Employability as a compass for career success: a time-lagged test of a causal model

This study aimed at verifying the causal assumptions of a recent employability model examining the associations of employability with different clusters of predictors, and with both subjective and objective career success as outcomes. Through a time-lagged research design, antecedent variables were assessed at time 1, employability at time 2 and career success at time 3. The initial sample included 1288 Italian employees. Among them, 680 participated to the second survey, and 600 to the third/last survey (attrition rate = 53.4%). Structural equation modelling analyses were implemented to examine associations between variables. Employability mediated the associations between core selfevaluations, proactive personality and educational level on one side, and subjective career success on the other side. In regards to objective career success, employability mediated the effects by core self-evaluations and proactive personality. Several implications for both research (i.e. employability and career success literature) and practice (individual- and organizational-level interventions) can be drawn.