Nonstandard Career Trajectories and Their Various

Journal of Career Assessment
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Nonstandard Career Trajectories and Their Various Forms

Geneviève Fournier and Charles Bujold
Journal of Career Assessment 2005; 13; 415
DOI: 10.1177/1069072705277917
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Nonstandard Career Trajectories
and Their Various Forms
Geneviève Fournier
Charles Bujold
Université Laval, Québec, Canada
A sample of 124 participants (62 men, 62 women) was used in this qualitative
research study of people having experienced nonstandard work for the last 3 years.
Those participants were met for individual semistructured interviews of approxi-
mately 2 hours in length. On the basis of a content analysis with the use of the
NUD*IST analysis software, 4 trajectories and 14 subtrajectories were identified:
ascending (constant progression, final recovery, uncertain outcome), descending
(sudden drop, caught in a trap, long descent, noninsertion), interesting mainte-
nance (accepted job insecurity, project continuity, new project), and uninterest-
ing maintenance (bogged down, leitmotif, adapted, and 180 degrees). The
descending and uninteresting maintenance trajectories were predominant, com-
prising more than two thirds of the participants. Differences were found between
genders, age groups, and educational levels. The results are discussed with respect
to the scientific literature and to the differences that were observed.
Keywords: nonstandard work, career trajectories, qualitative research, gen-

der, age, education
The labor market and production systems are currently undergoing a pro-
found transformation. Particularly noteworthy in this transformation is the emer-
1
gence of a new model that is replacing the Trente Glorieuses economic devel-
opment model. One of the distinguishing tendencies of this new model is the
attempt to make all production factors more flexible in order to increase pro-
ductivity gains (Appelbaum & Batt, 1994; Benner, 2002; Giauque & Uebelhart,
1999). This tendency often leads to the creation of occasional and temporary jobs
providing workers with little stability and security. In fact, job security is increas-
ingly becoming a thing of the past (Collins & Watts, 1996; Hudson, 2002b). This
new reality is having a significant impact, in particular, on the individual behav-
2
ior of many workers and is profoundly modifying their career paths (Betcherman
We thank Dr. Chantale Beaucher for her invaluable help in processing and analyzing the data.
Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Geneviève Fournier, Département des fonde-
ments et pratiques en éducation, Faculté des sciences de l’éducation, Université Laval, Québec, QC, Canada
G1K 7P4; e-mail: genevieve.fournier@fse.ulaval.ca.
JOURNAL OF CAREER ASSESSMENT, Vol. 13 No. 4, November 2005 415–438

DOI: 10.1177/1069072705277917
© 2005 Sage Publications
415
416 JOURNAL OF CAREER ASSESSMENT / November 2005
& Lowe, 1997; Hudson, 2002a). As Osipow (1996) rightly observed, the current
context in the labor market means that people of all ages and education levels
enter and leave the market several times in their lives, voluntarily or otherwise. It
is difficult for many people to find and keep significant and economically viable
jobs that fulfill their aspirations and provide some job security (Bernhardt,
Morris, Handcock, & Scott, 2001; Fitzgerald & Betz, 1994; Osipow, 1996).
Other people’s career paths have clearly been interrupted (Farber, 2000;
Tremblay, 1994). Despite these persistent inequalities, work is still considered by
many people to be the main place where living conditions are improved and con-
tributes to people’s genuine participation in social life and their recognition as cit-
izens. Accordingly, work is much more than a source of financial independence.
It represents a social link that operates on the basis of reciprocal exchanges
(Paugam, 2000) and constitutes one of the foundations of social identity (Kraus,
1998; Paugam, 2000).
Using the changing individual and collective reality of work as its backdrop,
this article discusses the theoretical framework, methodology, and partial results
3
of a study of a group of 124 workers who were in a nonstandard work situation
for at least 3 years. In this article we describe the 4 career trajectories and 14 sub-
trajectories that emerged from the data analysis and draw out their main distinc-
tive characteristics. We then examine to what extent these career trajectories were
associated with the interviewed workers’ sociobiographic characteristics, namely,
gender, age, and educational level.
THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK
Labor Market and the Development of Nonstandard Work
Modernity was built on the promise of a generalized well-being that would be

the source of collective consensus and individual emancipation. It was during the
industrial revolution in the 19th century that work became the main regulator of
social order (Chalifour, 1997). During the 20th century, growing economic pros-
perity opened the door to stable salaries and allowed worker groups to have their
rights acknowledged, including the right to strike, unionize, have job security,
and so on. Salaried employment became the best response to the development
needs of companies and the well-being needs of workers (Burnay, 2002; Freiche
& LeBeaulaire, 2000). This response reached its peak during the Trente
Glorieuses (1945-1975), a period during which standard work and open-ended
4
contracts became the norm (Marchand, 1998). Personal and family life was gen-
erally organized around the regularity of salaried employment, which formed the
basis on which individual projects could be developed. In this context, compa-
nies were a major focal point in the establishment of social ties and integration,
associating occupations, status, and guaranteed income.

Fournier, Bujold / NONSTANDARD CAREER TRAJECTORIES 417
However, the crisis at the end of the 1970s heralded a profound upheaval in
this situation. In particular, this crisis called into question the idea of salaried
work as the standard and led to nonstandard work situations (part time, fixed-
term contracts, casual work, etc.). This in turn caused a break in the traditional
psychological contract between people and organizations. Indeed, the instability
of the salary link has disrupted the traditional pact that was characterized by
workers’ loyalty and allegiance in return for companies’ commitments to job and
income security and career progression (Arnowitz & Cutler, 1998; Boltanski &
Chiapello, 1999; Freiche & LeBeaulaire, 2000). As pointed out by Castel (1995),
it was when the civilization of work appeared to definitively acknowledge the
hegemony of the salaried worker class that the structure began to crack, putting
the age-old, popular obsession of living “from day to day” back on the agenda.
In fact, standard work is no longer the norm, and more and more authors are
putting forward the idea that the labor market is divided into the following three
segments: 40% are fortunate workers who have job security and career planning
possibilities; 30% are contractual workers who find themselves in relatively unsta-
ble situations; and 30% are marginalized workers who are unemployed or inca-
pable of gaining real independence through work (Collins & Watts, 1996).
Matte, Baldino, and Courchesne (1998) stated that, if the trend continues, the
proportion of nonstandard work will be greater than that of standard work by
2017. It now seems evident that the guideposts that once allowed people to plan
their careers and achieve job security primarily on the basis of personal choices
have started to erode. Consequently, the career paths of numerous people are
increasingly marked by periods of employment, nonemployment, work training,
and a string of not entirely predictable occupational statuses (Hudson, 2002a).
Irregular career paths force workers not only to abandon the idea of using a
career plan to deal with the ups and downs of the labor market but also to diver-
sify their adaptation strategies to deal with the uncertainty that is now part of
many career paths (Hall & Mirvis, 1995; Herzenberg, Alic, & Wial, 2000).
Multiple Effects of Recurring Nonstandard Work
Recurring nonstandard work has certain consequences on working life, occu-

