Most prior research on career mobility has focused on people changing jobs and organizations. We know little about processes involved in individuals changing occupations, although these changes cause high individual, organizational, and public costs. Moreover, occupations are increasingly acknowledged as important anchors in times of more boundaryless careers. The current study investigates the impact of early satisfaction with the trained occupation (VET satisfaction) on occupational change by analyzing 10-year longitudinal panel data gathered in Switzerland (N = 905). Results from regression analyses showed that VET satisfaction predicted occupational change up to ten years after graduation. VET satisfaction in turn was affected by work characteristics experienced during VET, and VET satisfaction mediated the relationship between work characteristics during VET and occupational change. Using a subsample (N = 464) for which data were available on jobs taken up after graduation, we showed that VET satisfaction explained occupational change over and above work satisfaction in jobs held after graduation, highlighting the formative role of early experience during VET. Our findings inform both theory and practice. To fully comprehend occupational change, established turnover models also need to reflect on early formative vocational experiences. Firms should pay attention to favorable work characteristics already during VET and adjust adverse conditions to reduce undesired occupational mobility.

先前有关职业流动性的大多数研究都集中在改变工作和组织的人们上。我们对个人改变职业所涉及的过程了解甚少，尽管这些改变会导致个人，组织和公共成本较高。此外，在越来越多的无边界职业中，职业越来越被认为是重要的支柱。本研究通过分析在瑞士收集的10年纵向面板数据调查了对受过训练的职业的早期满意度（VET满意度）对职业变化的影响（N = 905）。回归分析的结果表明，VET满意度可预测毕业后长达十年的职业变化。VET的满意度反过来又受VET期间经历的工作特征的影响，VET的满意度介导了VET期间的工作特征与职业变化之间的关系。使用子样本（N = 464），因为有关于毕业后从事的工作的数据，我们显示，职业教育与培训满意度解释了毕业后所从事工作的职业满意度以上的职业变化，突显了职业教育与培训早期经验的形成作用。我们的发现为理论和实践提供了参考。为了充分理解职业变化，既定的离职模型也需要反思早期的形成性职业经验。企业应在职业教育与培训期间就已经注意良好的工作特征，并调整不利条件以减少不良的职业流动性。