used semi-structured interviews to elicit qualitative data from six millennial career
changers. Our research question is best addressed using qualitative methods: career construction theory
is informed by a constructionist epistemological position and qualitative approaches, including those
that reject positivism, are consistent with this position. Additionally, qualitative approaches elicit rich
data (Smith, 1995), enabling these researchers to obtain an understanding of the structures and concepts
forming career change narratives.
Semi-structured interviews are methodologically appropriate. This study is guided by career
construction theory—though not model testing—and aims to detail this theory, so is to a degree model
building. Wengraf recommends lightly-structured interviews for model building and fully-structured
interviews for model testing research (2001), making an intermediary approach appropriate.
Additionally, semi-structured interviews were effective in eliciting career narratives in Wise and
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Milward’s study (2005). The methodology also draws on narrative interviewing approaches (Wengraf,
2001), which LaPointe (2010) recommends for investigating career narratives.
Participants
This study adopts Howe and Strauss’s (2009) definition of ‘millennials’, as describing
individuals born between 1982 and 2004. This supported transferability of our findings to be adjusted
by other millennials (Carminati, 2018). The six participants (five females and one male; five bachelor
holders and one master holder as highest degree) were aged 31-33 at the time of interview and were in
their 20s at the point of career change (see Table 1 for further participant information). Participants
worked in the UK at the time of career change and experienced one voluntary career change since
entering the workforce. Participants were excluded from the study if they had been in their new career
less than six months. Participants were drawn from the researchers’ networks and individuals that met
the inclusion criteria were invited to participate via email.
[Table 1 near here]
Script Development
Following Wengraf’s guidance (2001), from the central research question, three theory-
orientated questions were elaborated:
1. What are the continuities and discontinuities participants narrate in changing careers?
2. What, if any, are the frameworks within which participants identify continuity/discontinuity?
3. What, if any, are the causal relations participants identify between past, present and future vocational
experiences?
From each theory question, two or three interview questions were developed. The researchers
considered the levels of abstraction and the type of discourse desired. The level of indirectness was
considered, and a mix of question styles—some closely mirroring and others indirectly relating to the
theory questions—were deemed appropriate. Order was considered, and a funnel approach was chosen.
The least constraining question—reflecting narrative interview techniques—began the interview. The
subsequent questions narrowed the interview’s focus, generating data relevant for career construction
theory.
Procedure
Interviews were conducted by the lead researcher via online conference software and
transcribed by the interviewer into Microsoft Word. Online interviews are cost- and time- effective,
convenient for participants and have been used successfully in similar studies (for example, Kotera,
2018). The interviewer conducted interviews from home, ensuring privacy, while participants chose a
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private, comfortable, and convenient location for the interviews. The interview script, including
instructions, obtaining consent and debrief, was followed precisely. Interviews ranged from 30-75
minutes long. The ethical approval was granted by the university research ethics committee (No.
91574588).
Analytical Approach
IPA was used as it aims to capture the subjective meaning of an individual’s consciousness
(Smith & Osborn, 2004; Willig, 2013), and constructionism is concerned with the subjective
construction of meaning through narrative. IPA was developed within health psychology as an
analytical process to identify the meanings an event or object have for a person, rather than an objective
account of that event/object (Smith, 1996). IPA is used to explore phenomena of personal significance,
for example, life changing events such as major illnesses (Tang & Santos, 2017), migration (Rosbrook
& Schweitzer, 2010) and transitions to motherhood (Smith, 1999). Career change is a significant life-
event, and so an appropriate phenomenon for IPA. Indeed, both Murtagh and Lopes (2011) and Wise
and Milward (2005) used IPA in their explorations of career decisions and career change.
Analysis followed the stages recommended by Smith and Osborn (2004). Aligned with IPA’s
idiographic approach, interviews were analysed separately until themes were generated. First,
transcripts were read three times over, familiarising the researchers with the content. Second, initial,
unstructured and undirected notes were made. These notes were wide ranging in content, varying from
attempts at summarising to comments on tone. Third, abstracting from the content of both the transcripts
and initial notes, themes were identified. Fourth, the emergent themes from all six transcripts were then
listed together, organised and connections identified between them. Themes with similar content were
clustered, while others were subordinated under another, broader theme. Fifth, from this organised
listing, four master themes were developed which attempted to capture the clusters of themes through
higher levels of abstraction. Table 2 describes the master themes and subordinate themes and provides
illustrative examples from participants’ narratives.