pational identity, psychological well-being, and the other dimensions of workers’
lives. As concerns working life, the first consequence is that workers are now
being asked to be much more flexible and versatile. Indeed, workers are now
required to be more productive without being offered protection, income securi-
ty, or genuine occupational integration (Freiche & LeBeaulaire, 2000; Lapido &
Wilkinson, 2002). The second consequence concerns the fact that, as the possi-
bility of developing one’s potential and gaining social recognition decreases,
workers are progressively putting less and less into their work (Bercot, 1998).
More precisely, the uncertainty and absence of future possibilities can lead to the
erosion of one’s occupational identity, smother hopes for personal accomplish-
ment at work, and drain work of its meaning. The third consequence involves the

small place accorded to these workers within companies and groups, and its
corollary, a detachment from work organizations (Mankelow, 2002) and a feeling
of isolation and of belonging to a different social group: precarious workers (Le
Dantec, 1998). As concerns the psychological well-being of people with
nonstandard jobs, several studies have shown that the uncertainty of one’s day-to-
day life, the difficulty of planning even for the near future, and the impossibility
of developing medium-term work projects are sources of physical and psycho-
logical problems, such as general fatigue, back pain, aggressiveness, stress, self-
depreciation, discouragement, depression, and feelings of uselessness and pow-
erlessness (Bihr & Pfefferkorn, 2000; Wichert, 2002). With regard to the link
between nonstandard work and life outside of work, a large number of studies are
showing that workers faced with this situation can find it difficult to reconcile
their work, social, and family lives (Bihr & Pfefferkorn, 2000; Larson, Wilson, &
Beley, 1994; Nolan, 2002; Nolan, Wichert, & Burchell, 1999), to keep their
social networks (Gallie, Gershuny, & Vogler, 1994), and to build a personal and
family heritage (Fontan, 1995; Nolan, 2002). Finally, it would seem that as job
insecurity grows, so do the risk of family and social ruptures and the danger of
reduced sociability and living conditions (Paugam, 2000).
On the other hand, although recurring nonstandard work can have negative
consequences, some authors suggest that it can also be beneficial for people.
Among potential benefits, there is the possibility of increasing the time devoted
to life outside of work, especially family life (Malenfant, LaRue, Mercier, &
Vézina, 1999) as well as having more fulfilling tasks, diverse work experiences,
and opportunities to learn new things (Goldfinger, 1998). However, people who
have chosen this type of work are more likely to see the positive consequences of
intermittent work than are those who were forced to do so or those who have
never known standard work (Faure-Guichard, 1999).
In short, certain career paths, made up of a series of foreseeable and diverse
jobs, meet workers’ needs, motivations, and aspirations; they then become an
occasion to meet new challenges and develop one’s potential. However, other
career paths, likewise characterized by alternation between jobs of varying status,
unemployment, and inactivity, can lead people to or keep them in a pronounced
state of job insecurity and occupational dissatisfaction. Curiously, there is cur-
5
rently very little information about these forms of nonstandard career paths and
about the subjective way in which people perceive them. According to numerous
authors, studies are necessary to fill in these gaps so as to better understand the
new reality faced by many workers and the strategies that they adopt (Collins &
Watts, 1996; Hall & Mirvis, 1995; Osipow, 1996).
The objective of this study was to fill this gap, at least partially, by describing
the career trajectories and subtrajectories followed by workers who had held non-
standard jobs in the 3 years preceding this study. This description is based on the
different situations (jobs, work training, unemployment), the context (occupa-
tional, life) in which they occur, and the workers’ subjective interpretations. We
believe this approach helps us to better understand the process that leads some

people to a rich and fulfilling working life along a dynamic and varied path,
whereas it leads others to see these diverse work experiences as bitter, meaning-
less tests leading to precarious working and living conditions. This study is in
keeping with previous work by Young and colleagues (1996, cited in Bujold &
Gingras, 2000), for whom research into careers not only must take into account
the relationship between people and their context but also must be based on a
retrospective analysis of the events of participants’ lives and the meaning accord-
ed to these events.
METHODOLOGY
Sample
The sample consisted of 62 men (50%) and 62 women (50%). Approximately

a quarter of the participants was between 21 and 30 years old (n = 29, 23.3%) or
between 31 and 40 years old (n = 31, 25%), somewhat less than a third was 41 to
50 years old (n = 39, 31.5%), and a smaller proportion was between 51 and 60
6
years old (n = 25, 20.2%). With respect to educational level, a very small num-
ber of the participants had a primary school diploma (n = 4, 3.3%), a high pro-
portion had a general or technical secondary school diploma (n = 53, 42.7%), a
fifth had a general or technical college diploma (n =25, 20.2%), a quarter had a
bachelor’s degree (n = 31, 25%), and less than a tenth (n = 10, 8.1%) had a mas-
ter’s or PhD degree.
Approach
The participants, who were recruited in the Québec City region, were met for
individual semistructured interviews of approximately 2 hours in length. To be
eligible, the participants could not have had a permanent job in the 3 years pre-
ceding the study or have been out of the job market for more than 1 consecutive
year. They also had to have been unemployed or received work training during
the same 3 years.
Interview Protocol
The interview protocol was divided into four distinct parts. The first consisted
of a general overview of the significant events (personal and work) that had
marked the career path since the person entered the job market. The second part
focused on the very detailed examination of the career trajectory during the 3
years preceding the study. It was comprised of questions about objective data
related to the various employment, nonemployment, and training situations that

