The Boundaryless Career Concept - Essay Example

The Boundaryless Career The idea of the boundaryless career is best explained by Arthur and Rousseau (1996) who suggest that it is a career which can be more likened to an occupational path that is not connected with any particular organization. For instance, a computer programmer can have a career in computer programming which takes him/her through various stages of career development with various organizations in different positions. S/he may start as a junior programmer or a debugger and eventually enter into the field of project management handling software development operations for a large multinational. Of course a lot of the ideas concerning boundaryless careers connect with the ideas given to us by the new economy where e-markets and e-businesses often have higher employee turnovers than other companies. However, this turnover allows employees of the same companies to find additional opportunities within the same market and even within the same region so little changes for them other than their place of work. This liquidity allows individuals to explore additional opportunities around them and thus break the traditional boundaries which were imposed on workers of an earlier generation (Arnold, 1997). Thus instead of growing with an organization, or getting promotions within a company, the modern worker seek career paths which are not dependent on location or the brand name of the company but are more connected with the industry they specialize in. As an individual grows with a boundaryless career s/he develops skills and abilities which are beyond those that may come from a bounded career. For example, interpersonal skills are developed when a person learns how to work with diversity; technical skills are developed when a person experiences similar projects in various companies. A person may also find that their mentoring skills are improving as they go from being mentored to mentoring others in different situations and positions (Collin, 2001). In many ways, the position of an employee is quite strong if the employee approaches the idea of working by keeping a boundaryless career in mind. It may seem that the loyalty of the employee is only towards him/herself with a boundaryless approach to the career but the reality is quite different. With a boundaryless career, the loyalty of a person is towards the profession whatever it may be (Arthur and Rousseau, 1996). With that approach, a person can develop as a better professional who is more competent that others simply because s/he is motivated to improve his/her own abilities while working for the company. In this manner, the career itself becomes a lifelong learning process which allows people to use the training and experience they get by working to accumulate knowledge (Arnold, 1997). Thus such individuals become knowledge workers and are respected professionals because they have tacit knowledge along with implicit skills as well as a high level of expertise in various positions in the same industry. More importantly, their past job situations, where they might have switched careers or positions within the same industry allow them to establish a social network which helps them tremendously as long as they stay within the same region or industry (Collin, 2001). In my own career as a manager, I have experienced working as a manager of a departmental store, a purchasing manager of a telecom company and have had a shot at running my own business of exporting electrical goods to Africa. Undoubtedly, my experience as a manager of a departmental store helped me understand what questions people can have about different electrical goods and my experience as a purchasing manager put me in touch with people who became quite useful when I was setting up my export business. Of course I did not know the technical term for what I was doing while I was utilizing my contacts and applying my previous experience to new positions but now that I know about the boundaryless career, I find myself in complete agreement with the concept. As per the information provided by Arthur and Rousseau (1996), the identity formation process depends a lot on a career a person has and those have boundaryless careers will identify with a broad category within their industry. In that sense, I feel that I am a manager first and foremost since I feel that it is a good career for me regardless of the industry or the company I choose to manage. In fact, choice becomes an essential part of having a boundaryless career since the career becomes a part of a person’s identity. While situational constraints may force a person to assume different and even lower positions than s/he was before switching a job, the identity of the person retains what was created in previous positions. With a boundaryless career, a person can create themselves to be whatever they wish to be. In many cases, they may have to conform to what the company they work for wants them to be but as individuals they can define their own roles in their careers (Arthur and Rousseau, 1996). Of course there have been careers which have always been more or less boundaryless such as a multitalented artist who can work as a musician, painter and sculpture creator in the art industry and there have been careers that are more or less bounded. For example, a pilot or a heart surgeon would find it difficult to apply their years of learning to a different field but as the job market becomes more diversified, it is entirely possible for a pilot with ten years of experience to become a flying instructor and thus essentially change his/her career to education. In conclusion, the idea of a boundaryless career is appealing indeed but I do not feel that it is easier or more financially reward than a bounded career. It is however, a new approach to looking at work and for many people it could be the path towards having a professional work life which appeals to them on both personal and financial levels. This is because the boundary less career gives independence and several opportunities for self-improvement that may not be present elsewhere. Word Count: 1,067 Works Cited Arnold, J. 1997, Managing Careers into the 21st Century, Paul Chapman Publishing. Arthur, M. and Rousseau, D. 1996, The Boundaryless Career: A New Employment Principle for a New Organizational Era, Oxford University Press. Collin, A. 2001, The Future Of Career, Cambridge University Press. Read More