Results
The four master themes were:
1. dissatisfaction (i.e., dissatisfaction with their previous career precipitated career change);
2. realisation (i.e., events helped them realise their calling);
3. sacrifice (i.e., financial, mental, and social costs to start a new career); and
4. return (i.e., an improved fit with their new career helped them to feel congruent).
Supporting career construction theory (Savickas, 2002, 2011, 2012), narratives demonstrated continuity
of plot despite discontinuity in career direction. Continuity was achieved by referring to underlying and
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largely unchanged values, needs, skills, interests and/or traits, supporting Savickas’ assertion that
vocational personality provides coherence and meaning to disparate experiences. While participants
reported personal growth in career change, their narratives described a sense of self that remained
largely constant—what altered was the alignment between self and expression of self in work.
Continuity was manifested thematically in ‘dissatisfaction’, ‘realisation’ and ‘return’. ‘Sacrifice’
explores the discontinuity and disruption in career change. The interplay of the four themes illustrates
the relationship between continuity and discontinuity.
[Table 2 near here]
Dissatisfaction
All participants expressed dissatisfaction with their previous career. For most participants this
dissatisfaction stemmed from misalignment between their strengths/skills, interests, needs, ideologies
and/or values and those of their job. Dissonance between participants’ vocational personality
(Savickas, 2011, 2012) and their job led to feelings of work not being ‘a good fit’ (Participant 5). This
dissonance sparked consideration of career change.
I felt badly suited to it. […] like my main skills were really mismatched to the people
who were successful at that job. (Participant 2)
The other role was money orientated and that’s never been me. (Participant 1)
I became disillusioned with the coverage of politics in this country. I thought it was navel
gazing and wasn’t benefitting ordinary people. (Participant 6)
Relatedly, all participants expressed dissatisfaction with their first career arising from meaninglessness
in work, work-related stress/unhappiness and lack of development/growth.
Almost none of it is what’s important to you. It’s about ticking all these other boxes.
(Participant 2)
I wasn’t proud of what I did […] I never felt proud of it. (Participant 4)
I was so, so miserable. (Participant 3)
Dissatisfaction coexisted with desire for personal fulfilment through work and/or feeling drawn to other
professions. For most participants, greater personal fulfilment encompassed closer alignment between
their career and vocational personality, such as improved fit with their strengths, skills and background,
values, ideology, and/or self-identified traits (e.g. funny, creative).
I wanted to do something I could see myself in in many years to come. That I thought I’d
feel satisfied in. (Participant 4)
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Thus, both desire for greater fulfilment and negative affect are encompassed by the theme
‘dissatisfaction’.
Realisation
Narratives described realisations, which catalysed career change. These realisations often
concerned feelings of dissatisfaction or dissonance but were thematically distinct as they were linked
to specific events. Three participants’ realisations emerged in response to life-changing events—a near-
fatal illness, mental health issues and familial terminal illness. For others, realisation followed events
(work experiences or conversations), which provided increased clarity and confidence concerning
alignment between potential careers and skills, strengths and needs.
I was lying in an intensive care unit and I had this moment of clarity: why am I in this
job? Look where it’s gotten me? (Participant 3)
I felt like I only have one life and I have to follow my passions rather than settle for
something I wasn’t that excited by. [...] My dad getting sick and it being terminal made
me very aware of how short life was. (Participant 5)
Realisations often concerned both being called towards other professions (i.e. ‘follow my passions’)
and negative aspects of participants’ first careers (i.e. ‘I wasn’t that excited by [my job]’). The pivotal
event thus served to catalyse existing dissatisfaction with work and precipitated action.