had marked the interviewees’ career trajectory and the subjective data concern-
ing these situations. The third part allowed the participants to look back on their
career trajectory and, finally, the fourth part explored a few socio-occupational
representations.
Analysis Procedure
The content analysis used here belongs to the interpretative current of educa-
tional research (Huberman & Miles, 1991). It is based on the six major steps pro-
posed by L’Écuyer (1990) and is described next:
Step 1. Preliminary Reading of Data and Identification

of Initial Analytical Directions
Fifty verbatims were read so we could become acquainted with the content
and bring to light the initial analytical directions needed to split the information
into various units and identify some major categories and recurring themes.
Step 2. Choice and Definition of the Classification Units
The raw data were then reorganized according to the analytical directions,
questions, and recurring themes identified in the preceding step. The data were
divided into more detailed subunits during this step.
Step 3. Statement Categorization and Classification Process
The statement categorization and classification process was conducted in

keeping with the four substages of L’Écuyer’s (1990) mixed model. During the
first substep, the statements were briefly grouped into the predetermined cate-
gories, that is, those that were the most closely related to the interview protocol.
Rereading the material then made it possible to make the predetermined cate-
gories more precise and create other meaningful categories. The first drafts of the
analysis grid were drawn up at this time based on the identified (predetermined
and emerging) categories. The second substep consisted essentially of reducing
the number of distinctive categories through the elimination of the redundant
ones and improving the analysis grid so that it reflected, as faithfully as possible,
the richness of the participants’ experiences. The third substep involved revising
the definitions of the final categories of the analysis grid and validating them with
approximately 10 interview protocols. In the fourth and final substep, all the
interviewees’ statements were classified using the final analysis grid, and the data
were entered using NUD*IST analysis software (Tesch, 1990). This software
made it possible to manage, classify, and organize a very large amount of inter-

view extracts, to establish the relationships between these extracts, and to deter-
mine the career trajectories and subtrajectories.
Step 4. Quantification and Statistical Processing
The quantitative data were integrated into the overall material and did not
undergo advanced statistical processing. Rather, a frequency analysis of the quan-
tifiable data was conducted and these data were used to support the qualitative
data.
Step 5. Scientific Description
The notes and comments written in NUD*IST in the form of electronic

memos were reread. Reports were then produced for each of the analysis grid cat-
egories. At the same time, compilation tables of certain variables were produced
from the software-organized data. These descriptive tables were particularly use-
ful for obtaining an overall view of the data in certain categories. They also made
it possible to pick out participants who gave the same type of answer for a given
category. In brief, the reports containing statements grouped by categories and
supported by original verbatim and compilation tables constituted the basic
material for the analyses conducted during the sixth and final step.
Step 6. Interpretation of the Results
The final step, the results interpretation, was conducted in the following three
distinct phases.
The first phase consisted of constructing the career trajectories and subtra-
jectories. The data of this first phase were analyzed with a limited participant
7
group (n = 66) that is slightly more than half of the total sample. After we read
and analyzed the raw data and the preceding step’s data several times, it became
obvious that certain variables made it possible to more clearly distinguish
between various career trajectories. These variables can be grouped into two
main categories. The first contains the objective variables, that is, those related
to the quantifiable data:
1. The length of the unemployment periods. The total length of the
unemployment periods was calculated in months and then com-
pared with the total trajectory length (36 months).
2. General working conditions. The status of the various jobs (e.g.,
seasonal) and the predictability of their sequence were taken into
account.
3. Number of events in the person’s career path since entering the
labor market and in the career trajectory of the preceding 3 years.

The number of jobs in the whole career path and during the tra-
jectory was useful in providing an overall view of the situation. For
example, certain people had only had a single job in their first 20
years in the labor market but had had several during the 3 years
preceding the study. Their career trajectory can only be understood
in light of earlier experiences.
The second of the two categories comprises the subjective variables, that is,
those that refer to the way in which the people reacted to the different events in
their career trajectory. They are briefly described in the following paragraphs:
1. Health, stress, and psychological well-being. Several participants
were faced with health problems during their career trajectory. For
example, certain people stated that they were mentally exhausted
after years of working in unstable, odd jobs. Others mentioned that
job stress had caused incapacitating physical problems, such as
severe migraines or sleep disorders. Still others reported having had
a relatively stressless and serene career trajectory.
2. Balance between the different aspects of life. In a context of job
insecurity, a balance between family, work, social, and leisure activ-
ities is not easy to conserve. We believed that it was useful to con-
sider the participants’ viewpoint concerning the possibilities of
maintaining balance between the various aspects of their lives and,
should the occasion arise, to understand which aspect was most
threatened by work.
3. Support network. The analysis of the workers’ statements led us to
observe that several participants were able to count on professional
help and the support of family and friends. Others either did not
have this possibility or did not feel the need.
4. Level of perceived occupational integration. Because these workers
held varied and even highly different jobs, several of them had
some difficulty in mastering a particular field of work with which
they could identify and in which they felt socially recognized.
Others succeeded more easily in feeling integrated in their field of
work.
5. Satisfaction with the career trajectory. Examining the workers’ sat-
isfaction with their career trajectory allowed us to better determine
the way in which they subjectively reacted to the different events in
this trajectory. The hypothesis here was that even when trajectories
were similar in terms of objective working conditions, people might
still differ in terms of their satisfaction with these trajectories.
6. General attitude concerning work. The meaning and importance
attached to work influence the choices and decisions that are made
during the career trajectory. For example, the main function of
work for some workers is to support themselves. For others, self-

