Abstract
Human capital is a known predictor of objective career success. But this presupposes that careers are organized by ‘tournaments’ which have explicit rules. However, careers unfold in ambiguous contexts. In these contexts, success depends on the usage of human capital rather than its possession. To this end, individuals use a repertoire of cognitive schemas that can be described as ‘career worlds’. Previous research has identified and validated four scales, describing four ‘worlds’. The purpose of this paper is to test the influence of human capital on objective success (hypothesis 1), the influence of the four ‘worlds’ on objective success (hypothesis 2) and, finally, to assess the moderating power of these worlds on the influence of human capital on objective success (hypothesis 3). The data demonstrate, as hypothesized, that objective career success is predicted by human capital, but that this influence is moderated by the ‘career worlds.’ Examination of the worlds of those who succeed validates the conventional belief in the efficiency of the free labor market and fair competition among employees. Successful executives do not subscribe to the idea of a vocation and tailor their career path to the needs of the organization.
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