Sacrifice
All participants identified facing challenges and making sacrifices to change careers. Challenges
and sacrifices included financial costs, emotional/psychological strain, and loss of friendships, time,
career security and status. Participants described feelings of insecurity/inadequacy arising from
returning to entry-level positions in the workforce and/or having less money than peers, both of which
impacted their perceived social status. The sacrifices associated with career change had global impacts,
affecting spheres outside of career such as social life, health and, for some, posing challenges to self-
esteem.
It felt at times like I was starting again.[…] In terms of my ego it could be difficult.
(Participant 4)
That’s what’s difficult about a career change, it takes a lot of effort and resolve. When I
was learning to code it took over everything. (Participant 3)
I also gave up my trajectory of reliable work, a salary, job security and academic rigour. I
have given up those very satisfying safe qualities […] there was anxiety that came with
that. (Participant 5)
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It did involve a certain amount of sacrifice. Money. An element of risk taking. That did
feel scary at the time. (Participant 3)
There was variation in how much control participants felt over these sacrifices. Participants mostly
described sacrifices in the true sense—i.e. they anticipated the challenges and chose to change careers
despite them. However, participants also described ‘loss’ (Participant 2) and failure to fully anticipate
the costs and strain involved in career change.
That loss of identity or slowly losing the identity has been difficult […] That’s a real loss.
[…] I don’t really feel like I belong. (Participant 2)
I think that it (career change) was more difficult than I had anticipated. […] I also think it
was harder emotionally, […] psychologically. (Participant 6)
‘Sacrifice’ described felt, negative instability across life domains. Language used such as ‘starting again’
(Participant 4) and giving ‘up my trajectory’ (Participant 5) reflects the narrative rupture or discontinuity
involved in career change. The theme suggests that career change is complex, involving substantial
personal challenges around social identity, status and stability. However, sacrifice was described within
the context of long-term gain, and for most participants reflected temporary instability, strain and/or
cost.
Return
This theme describes a return to self, skills and values. Most participants narrated improved
fit between their vocational personality and new careers—feeling more like themselves or an optimal
self—and one a continued search for such a fit. For all participants, the new career, or act of changing
careers, was identified as having continuity with an authentic self, including reflecting childhood traits
or experiences. All participants described one or more childhood/family experiences as relevant to
their current career, suggesting their new careers reflected a return and flourishing of interests, goals
and skills that were ingrained in early life.
I felt like I was doing what I was meant to do. I felt like I wasn’t fitting a triangle into a
square anymore. […] I feel, I think I feel… more myself. […] I do think I was born
naturally funny. (Participant 5)
I think the change is kind of that by leaving law, […] I think I’m, it, it feels to me like a
better reflection of how I see myself. (Participant 2)
I’ve always been interested in this. So perhaps there wasn’t a huge shift in me, just
getting back to what I’ve always been interested in. […] I feel like this is more and more
me. So I’ve come back a bit more to who I am. (Participant 1)
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Despite significant changes in work content, five participants identified convergences between their
old and new careers. Many participants identified underlying similarities between their different
careers, and so expressed that knowledge and skills developed in their previous careers continued to
be relevant. Additionally, participants described unchanged needs (for example the need for work-life
balance, variety and challenge) and unchanged work values (for example justice and equality) as
driving their vocational behaviour, and in doing so created connections between their old and new
careers.
What I do now […] harks back to what I was doing [before]. It’s been a bit of a circuitous
route. (Participant 3)
Comedy and psychology are both about people and ways to figure out the way people
and the world are. […] Finding connection, that’s always what I’m doing. (Participant 5)
Participants’ narratives connected various, disparate vocational experiences, skills and learnings,
making them relevant to their current career, and in doing so increased narrative coherency. Thus,
‘return’ reflects participants’ narrating re-establishing continuity and stability following the
discontinuity described by sacrifice, as suggested in language such as ‘circuitous’ (Participant 3) and
‘come back’ (Participant 1).
