Graduate Experiences of Organizational Career Management

Describes career‐related experiences of over 1,000 graduates in the first few years of their careers in eight organizations, along with the perceptions of their bosses. Long‐term career prospects were an important factor in graduates′ decisions to join their organization, but the degree of importance varied substantially between organizations. Subsequent to joining, most graduates experienced low Career Clarity: that is, they found it difficult to identify short‐term and long‐term career possibilities in their organization. This eroded their organizational commitment. Graduates perceived a moderate amount of support from organizational systems for their career development, but also considerable barriers which they could not control. Their bosses had significantly more positive views of graduate career opportunities in the organization than the graduates. A case study of one organization illustrates some issues in managing graduate careers.