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 self-evaluations, 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.