Discussion
This study aimed to better understand the remembered and narrated subjective experience of
career change and explore career construction theory. Six millennial career changers attended semi-
structured interviews, and data were analysed through IPA. Broadly, narratives established plot
continuity despite discontinuity of career direction, supporting career construction theory (Savickas,
2011, 2012). The interplay of the themes ‘dissatisfaction’, ‘realisation’ and ‘return’ illustrates how
participants narrated arriving at greater congruence between their subjective sense of self and their
outward expression of self through work, and supports Savickas’ concepts of vocational personality and
life themes (2002, 2011, 2012). Following the instability and discontinuity described by the events
contained in the theme ‘sacrifice’, it appears that ‘return’, and the processes it connotes, is particularly
important for establishing narrative coherence. Based on the themes’ content—references to childhood,
skill convergence, family values—it appears that following career change participants selectively
identify experiences/memories and re-interpret them to construct a narrative that emphasises identity
coherence.
The theme ‘dissatisfaction’ is congruent with existing research. Murtagh and Lopes (2011)
found that negative feelings about initial career were a key component in decision-making processes
around voluntary career change, while Teixeira and Gomes’ study (2000) identified dissatisfaction with
work as one of five themes associated with career change. In this study, the theme ‘dissatisfaction’ also
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encompassed a desire for greater fulfilment and meaningfulness from work. Similarly, Anthony and
Ord’s study (2007), investigating motivations for moving into teaching as a second career, found a mix
of ‘push and pull factors’ (p.1) instigated career change. That career change was motivated in part by a
search for internal and subjectively defined rewards (i.e. self-fulfilment or flourishing) reflects Hall’s
concept of a ‘protean career’ (1976). Perhaps the enduring relevance of the ‘protean career’ concept
indicates that today’s unstable and unpredictable vocational climate is not exclusively perceived in
terms of insecurity and difficulty. Rather, some voluntary career changers may view the flexibility of
the current climate as offering the opportunity to construct a personally meaningful career.
Existing research largely supports the role of ‘realisation’ in career change and may explain
how life-changing events influence career change. Teixeira and Gomes’ identified ‘crisis and change’
as a theme in participants’ descriptions of career change. In contrast with this study’s findings however,
Teixeira and Gomes’ did not describe any life-changing events as precipitating career change (2000).
Thus, in their study, career change narratives described a moment of internal difficulty or tension, which
was identified as a turning point. Contrastingly, Crow, Levine and Nager (1990) found that pivotal
events instigated reconsideration of occupation in teacher career changers. In this study, half of the
participants’ realisations followed from life-changing, potentially traumatic events. Research suggests
that traumatic events catalyse reflection and reappraisal, as individuals seek to make meaning from the
traumatic event (Maitliss, 2009; Park, 2010). Thus, in the context of career change, life events may have
catalysed reflection on meaning, precipitating career change. In summary, career change is narrated as
being instigated by a moment of crisis and realisation—the turning point—which though internal in
nature, may have external influences, such as significant life-events.
The negative impacts of career change, described in this study as ‘sacrifice’, were significant,
and extended beyond financial costs. Contrasting with this study’s finding, Wise and Millward’s
(2005) and Teixeira and Gomes’ studies (2000) identified that the only substantial cost of career
change was financial. This discrepancy in findings may reflect differences in participants and/or
context. At the time of career change, Wise and Millward’s participants were in their 30s and Teixeira
and Gomes’ in their 30s and 40s, while this study’s participants were in their 20s. Perhaps younger
career changers are more vulnerable to the social costs of losing work friendships, are more sensitive
to peer judgement/comparison, and/or more psychologically vulnerable overall. Indeed, studies
suggest that women’s confidence and emotional stability increase throughout early adulthood into
middle-age (e.g. Helson & Moane,1987; Roberts, Walton & Viechtbauer, 2006)—and five of the six
participants in this study were women. Additionally, participants were changing careers in the wake
of the 2008 economic crisis, and consequent high unemployment levels (Allen, 2011) and competition
for work. Perhaps in this context, additional stress and anxiety is to be expected when changing careers.