fulfillment is the main function of work. This proved to be the cen-

tral variable for distinguishing between career trajectories and clar-
ifying their differences.
7. Adaptation strategies. When confronted with difficult career situa-
tions, not all participants react in the same way. For example, dur-
ing our analysis, we noted that certain participants were quite active
and used highly diversified strategies. Others were just as active but
had a tendency to tirelessly repeat the same strategies. Still
others were rather passive and expressed their powerlessness and
resignation.
8. Unfolding of the work project and perception of the future. The
way in which the participants’ work project took form, unfolded,
changed, or did not change helped us to distinguish between vari-
ous types of career trajectories. For instance, we noted that certain
workers did not have work projects and lived from day to day, that
others adapted their project to the opportunities before them, and,
finally, that still others said that their choices were based on a long-
term perspective.
At the end of this first phase of the results interpretation, the participants’
work experiences were grouped into four main types of career trajectories:
ascending, descending, interesting maintenance, and uninteresting mainte-
nance. Furthermore, a finer analysis made it possible to determine, for each
type of career trajectory, other similarities that helped to identify distinctive cat-
egories, that is, subtrajectories. Thus, in addition to the 4 career trajectories, 13
subtrajectories were identified during the first phase of the results interpretation.
The second phase consisted of classifying the participants in career trajectories
and subtrajectories.
Each of the 66 participants was classified in one of the 4 career trajectories and
13 subtrajectories. In each case, even though the study dealt specifically with the
career trajectory of the preceding 3 years, we considered, when classifying the
participants, their career and personal path from the time they entered the labor
market in order to better understand each person’s context. This approach was
likewise necessary to better understand the general tendency of each person’s
curve. Indeed, a person could present an “ascending” trajectory despite a rela-
tively uncertain employment situation because, in comparison to his or her
whole path, the last 3 years showed a sharp improvement in working conditions,
enabling the person to envisage numerous possibilities for occupational
development.
The third phase consisted of validating the classification, refining the typolo-
gy, and classifying the whole sample.
Each of the 66 protocols was classified once again. The classification was con-
ducted by two expert judges working independently. The judges discussed any
differences in classification so as to reach a consensus. These procedures made it

possible to refine the existing typology, to create two other subtrajectories, and to
merge two others. The same approach was taken by the two expert judges for 30
other protocols, which were chosen randomly. The typology was once again
refined although no other subtrajectories were created. As the typology had
reached the saturation point, the other 28 protocols were classified by one expert
judge.
RESULTS
The results presentation is divided into two parts. In the first, the 4 career tra-
jectories and 14 subtrajectories that emerged from the content analysis are pre-
sented. The second, which is shorter, compares the distribution of various par-
ticipants’ career trajectories based on gender, age, and educational level.
Career Trajectories and Subtrajectories
Ascending (n = 21, 16.9%)
In this trajectory, the working conditions of these participants were generally

observed to have undergone a constant progression characterized by a relatively
small number of events or changes. These people progressively improved their
situation by holding jobs that were more stable, better paying, or of a higher
socioeconomic level than their preceding jobs. Their periods of nonemployment
were short or even nonexistent. They proved to be dynamic in their adaptation
strategies, for example, by partaking in training courses so as to improve their
work situation. They drew satisfaction from their career trajectory, and when they
looked back on their last few years of work, they felt they had progressed.
These participants were under little or moderate stress, generally had high
well-being, and succeeded in maintaining a reasonable and sometimes very sat-
isfying balance between the various activities in their lives. They could also gen-
erally count on the support of family and social networks; however, the available
job support was moderate or even weak. Their attachment to their field of work
was high, as was their satisfaction with their career trajectory. They had a posi-
tive attitude regarding work, which was primarily perceived as a means of self-
fulfillment.
In sum, the occupational progression of the participants on this ascending tra-
jectory seemed to have a positive impact on their whole lives, and the participants
were optimistic about their future.
Constant progression (n = 10). Despite the job insecurity and obstacles

encountered on this subtrajectory, there was improvement in every case, and

although it was slow for some, it was always continuous. At the end of the 3-year
career trajectory, some of these participants took training courses in order to
improve their situation and were happy with their choices. These participants dis-
played a positive attitude toward work and believed that its main function was to
contribute to self-fulfillment. In short, these participants progressed as they went
from one job to the next. They were active in their choices and had the clear
impression of having a certain control over how their career trajectory unfolded.
Final recovery (n = 5). The career trajectory of participants who made up the
final recovery subtrajectory was difficult in the beginning but improved signifi-
cantly at the end. In some cases, there was a tangible improvement in terms of
job security. In other cases, however, there was the possibility that the situation
could potentially improve because of a decision to take an upgrading course in
their field of work.
Another element that these participants had in common was that they found
something positive in each of the situations, a fact that possibly contributed to the
final recovery noted in this subtrajectory.
Uncertain outcome (n = 6). This subtrajectory describes the slow but steady
progression in these people’s careers from their entry into the labor market.
These people have progressively improved their situations and clarified their
work interests enough to take specialized work training. Their position in the
labor market was then stable and the last job they had corresponded very well to
their interests and aspirations. At the end of the 3-year career trajectory, they
nonetheless had to radically redirect their careers because of physical health
problems directly related to their field of work. Even though the event provoked
an understandable disappointment, these participants were not destabilized and
were resolutely optimistic about their future working lives. They had found an
alternative solution, such as new training to maintain their trajectory’s ascending
slope. Despite the uncertainty of the outcome, everything seemed to indicate
that the ascending slope would be maintained.
Descending (n = 41, 33.1%)
The length of the nonemployment periods in this career trajectory was mod-
erately long and the number of work events and changes was relatively small.
However, the participants’ work situation was slowly degrading. They were under
considerable stress, their psychological well-being was affected, and a balance
between the participants’ various activities proved to be hard to attain. The career
trajectory of some of these participants was influenced by physical and/or psy-
chological health problems or by events in their personal or working lives (e.g.,
dismissal, work accidents, moving house, family responsibilities). Other people
had held a regular job for many years and the unforeseeable loss of this job led
to a series of occupational difficulties that they had a hard time overcoming.

