Person-job fit and proactive career behaviour: A dynamic approach

Abstract

This two-wave study among 637 employees explores how individuals’ perceived demands-abilities fit may change over time by virtue of career initiative (i.e., the proactive management of one’s career and professional development). Using a parallel growth model, we found that (between-person) career initiative was related to (between-person) perceived demands-abilities fit. In addition, increases in (within-person) career initiative over time were associated with increases in (within-person) perceived demands-abilities fit over time. The findings furthermore indicate that such improvements in perceived demands-abilities fit occur among those who change jobs as well as among those who stay in their current job. Comparing individuals who had switched jobs between wave 1 and wave 2 to those who had not, we found that turnover was i) preceded by lower levels of perceived demands-abilities fit; ii) accompanied by an increase in the level of career initiative; and iii) associated with greater improvement in perceived demands-abilities fit. This study advances our understanding of temporal dynamism in person-job fit and the findings support the idea that by employing a proactive approach towards their career, individuals can both attain and enhance the alignment between their abilities and the demands of their job.