9.1 Introduction

According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, an average person (as of 2010) can expect to live until he or she is about 78.5 years of age. Let’s say you start working a 40 hour a week job right out of college at age 22 and have the luxury of working until you’re 65, then you will have worked approximately 43 years. There are 52 weeks in a year, so let’s say you’re really lucky and only have to work 48 of them. If you work only an 8 hour shift (with 30 minutes for lunch), you’ll work approximately 1,800 hours per year or 77,400 over the course of your working career. At this rate, your work career will account for 11.33 percent of your life. And trust us, if you look at the numbers we’ve provided here, we are clearly low-balling our estimates. In reality, depending on the type of career choice you make, you could easily end up spending 15–20 percent of your life working.

Most individuals will not have a singular job. In fact, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, “the baby boom (1957–1964) held 11.3 jobs from age 18 to age 46.” For this reason, we spend a good chunk of our time being recruited by organizations, entering into new organizations, acclimating ourselves to new organizations, and eventually leaving organizations. This chapter is going to focus on the process of recruiting, socializing, and leaving organizations.

References:

Bureau of Labor Statistics. (2012, July 25). Number of jobs held, labor market activity, and earnings growth among the youngest baby boomers: Results from a longitudinal survey summary. Retrieved from: http://www.bls.gov/news.release/nlsoy.nr0.htm

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2010). Life expectancy. Retrieved from: http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/lifexpec.htm