Rational

The boundaryless career concept has produced rich research in recent years. Compared to traditional career theory, the concept highlights dynamic careers driven by intrinsically motivated individuals, often project professionals, hopping from one project to another. Scholars have questioned how organizations might bound the careers of project professionals to avoid losing valuable personnel. Career paths are seen as an answer to the problems arising from needing to traverse organizational boundaries to develop a career. A gap exists in our knowledge regarding the project as a career.

Project objectives

• Researching the career making activities of project professionals on projects.

• Analyzing challenges and opportunities to acquire career resources on projects from the perspective of employability.

• Describing implications and making recommendations for project professionals and companies interested in improving understanding of careers on the project.

Approach

We apply a knowledge co-creation process with project professionals. Our methodology includes an extensive literature search, qualitative in depth interviews and focus group workshops. We use constellation for visualizing and reflecting careers of project professionals. We seek cooperation with individual project professionals and with companies who would like to support the reflection of the career of their project professionals and relate it to career paths and employability.

International Research Team

• Prof. Dr Martina Huemann, WU – Vienna University of Economics and Business, Austria

• Prof. Dr Anne Keegan, UCD – University College Dublin, Ireland

• Dr. Claudia Ringhofer, WU – Vienna University of Economics and Business, Austria