The careers literature, like much of the literature in organizational behavior (Pfeffer, 1982), is dominated by a perspective that focuses on the individual or organization in isolation and argues either implicitly or explicitly from an efficiency-oriented or value or goal attainment perspective. Thus, individual career choices are presumed to reflect individual goals, needs, personality, or interests (Hall, 1976: Ch. 2), and the applications literature deriving from such a focus is oriented to self-assessment and self-discovery procedures to enhance individual career planning (Crites, 1973; Hall, 1976: Ch. 2; Strong, 1943). The organization's task is seen as one of defining the relevant abilities, which derive from the technical requirements of work, devising screening and selection systems to pick the most able applicants and then devising training programs, job rotation, and promotion ladders that motivate and retain as well as develop skills in the work force (Hall, 1976: Ch. 6; Schein, 1977; Schneider, 1976). The applicationsoriented literature developing from this perspective focuses both on the analysis of jobs in terms of skill requirements and task attributes (McCormick and Tiffin, 1974; Schneider, 1976: Ch. 2) and on screening procedures (e.g., Bray and Grant, 1966; Hall, 1976: Ch. 4), promotion and job rotation practices (Katz, 1982; Pelz and Andrews, 1966; Wellbank et al., 1978), and training and socialization efforts (e.g., Bass and Vaughan, 1966; Berlew and Hall, 1966; Morgan, Hall, and Martier, 1979; Van Maanen, 1982) to produce a motivated and skilled work force.

The purpose of this chapter is to propose an alternative perspective on understanding careers and career processes.