16
The theme ‘return’ describes participants finding coherency in their experiences and reflected
greater career satisfaction or happiness. The finding of strong positive emotions associated with the
new career, such as satisfaction or passion, is congruent with Murtagh, Lopes and Lyons’ (2011)
finding of relief and positive affect associated with having chosen a new career. In this study, positive
affect was usually associated with an improved fit between their vocational personality and new
careers—feeling more like themselves or an optimal self. This supports Wise and Milward’s finding
that participants understood their career change as ‘optimizing an existing self’ (2005, p.406). The new
career was understood as a better fit because it was perceived as drawing on unchanging childhood
values, skills, needs or traits. Thus, in changing careers, participants described enacting beliefs, skills
or traits of an original self. ‘Return’ also captured the continued felt relevancy of prior skills in new
careers, and research supports this finding. For example, Wise and Millward suggested that career
change does not reflect ‘a radical shift that forsakes all previous accomplishments’ (2005, p.412).
Additionally, Grier and Johnston (2009) identified that professionals entering teaching as a second
career emphasised the relevance of their prior skills for teaching.
The interplay of the themes, ‘dissatisfaction’, ‘realisation’ and ‘return’ can be understood
within career construction theory as reflecting the identification and expression of life themes (Savickas,
2002, 2011, 2012). Savickas theorises that meaning is constructed through the identification and
construction of life themes in narratives. In turn, life themes give meaning and coherence to the narrative
and so to vocational experiences (Savickas 2002, 2011, 2012). In these narratives, life themes were
identified in relation to childhood and family-of-origin experiences and connected via narrative to
participants’ current career. For example, for one participant who became an osteopath a life theme was
embodied helping. ‘Dissatisfaction’ concerned the frustration of ‘spending all day staring at a screen’
and that ‘no one would know in the real world what work I’d actually done’. ‘Dissatisfaction’ also
described being drawn to do something ‘more tangible […] using my hands’ and a desire ‘to be useful’.
The theme of embodied helping was manifested in ‘return’ through statements such as, ‘it [the new
career] fits with my personality, that I like working with people, helping people. I used to do massage
as a kid, dancing. I’m interested in the body. […] The most important thing is that I’m trying to help
people’. In this narrative, disparate vocational experiences such as massage, dancing, a brief shadowing
experience in medicine and a biology undergraduate degree find coherence in how they relate to the
central theme of embodied helping. The theme of ‘return’, which all participants described, encapsulates
the role of life themes in creating narrative coherence. Overall, this study’s findings support the role of
life themes in giving meaning to vocational experiences.
The chronology and content of the master themes— ‘dissatisfaction’, ‘realisation’, ‘sacrifice’
and ‘return’—paralleled The Hero’s Journey structure (Campbell, 1988). The Hero’s Journey is a
narrative template used in myths and stories, and consists of the hero being called, accepting the call
and subsequently leaving his/her ordinary world for unfamiliar terrains. The hero faces and passes
17
ordeals/tests, and is transformed and rewarded, before returning home to the familiar (Campbell, 1988).
While no participants described themselves as heroes, many evoked heroic-like notions of
independence, risk-taking and bravery, describing growth and self-optimisation as rewards.
Additionally, the themes ‘dissatisfaction’, ‘realisation’, ‘sacrifice’ and ‘return’ find parallels in The
Hero’s Journey with accepting the call, journeying, tests/challenges and returning home. The parallels
with The Hero’s Journey suggest that participants narrate career change as highly challenging
(involving trials and sacrifice) but rewarding, offering opportunities for growth, exploration and greater
authenticity. The Hero’s Journey structure supports career changers to assimilate discontinuity into a
narrative of continuity by reframing disruption and change within a larger framework of growth and
increased authenticity. The hero is transformed but returns to their world prior to the change, re-
establishing stability and continuity. Thus, the narrative structure may assist participants to make sense
of difficult and destabilising experiences.
The presence of The Hero’s Journey (Campbell, 1988) as an overarching structure in career
change narratives is congruent with previous research. Osland (1990) identified The Hero’s Journey
structure in expatriates’ narratives of working overseas, findings echoed by Richardson’s qualitative
analysis of academic expatriates’ experiences (2002). Additionally, Hudson and Inkson’s mixed-
methods study (2006) found parallels between The Hero’s Journey structure and participants’ accounts
of volunteering overseas. More broadly, in their analysis of extracts from career counselling
formulations, McIlveen and Creed (2018) identified ‘journey’ as metaphor used by counsellors,
suggesting the utility of metaphors describing traveling, movement and change in articulating careers.