Some of the more educated participants never obtained jobs equal to their qual-
ifications. Finally, a series of unfortunate work events at the end of this 3-year tra-
jectory left little room for a positive career outlook.
The people on this career trajectory had family and social support; however,
the job support they received was modest and even weak in certain cases. They
did not feel well integrated in occupational terms and were unsatisfied with their
situation, particularly from an economic viewpoint. In their opinion, the main
function of work was economic and their general attitude concerning work was
negative or at best ambiguous. Their adaptation strategies were repetitive and
ineffective. They could maintain or modify their work project in various ways,
but, in the short-term, it was vague and in the medium-term, rather idealized.
In brief, not only were the participants on this descending trajectory in a more
difficult, precarious, and uncertain situation at the end of the trajectory than at
beginning, but their reaction to this precariousness and instability was very
negative.
Sudden drop (n = 21). The sudden drop was the most impressive of the
descending subtrajectories. In this category, the subtrajectory and even the whole
path, which had both been relatively stable and well-established, were disrupted
by an unexpected event (e.g., dismissal, illness, accident) or by a change in a fam-
ily or romantic relationship (separation, moving house to follow a spouse). A par-
ticularity of this subtrajectory was that, most of the time, the drop was not pre-
dictable: it occurred unexpectedly and had a catastrophic effect on the lives of
the participants, who no longer had any reference points and had great difficulty
in overcoming this hardship.
Caught in a trap (n = 7). The people caught in the trap of job insecurity found
themselves in a whirlpool that dragged them toward the bottom and did not suc-
ceed in overcoming their problems. These people, for the most part women, had
a nervous breakdown. Some of them had chosen job insecurity in order to take
care of their children; however, when they wanted to return to the labor market,
things had become more complicated and they were unsuccessful in their
attempt.
Long descent (n = 10). For the participants on this subtrajectory, the last 3
years, and even their career path, showed a steady but unavoidable slide down
toward job insecurity. There was no single, sudden event that devastated their
working life but rather a series of situations that led to a degradation in the path
and trajectory. This resulted in the situation being increasingly unstable and the
participants being increasingly uncertain about which direction to follow. These
participants were never really in a stable situation. Their descending trajectory
had never been brilliant and, in this sense, they were much closer to the partici-
pants on the uninteresting maintenance trajectory.

Noninsertion (n = 3). This subtrajectory describes the situation of three par-

ticipants who did not succeed, despite their efforts, in finding work in a desired
field. In two cases, the people expressed a certain detachment about their occu-
pation (policeman and sexologist). One of the participants still hoped to return
to his field of work despite all the difficulties, whereas the other no longer saw
himself there. The three participants on this subtrajectory had been in the labor
market for a relatively short time. Their experience had been rather negative and
they were unsatisfied with their career trajectory.
Interesting Maintenance (n =18, 14.5%)
The interesting maintenance trajectory describes the experience of people

who generally had held, during the previous 3 years, relatively stable jobs. These
jobs were of approximately the same qualification level, had almost identical
working conditions (e.g., fixed-term contracts), were most often in their field of
study, and were seen as being rather interesting and satisfying. The sequence of
jobs, although it varied greatly over the years, was judged by these participants to
be satisfying and relatively enjoyable.
The job insecurity in this career trajectory was recurring, generally well
accepted, perhaps even predictable, and, in some cases, chosen. The participants
on this trajectory were not stress ridden, had an average to high level of psycho-
logical well-being, and had a family and social support network. Their level of
attachment to their field of work was average to high. They generally had a very
positive attitude toward work, which they saw as a way of both earning a living
and fulfilling themselves. Highly proactive in terms of adaptation strategies, they
were searching for a better job. Finally, whether they were striving to maintain
their work project or never had had one, they were optimistic about the future.
Despite the fact that some of the participants showed certain noteworthy char-
acteristics (creating an imbalance in other life activities by overinvesting in work,
seeing their occupation as being of secondary importance, making random
choices based on a short-term perspective), the interesting maintenance trajecto-
ry is definitely closer to the ascending trajectory than to the two others. Indeed,
even though these participants had to deal with precarious and, at times, unsat-
isfying situations, they accepted and remained more detached from bad situa-
tions and made the best of them.
Accepted job insecurity (n = 8). For various reasons, the people on this subtra-
jectory adapted to and accepted their job insecurity. Two of them were seasonal
workers who, even though they would have preferred a more stable job, saw pos-
itive aspects in their situation. Four others did not really have any roadmap for
their working lives and said they were ready to take almost any job. The absence
of short-, medium- and long-term projects did not disturb these participants. One

person decided to step out of the labor market to take care of her child; another
was obliged to do so because of sickness. The distinguishing characteristic of
these people was a certain detachment from work, which nonetheless was an
important part of their lives.
Project continuity (n = 5). Even though, at the end of the 3-year trajectory,
these participants did not have a stable job, they nonetheless had a positive and
optimistic outlook about their future working lives. They were confident about
achieving their short- and medium-term work project goals. There appeared to
be a main theme in their trajectory and even in their path, which would seem to
indicate that they had some control over the different events in their working life
rather than simply having to endure them. In short, these participants differed
from the others by the stability of their work projects and the perseverance and
determination they showed in pursuing the project goals.
New project (n = 5). This subtrajectory comprised five people whose career tra-
jectory was marked by occupationally satisfying situations from which they said
they drew something positive. These people were particularly committed to their
work. On the other hand, after various work experiences, they chose to formulate
a new project and to start a career in a completely new field of work. It was even
a question, in one case, of a life project. These people were optimistic about this
new career direction, which was perceived as a challenge rather than as a choice
that they had been forced to make because of repeated frustrations and setbacks
in the labor market.
Uninteresting Maintenance (n = 44, 35.5%)
For the people who represented the uninteresting maintenance trajectory,

their work situations, generally speaking, evolved neither upward nor downward
but were uninteresting and unsatisfying. The periods of unemployment in this
trajectory could be very long. Similar to the participants in the descending tra-
jectory, the participants in this trajectory were generally unsatisfied with their sit-
uation, wanted to improve it, but had not succeeded in doing so. Nonetheless,
whereas the descending trajectory was made up of participants whose situation
was progressively worsening, the uninteresting maintenance trajectory was made
up of participants who were able to maintain, sometimes with a great deal of
effort, their situation, however difficult it may have been.
The people on this career trajectory had experienced a considerable number
of events or occupational changes that had had a notable impact on their physi-
cal and psychological health and well-being. For some of these participants,
moreover, alcohol or drug problems had had repercussions on their working
lives. In other cases, their lives had been affected by personal events such as
divorce, separation, a death in the family, or depression or burnout.

