Economic analysis of factors influencing career choice

Economic Analysis of Factors Affecting Career Choice

There are many factors that influence personal career choice, mainly three aspects: human capital, social capital and professional values. So, what factors influence career choice in economics?

Occupation is the work that an individual does in society as his main source of livelihood. Careers are always linked to specific economic benefits, so career benefits become the core issue when making career choices.

Occupational benefits refer to the ratio of benefits and costs incurred by professionals engaged in professional labor. If it means that the professional benefits obtained include physical goods, wages, bonuses, stocks, etc., and the professional costs consumed include human, material and financial resources, etc., then the professional worker benefit =, when = 1, the benefits and costs are balanced, and the professional benefits are average; When gt; 1, the benefits are greater than the costs, and the career benefits are better; when lt; 1, the benefits are less than the costs, and the career benefits are poor.

Economic research is based on the premise of the rational man hypothesis, which believes that through market activities, economic agents pursue the maximization of their utility functions. According to the definition of career benefits, economic theoretical analysis methods can be used to consider various relevant factors that affect career choices, so as to maximize career benefits, that is, to spend the minimum cost and obtain the maximum benefits. Career choice refers to a tendency of workers before entering a career. The existing classic career choice theories include: personality type theory (Holland, 1960), social cognitive theory (Bandura, 1986), career development theory (Sapa and Ginzberg, 1950), needs theory and Psychodynamic theory (Roy, 1950), trait factor theory (Parsons, 1908), etc., explain the influencing factors of career choice from different aspects.

Among them, trait factor theory emphasizes the relationship between personality traits and occupation, and believes that personal traits are important reference indicators for workers to choose occupations. Social cognitive theory puts forward the view that career choice is the result of the interaction between workers and society, emphasizing the constraints and influence of the social environment on career choice. The demand theory believes that career choices must suit personal needs, so it is important to stimulate individuals' needs for professional performance.

In addition to the above classic career choice theories, domestic and foreign scholars have conducted a large number of studies on this topic: Schultz (1959) believed that the important factor for individuals to obtain professional status is human capital; Grant Novot proposed (1973) that it is informal social relationships that help workers match their occupational status; Jiang Jihong's (2005) research supports this view. She proposed that the main factors that influence individuals' career choices include family background, gift-giving, and favors. and social relations; Zhang Faheng (2007) constructed a model of human capital influencing factors on personal career choices. The model was mainly constructed from personal experience, psychological characteristics, cultural skills and other aspects.

It can be seen that many domestic and foreign scholars have discussed various factors that affect career choice. This article believes that the multiple influencing factors of career choice constitute a multi-dimensional, multi-factor complex system, including three subsystems: human capital, social capital, and professional values. Among them, human capital includes personal characteristics, professional skills, interpersonal skills and adaptability; social capital includes job selection opportunities, job selection guidance and job selection relationships; and professional values ??include career security, career prestige and career development.

1. Human Capital

The accumulation of social capital will grow at an exponential rate as the arithmetic speed of workers’ human capital increases. However, there are many constraints in the use of social capital. , so job seekers are more willing to regard human capital as the primary factor affecting personal career choices. Human capital includes measurement indicators such as personal traits, professional skills, interpersonal skills and adaptability. Personal traits mainly refer to a person's personality, temperament, image, self-confidence, etc. This factor has a two-sided impact on career choice.

Since career choices mostly occur between the ages of 18 and 28, the basic personality of the individual has been formed at this time and is more difficult to change. When job seekers are considering a career, their personal personality will be affected to a great extent. Decide on the type of career you will choose. On the other hand, personal temperament, image, self-confidence, etc. will affect the employer's decision-making when selecting personnel. Vocational skills mainly refer to the skills that job seekers have mastered before officially entering the profession, such as computers, English proficiency and various professional skills.