The above research suggests that The Hero’s Journey is used to structure experiences involving change
and transition—experiences such as career change.
Career construction theory articulates the importance of heroes and role models for vocational
behaviour. Savickas argues that for children, heroes model solutions to central problems or dilemmas
(2012). Children identify with heroes and incorporate them, modelling behaviour on their hero’s actions
in order to move forward and address dilemmas. In doing so, children take on aspects of their hero’s
character. Thus, ‘selecting role models is the very first career choice that individuals make’ (Savickas,
2015, p.27). Consequently, asking, ‘who did you admire growing up? Who were your heroes/heroines?’
(Savickas, 2015, p.28) is the first question in the career construction interview—an assessment tool
grounded in career construction theory. Seen in this light, one explanation of our finding The Hero’s
Journey structure in narratives is that in making career decisions, and thus resolving career dilemmas,
participants drew (consciously or unconsciously) on the incorporated identifications of their heroes.
The related narrative structure of The Hero’s Journey may have been awakened by this process of
identification. Our findings suggest that in addition to specific heroes, the motif of the hero as defined
by Campbell (1988)—someone who finds growth in challenge and change—is salient to adult career
changers.
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Implications
The Hero’s Journey (Campbell, 1988) appears useful in making meaning from experiences of
challenge, transition and unfamiliarity, such as career change. Nowadays, the onus of responsibility for
career direction lies with the individual (Savickas, 2013). Thus, The Hero’s Journey metaphor may feel
pertinent to workforce millennials as they repeatedly venture into the unknown, form alliances,
overcome obstacles, and return, changed, to greater familiarity and stability. Goldstein (2005) explored
using The Hero’s Journey as a structuring metaphor for trainee teachers, reporting students found it
helpful in identifying strengths, increasing motivation and overcoming challenges.
The Hero’s Journey (Campbell, 1988) may be effective in career counselling/guidance settings.
The narrative template could provide structure, supporting career changers’ decision making, goal
setting and perseverance by supporting them to develop an empowered career story. Recently
practitioners have proposed interventions grounded in social constructionist theory using mediums such
as poetry (Wafula, 2019), comics (Piróg & Rachwał, 2019) and collage (Chant, 2019). The Hero’s
Journey structure is not limited to any one medium and may prove useful in conjunction with the
interventions proposed. Describing the process of narrative and poetry therapy, Lengelle and Meijers
write that practitioners support clients by providing a safe and enriching learning environment in which
a client can move from a disempowered or ‘painful first story’ to an empowered and ‘life-giving second
story’ (2009, p.57). Texts, images or metaphors grounded in The Hero’s Journey may be usefully
provided to career changers to support them towards empowered and reviving career change stories.
In contrast to previous studies (Teixeira & Gomes, 2000; Wise & Millward, 2005), millennial
career changers described significant instability, sacrifice and loss arising from career change, which
impacted multiple life domains. Practitioners providing guidance to career changers need awareness of
the extent and depth of the difficulties faced by career changers. Informed, practitioners will be better
placed to support career changers to address these challenges, for example by anticipating and so
proactively developing strategies to ameliorate their effect. One ameliorative strategy could involve
promoting the identification and development of supportive networks, including mentorship
relationships, as participants in this study reported such networks to be beneficial for career change.
The exploration of identity through narrative counselling methods may be another way in which
practitioners can support career changers to establish feelings of stability amid change. Vocational
personality and life themes are understood by Savickas as mutually reflecting and constructing the other
(2002, 2011, 2012). The cohering force of life themes and vocational personality in participants’
narratives suggests that to be successful in supporting career changers, narrative counselling methods
need to explore identity. Indeed, Ibarra and Barbulescu (2010) argue that opportunities to revise and
19
reconstruct narratives about self are vital to successful career transitions. And, equally important is
receiving validation of these narratives through feedback. Similarly, Di Fabio and Bernaud assert that
in today’s unpredictable and unstable vocational climate, career interventions must ‘facilitate deep
reflection of individuals on themselves to develop a stable identity as an internal compass’ (2018, p.4).
