Career Shocks: Is Career Development Overrated?

Abstract: Previous studies on career development have primarily emphasized that individuals can achieve successful career growth through effective career management and career planning. However, the impact of contextual factors on career development became evident through the unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic, which extended beyond individual control and drastically impacted worldwide employment. Given that unforeseen events can potentially alter career paths, whether in positive or negative ways, at any life stage, it becomes imperative to investigate the nature and impact of these unforeseen events on career development. Addressing the need to explore the unexpected events outside an individual’s control-referred to as career shocks, this study aims to analyze scholarly articles that have examined the concept of career shock through a scoping review and a bibliometric analysis. As a result, 39 articles were included in the final analysis. The findings and discussions include an overview of career shock literature using bibliometric analysis, the current landscape of career shock research, and the research gaps that suggest potential directions for future research.