Although the people on this trajectory had a very active family and social sup-
port network, the balance between their different activities appeared to be weak,
precarious, and unstable. They had a very negative perception of their integra-
tion in their field of work and even in the labor market, and they were not at all
satisfied with their career trajectory. Their general attitude toward work was neg-
ative. They believed that work had a primarily economic function, even though
it might provide a possible chance for self-fulfillment. Possessing few adaptation
strategies, they felt powerless to change their situation. Given the small number
of work projects that they had drawn up and the lack of precision in their short-
and medium-term projects, it is somewhat surprising that these participants
remained generally optimistic about their future. This was notably the case with
certain participants for whom the tough times of the last few years had prompt-
ed some serious thinking about the place of work in their lives and projects. Even
though their career trajectory was categorized as uninteresting maintenance,
these people had the impression that, at the end of the 3-year period, they were
heading toward something new and “more chosen” and remained confident
about their future.
However, the uninteresting maintenance trajectory was one of disappointment
for most of the participants, who aspired, despite everything, to a better future by
improving their situation.
Bogged down (n = 7). The characteristic that people on this subtrajectory

shared was that of constantly working in odd, unrelated, nonspecialized jobs.
The only reason they were working was to make just enough money to pay for
their activities. They had little motivation and were indifferent about work, even
if they were not very satisfied with their situation. They displayed a vague desire
to progress but had no precise projects or strategies to do so. Their comments
about work went along the lines of “we work to live, but we don’t live to work.”
In fact, they were drifting somewhat in the wind. Some of them had problems
with alcohol, drugs, or depression.
Leitmotif (n = 17). Contrary to the participants on the bogged-down subtra-

jectory, those of the leitmotif trajectory tried desperately to get out of their diffi-
cult situation but had not yet been successful. They had sometimes held jobs that
seemed on the verge of becoming more stable, but their satisfaction with these
jobs was rather weak. Although each improvement was inevitably followed by a
relapse, their situation was still less catastrophic than that of the bogged-down
participants. Some of these participants were rather pessimistic. Others had con-
sulted doctors or psychiatrists to overcome their problems.
Adapted (n = 9). The distinguishing characteristic of the participants on this

subtrajectory was their ability to adapt to their precarious situation. They were
not necessarily happy with their situation, but they had learned to live with it.

Their comments might lead one to believe that they had chosen their situation.
Whom they knew and worked with seemed to be quite important to them. Some
of these people were in transition at the end of their career trajectory and were
making a concrete effort to have more control over how their future would
unfold.
180 degrees (n =11). After having vainly attempted to make their mark in their
field, the people of the 180 degrees subtrajectory chose to make a complete
change of direction and to start over again from scratch. Whereas before they had
held survival jobs, they were now putting a great deal of hope in their new career.
Although their attitude toward this new start and the inherent possibilities was
positive, these participants were somewhat bitter about the past few years. This
subtrajectory differed from the leitmotif subtrajectory mainly in that these partic-
ipants had made an about-face and chosen a completely different field of work
from what they had previously been doing.
A Few Comparisons
Comparing the participants for each of the variables considered in the career
trajectories would go beyond the scope of this article. Nonetheless, Table 1 pro-
vides an overall view of the participants’ distribution in the career trajectories
based on gender, age, and education level. The descending and uninteresting
maintenance trajectories were predominant, comprising more than two thirds of
the participants. Whereas there was an equal proportion of men and women on
the uninteresting maintenance trajectory, there were twice as many women as
men on the interesting maintenance trajectory. There were also more women
than men on the ascending trajectory, and also less women on the descending
trajectory.
An analysis of the data according to age revealed that a relatively sizeable pro-
portion (41.4%) of the participants from 21 to 30 years old belonged to the unin-
teresting maintenance trajectory. Seventy-one percent of the participants from 31
to 40 years old were split equally (35.5%) between the descending and uninter-
esting maintenance trajectories. There was a similar distribution of the 41- to 50-
year-old participants. As for the 51- to 60-year-old participants, nearly half of them
were on the descending trajectory.
Finally, of the 53 participants who had a general or technical secondary school
diploma and who accounted for nearly 43% of the sample, 37.7% of them were
on the descending trajectory and the same number were on the uninteresting
maintenance trajectory. The participants of the other educational levels were
also, for the most part, on these two career trajectories, with the exception, how-
ever, of those who had a master’s degree or a PhD: This latter group was relatively
less numerous on the uninteresting maintenance trajectory.

Table 1
Distribution of Participants in their Career Trajectory
According to Gender, Age, and Educational Level
Sociodemographic Variable Ascending Descending Interesting Maintenance Uninteresting Maintenance Total

Gender
Men 9 (14.5) 25 (40.3) 6 (9.7) 22 (35.5) 62 (100)
Women 12 (19.4) 16 (25.8) 12 (19.3) 22 (35.5) 62 (100)
Total 21 (16.9) 41 (33.1) 18 (14.5) 44 (35.5) 124 (100)
Age
21-30 years old 8 (27.6) 4 (13.8) 5 (17.2) 12 (41.4) 29 (100)
31-40 years old 6 (19.3) 11 (35.5) 3 (9.7) 11 (35.5) 31 (100)
41-50 years old 5 (12.8) 14 (35.9) 5 (12.8) 15 (38.5) 39 (100)
51-60 years old 2 (8) 12 (48) 5 (20) 6 (24) 25 (100)
Education level
Primary school 0 2 (50) 0 2 (50) 4 (100)
General and technical
secondary school 8 (15.1) 20 (37.7) 5 (9.5) 20 (37.7) 53 (100)
General or technical college 4 (16) 7 (28) 5 (20) 9 (36) 25 (100)