Since we are in the information age and knowledge is updated at an extremely fast rate, when selecting employees, employers will not only consider the skills that job seekers have mastered, but also consider their ability to learn and use new skills. This kind of Ability is also a reflection of the overall quality of job seekers, which will be reflected during the internship period or multiple rounds of interviews and written tests, and will also become an important factor in determining careers. Interpersonal skills mainly include expression skills, interpersonal skills, teamwork skills and other factors. In the market economy environment, the social division of labor is becoming more and more detailed, so people's work is becoming more and more relevant. Good interpersonal skills are one of the necessary qualities for career development.

Adaptability mainly refers to career planning ability and career transition ability. The current job market requires job seekers to have a clear career plan for their personal career development. This will help job seekers find relevant companies that meet their personal career plans, and will also help their long-term development. The complex and ever-changing economic environment determines that workers must have the ability to change careers at any time to adapt to possible career changes and other situations.

2. Social capital

Social capital is one of the very important determining factors in career choice, mainly including job selection opportunities, job selection guidance and job selection relationships. Job selection opportunities include various opportunities provided by the school where the job seeker graduated, such as the connection between the school and the company, opportunities brought by the reputation of the school, campus recruitment, alumni resources, etc., as well as various recruitment information in the society.

At present, job opportunities for fresh graduates mainly come from campus. Cooperation opportunities established between schools and enterprises will provide job opportunities for graduates, and alumni resources have gradually become an important factor in providing job opportunities that cannot be ignored. Important sources. Various websites that publish recruitment information also provide convenience for many job seekers, making it easier for job seekers to obtain career information, and at the same time, it is also convenient for employers to grasp job seeker information in a timely manner.

Job selection guidance mainly refers to the career guidance work within the school and the job seeker’s previous work experience. At present, major universities attach great importance to students' employment issues, so they will set up special institutions to provide various forms of career guidance to graduates preparing for employment, such as conducting mock interviews, inviting business representatives to share career experience, and asking psychological teachers to provide guidance to students. Personality analysis, etc.

The job seeker’s previous work experience is a very important career choice guide, which helps the job seeker understand the career, consider whether the career is suitable for personal needs, and choose a future career direction based on their own conditions.

The relationship between job selection mainly comes from family, school and society. Relationships in the family mainly refer to relatives, relationships in the school mainly come from teachers and alumni, and relationships in society mainly refer to the network resources and friends brought by the job seeker's previous work experience. These relationships can not only bring job selection opportunities, but also provide reasonable and scientific job selection guidance to job seekers, which all have an important impact on personal career choices.

3. Career values ??

Career values ??are a complex and multi-dimensional psychological factor, which will change with changes in the socio-economic environment and the individual’s career stage. Currently, Job seekers' career values ??mainly include career security, career prestige and career development. Occupational security mainly refers to factors such as income, benefits, and insurance.

Since the income brought by a career will directly affect the quality of life of workers, these various security regulations that are closely related to the lives of job seekers will become one of the important factors for job seekers to consider careers. .

In addition, due to the instability of the economic environment, job seekers are aware of the existence of career switching costs and their awareness of self-protection has increased.

This makes them pay more attention to various benefits and insurance when making career choices. Occupational prestige mainly means that the occupation has a high social status and can be widely recognized and respected. At the same time, the occupation has a large space for job seekers to fully display their talents. As the post-80s and post-90s generations become the mainstream group of job seekers, more and more emphasis is placed on people's subjective consciousness. Job seekers are not only pursuing a job, but also pursuing the embodiment of personal value. Therefore, professional prestige will be more important to individuals. Play an increasingly important role in career choices.

Career development mainly refers to promotion opportunities in the profession you are engaged in. During the job search process, job seekers will consider the future development prospects of the profession, that is, the channels and space for promotion. Only those careers that have a broad future development space and job seekers believe that they can be recognized by society through personal efforts can wait for their favor.

4. Conclusion

In short, there are many factors that affect individual career choices, mainly three aspects: human capital, social capital and professional values. Due to the ever-changing market economic activities and new situations constantly emerging, the impact of various factors on career choices will also change.

In order to make effective career choices, that is, to maximize career benefits, you must scientifically consider various influencing factors and make analyzes and evaluations that are consistent with your personal situation, in order to achieve the goal of successfully choosing a career. . ;