Hazy “Career Clarity” Can Career Crafting Bring It into Focus?

Abstract

This research proposes a new theory for explaining career progression and guiding individuals to chart their career pathways. It focusses tightly on how one thinks about and manages the range of activities involved in making their career. The study examines the career journeys of accounting professionals in mainstream firms and academia in New Zealand. A qualitative approach was used for collecting data. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 36 participants. Analysis used NVivo software. The exploration revealed a continuum of career clarity with respect to formulation of career goals. Only eight participants seemed to have perfect clarity about their initial goals, whereas twenty-four participants have clarity with regard to current and future career goals. The main influences were the deliberate efforts of career crafting, the role of family and organization. Characteristics of crafters are identified, and scope for future research is discussed.