University, bachelor’s degree 7 (22.6) 8 (25.8) 5 (16.1) 11 (35.5) 31 (100)
University, master’s degree or PhD 2 (20) 4 (40) 2 (20) 2 (20) 10 (100)
Note. Values are number (%).
431
DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION
The results presented in this article show that repeatedly holding nonstandard
jobs did not systematically lead to disqualification or job insecurity, nor did it nec-
essarily constitute, from the participants’ viewpoint, a dead end or a trap. Indeed,
almost a third (31.4%) of the sample considered that nonstandard work allowed
them to surpass themselves, to experience things that they would not have known
in a permanent job, and to take advantage of their nonworking periods to spend
more time with their families and on work training activities. For some of these
participants, for whom their situation was chosen rather than imposed, nonstan-
dard work allowed them to carry out significant projects in other areas of their
lives. Finally, although several of these participants emphasized that they wanted
to improve their general working conditions, in particular their revenues, most of
them mentioned that they had a certain control over their working life despite
the nonstandard status of their jobs and that this control allowed them to choose
the direction of their lives. For these participants, the relationship with work
seemed rather positive.
Nonetheless, in agreement with the scientific literature (Burchell, Lapido, &
Wilkinson, 2002; Hudson, 2002a, 2002b; Osipow, 1996; Paugam, 2002; Peterson
& Cortez Gonzalez, 2002), recurring nonstandard work was rather detrimental
for the majority of the workers in our sample (68.6%). Some of these workers,
who held jobs for which they were clearly overqualified, considered that their
qualifications were not recognized, which in turn considerably hindered their
construction of a positive work identity. Others remained in relatively stable jobs
that were sometimes even well paid but which they found uninteresting. For oth-
ers, each improvement in their condition was followed by a relapse that gave
them the impression of having to continuously start over again. Several partici-
pants likewise mentioned that they were tired of having to prove themselves, of
never having anything that they could count on, and of depending on the good-
will of employers. Most of them said that their work situation caused them con-
siderable stress, particularly because of the uncertainty of the short- and medium-
term future and, for some, their immediate survival. Finally, the vast majority of
these participants stated that they found their work situation to be difficult, so
much so that they sometimes emotionally withdrew from it. For others, however,
this difficult situation prompted an overinvestment in work, in the hope of one
day fulfilling themselves. Thus, from the point of view of these participants,
repeatedly holding nonstandard jobs represented a disqualifying situation in
many respects and led to a rather negative relationship with work: Their chances
for fulfillment were not very frequent, their occupational identity was under-
mined, their life outside of work was destabilized, and the career trajectory of sev-
eral of them was dominated by an impression of failure or powerlessness. For
these people, nonstandard work was synonymous with job insecurity.

The results presented here likewise provide a few indications about the popu-
lations that were most affected by recurring nonstandard work. The men seemed
to be more negatively affected than the women by their career trajectory. There
were noticeably more men on the descending trajectory (men 40.3% vs. women
25.8%). Of the trajectories presented here, this one was possibly of the most con-
cern because it was characterized by a considerable and relatively quick decline
in the participants’ working and living conditions. Several aspects of the lives of
the people in this situation were affected. Indeed, these participants often found
themselves in an impasse as their work experience provided little in the way of
building a positive or, at the very least, coherent self-image of themselves. In the
same vein, there were two times less men than women on the interesting main-
tenance trajectory (9.7% vs. 19.3%), which was characterized by a certain free-
dom of action and choice as well as confidence about the possibility of occupa-
tional progression. This second data pair is coherent with the first pair and shows
just how hard the men found it to be without stable employment. These two data
pairs likewise seem to indicate that work remained a fundamental value of mas-
culine identity and that investment in other activities could not easily compen-
sate for a lack of satisfying work and the resulting loss of self-esteem. Similarly, it
is possible that women, for whom work is also an important identity-building
source, more easily accept looking outside of their work activities for sources of
gratification, as suggested by some researchers (Cassirer, 2003; Spain, Bédard, &
Paiement, 2002).
The data collected here indicate that age was another distinguishing charac-
teristic among the workers. For example, the youngest people in the sample (21-
30 years old) seemed, to a certain extent, to live more easily with their unstable
work situation. Indeed, there were considerably more young people on the
ascending trajectory (27.6% vs. 19.3%, 12.8%, 8%) and almost three times less on
the descending trajectory (13.8% vs. 35.5%, 35.9%, 48%). One possible explana-
tion for this last result is that, because these young people had been in the labor
market for less time than their elders, the chances of having been on a descend-
ing slope were greatly reduced. On the other hand, the fact that the occupation-
al progression of a quarter of the young people was relatively substantial can
probably be understood by the fact that the younger generations, unlike those
that preceded them, have never really known job security. In this sense, it is pos-
sible that they were better equipped because they knew, from the outset, the rules
of the game for dealing with the ups and downs of the market and their employ-
ment situation. However, the youngest workers in this sample were also strongly
represented in the uninteresting maintenance trajectory, even though the dis-
tinction was less clear with respect to the other age groups (41.4% vs. 35.5%,
38.5%, 24%). This last comparison, in combination with the preceding two,
would seem to indicate that there was a certain polarization among the youngest
participants in our sample: Either they had a tendency to start their working life
by progressing slowly but surely, or they had a tendency to stagnate and get

