Toward a broader understanding of career shocks: Exploring interdisciplinary connections with research on job search, human resource management, entrepreneurship, and diversity

Career shocks have become an increasingly important part of current careers scholarship. In this article, we focus on the role of career shocks in career choice, career development, and career adaptation by exploring interdisciplinary connections with the domains of: (1) job search, (2) human resource management, (3) entrepreneurship, and (4) diversity. Specifically, we argue that a self-regulated job search process is likely often triggered by a career shock, yet could also trigger career shocks in its own right. We also note that employees' perceptions of the HR practices in their company are likely influenced by career shocks, and that the chance of employees to return to their employer in the future (i.e., boomerang employment) is affected by the occurrence of positive or negative shocks. Furthermore, there are ample opportunities to study how career shocks may trigger transitions between paid employment and entrepreneurship, and the role of identity and emotions in such processes. Finally, we argue that career shocks may instigate changes in the salience of social identity or even constitute threats to social identity, thereby reflecting on how career shocks may differentially impact people belonging to different social groups. We hope that our article, in the spirit of this JVB 50-year anniversary issue's aims, will inspire scholars both within and outside of the field of career studies to better understand how career shocks may impact the way in which people work and develop their careers.