Given the destabilising quality of career change identified in the theme ‘sacrifice’, this identity work
may be especially important to millennial career changers. The client-counsellor dyad is a forum for
both the revision and validation of self-narratives, and an awareness of the importance of clarifying
vocational personality may guide the counsellor’s interventions to optimally support career changers.
Narrative-based interventions that focus on the meta-competency of identity construction, including
Life Design (Savickas, 2015), Constructing My Future Purposeful Life (Di Fabio, 2014) and Life
Meaning intervention (Arnoux-Nicolas et al., 2018), may be optimally supportive for millennial career
changers.
Limitations, Strengths and Contributions
A first limitation is that the findings are not generalisable because of the sample and idiographic
approach. A convenience sample was used, and the sample is small and not representative of diversity
of geographic location, ethnicity, socio-economic status and education level in UK millennial career
changers. However, this study aimed only at understanding and exploring subjective accounts, as its
phenomenological underpinnings are not consistent with producing generalisable results. A second
limitation is that no data triangulation was used to reduce the impact of the researchers’ subjectivity,
compromising the findings’ credibility. The researchers acknowledge their role in co-constructing the
findings. These researchers’ understandings of career change are informed by career construction
theory, and so likely findings were interpreted within this framework regardless of intentionality.
Additionally, one researcher is a career changer and her interpretation of other’s narratives is informed
by her experience of career change. Co-construction is not inherently problematic, as double
hermeneutics is seen as a necessary practice in phenomenological approaches to understanding the
subjective experience of another (Flick, 2014; Pietkiewicz & Smith, 2014). However, using respondent
validation to introduce multiple perspectives would strengthen the findings’ credibility.
This study also has methodological strengths. The interview script was developed following
best-practice guidance on narrative and phenomenological interviews as outlined by Wengraf (2001)
and Willig (2013). Indeed, the script was successful, eliciting rich narratives, including meaning-
making attempts, reflections and evaluative statements, enabling the researchers to address the research
question. Additionally, the researchers remained grounded in the data by checking the emerging
findings against the transcripts at all stages of analysis, supporting the findings’ credibility.
Overall, this study makes a useful contribution to a timely issue. Savickas argues that in the 21st
century individuals need to author their own career stories (2013). This study offers insight into how
20
through the themes of ‘dissatisfaction’, ‘realisation’ and ‘return’ individuals narrate a relatively stable
identity, which appears important for anchoring individuals through change. It also illuminates the
significant challenges and instability associated with career change. The Hero’s Journey (Campbell,
1988) may prove useful to practitioners looking to support individuals to navigate those challenges by
situating them within a broader narrative of growth and increased authenticity. Lastly, this study adds
to research exploring career construction theory.
Future Research
Research exploring and comparing narratives of career changers who are satisfied versus those
who feel dissatisfied or overwhelmed following career change would be useful. Such research would
further illuminate ways practitioners can support career changers to develop empowered career change
stories. Though participants in this study largely reported increased satisfaction following career
change, they also reported significant struggles and sacrifices. Given the difference between these and
previous findings (Teixeira & Gomes, 2000; Wise & Millward, 2005) regarding felt costs of career
change, research investigating relationships between career change, age and demographic factors is
needed to understand factors contributing to vulnerability to the challenges of career change.
Additionally, research evaluating the usefulness of The Hero’s Journey structure (Campbell, 1988) in
interventions to support career changers is needed.
Conclusion
This study explored career construction theory (Savickas 2002, 2011, 2012) by investigating
millennial career changers’ narratives and developed an account of how career changers narrate
continuity and discontinuity in career change through the themes of ‘dissatisfaction’, ‘realisation’,
‘sacrifice’ and ‘return’. Life themes and vocational personality cohered and gave meaning to narratives.
Furthermore, The Hero’s Journey (Campbell, 1988) emerged as a structuring metaphor for meaning
making in transition, enabling career changers to assimilate instability and discontinuity into a broader
framework of continuity, through narrating a quest for a closer alignment between their work and their
vocational personality. Despite limitations, this study provides needed empirical research detailing
career construction theory and could usefully inform career counselling interventions.
21
Disclosure of interest: The authors report no conflict of interest
22
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