bogged down in unrewarding jobs, which in turn kept them from developing
their independence, affirming their work identity, and starting life projects in
keeping with their age, as it has been observed elsewhere (Fournier & Bourassa,
2002).
Our results also show that the older participants (51-60 years old) differed from
the rest of the sample in at least one career trajectory. Indeed, they were signifi-
cantly more numerous on the interesting maintenance trajectory (20% vs. 17.2%,
9.7%, 12.8%), particularly when compared with the two middle groups, that is,
the 31- to 40- and the 41- to 50-year-olds. These results also suggest that age and
experience can sometimes help protect against difficult working conditions and
the increased skill requirements of employees. On the other hand, this age group
was likewise strongly represented in the descending trajectory (48% vs. 13.8%,
35.5%, 35.9%), which in itself is disturbing if the data are analyzed in light of
classic theories of career development (Bujold & Gingras, 2000; Riverin-Simard,
1984). Indeed, these theories propose that adults who are 50 and over progres-
sively prepare their retirement, redefine their occupational goals, and search for
new means of self-fulfillment and social participation. These workers are thus
confronted at the end of their career with a dramatic drop in their working and
living conditions that seriously jeopardizes their retirement possibilities and the
development of significant projects outside of work, as Couch (1998) showed.
Finally, the participants from 31 to 40 and 41 to 50 years old were distributed
approximately the same way in their career trajectories, being close to the sam-
ple mean. Accordingly, there was a greater proportion of them on the descend-
ing and uninteresting maintenance trajectories.
In keeping with the scientific literature (Dupray, 2000; Merson, 1996), the
educational level seemed to constitute, at least to a certain extent, a protection
factor against job and life precariousness. Accordingly, the four participants who
only completed primary school all belonged to the most difficult trajectories,
namely descending and uninteresting maintenance. As for the participants with
a secondary school education, they were more likely than the others, with the
exception of four participants from the master’s and PhD level, to be on the
descending trajectory (37.7% vs. 28%, 25.8%, 40%) and approximately two times
less likely to belong to the interesting maintenance trajectory (9.5% vs. 20.5%,
16.1%, 20%). Conversely, there was a greater proportion of more educated par-
ticipants, particularly those with a university education, on the ascending trajec-
tory (22.6% and 20% vs. 15.1% and 16%), even though these differences are rel-
atively small.
On the other hand, there was no notable difference observed in the uninter-
esting maintenance trajectory according to whether the participants had a sec-
ondary school (37.7%), college (36%), or bachelor’s (35.5%) degree. Finally, the
10 most educated participants, those who had a master’s degree or a PhD, were
equally distributed in the career trajectories by groups of 2, with the exception of
the descending trajectory, where there were 4 participants. The differences in dis-
tribution as a function of education level are not as clear as they are for the other

two variables. These results would seem to indicate that even though a diploma
is still considered to shield people from unemployment and labor market insta-
bility, it no longer guarantees a rich and satisfying working life.
The career trajectories and subtrajectories presented here bear witness to the
complexity and diversity of the work situations in which an increasing number of
workers are finding themselves. Our findings likewise demonstrate the impor-
tance of taking into account the subjective experience of participants when ana-
lyzing these situations. Systematically associating nonstandard work with job
insecurity would seem to be overly simplistic and to ignore some of the facts of
the participants’ situations. Nonetheless, these results also very clearly indicate
that a high proportion of the workers were profoundly affected by their unstable
employment situation, which engendered lower self-esteem, suffering, occupa-
tional and social disqualification, and a deterioration of their general living con-
ditions. Finally, certain groups seemed to be more vulnerable to recurring non-
standard work. This was particularly the case with the men we interviewed.
Likewise, those who were in the middle of their work lives, the participants from
31 to 50 years old, were more sharply concentrated in the two most difficult
career trajectories. On the other hand, the fact of being young (21-30 years old)
seemed to protect, to a certain extent, these workers from job insecurity because
they were most likely to belong to the most satisfying career trajectories. Finally,
even though people with university degrees seemed to more easily accept their
career trajectory, their advantages with respect to the other two groups appeared
to be rather moderate. Indeed, our results indicate that they were proportionate-
ly as numerous as the other participants on the uninteresting maintenance tra-
jectory and as numerous, if not more so, as the college diploma participants on
the descending trajectory. Accordingly, although a university degree seemed to
offer some protection against unemployment and socio-occupational exclusion,
it no longer seemed to guarantee a rich and satisfying working life in a labor mar-
ket where work conditions have greatly deteriorated.
NOTES
1. The 30 years of postwar economic growth from 1945 to 1975.

2. In this article, the term path refers to the working life of people in general, including the par-
ticipants of the study reported here. The term trajectory refers to the 3 years which, in the partici-
pants’ working life, preceded this study.
3. Research funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada
(SSHRC).
4. Open-ended contract as opposed to a fixed-term contract.
5. As opposed to traditional “standard” career paths founded on the stability of the employment
relationship with an organization.
6. Information was lacking about the educational level of one of the participants.
7. This sample consisted of an equal number of men (n = 33) and women (n = 33), with a rel-
atively equivalent distribution of participants according to age and educational level.

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Journal of Career Assessment

Nonstandard Career Trajectories and Their Various Forms

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Citations (this article cites 12 articles hosted on the

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Keywords: nonstandard work, career trajectories, qualitative research, gen-

JOURNAL OF CAREER ASSESSMENT, Vol. 13 No. 4, November 2005 415–438

Labor Market and the Development of Nonstandard Work

Modernity was built on the promise of a generalized well-being that would be

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Multiple Effects of Recurring Nonstandard Work

Recurring nonstandard work has certain consequences on working life, occu-

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The sample consisted of 62 men (50%) and 62 women (50%). Approximately

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Step 1. Preliminary Reading of Data and Identification

Step 2. Choice and Definition of the Classification Units

Step 3. Statement Categorization and Classification Process

The statement categorization and classification process was conducted in

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Step 4. Quantification and Statistical Processing

Step 5. Scientific Description

The notes and comments written in NUD*IST in the form of electronic

Step 6. Interpretation of the Results

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fulfillment is the main function of work. This proved to be the cen-

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Career Trajectories and Subtrajectories

Ascending (n = 21, 16.9%)

In this trajectory, the working conditions of these participants were generally

Constant progression (n = 10). Despite the job insecurity and obstacles

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Descending (n = 41, 33.1%)

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Noninsertion (n = 3). This subtrajectory describes the situation of three par-

Interesting Maintenance (n =18, 14.5%)

The interesting maintenance trajectory describes the experience of people

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Uninteresting Maintenance (n = 44, 35.5%)

For the people who represented the uninteresting maintenance trajectory,

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Bogged down (n = 7). The characteristic that people on this subtrajectory

Leitmotif (n = 17). Contrary to the participants on the bogged-down subtra-

Adapted (n = 9). The distinguishing characteristic of the participants on this

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Sociodemographic Variable Ascending Descending Interesting Maintenance Uninteresting Maintenance Total

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Note. Values are number (%).

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION

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1. The 30 years of postwar economic growth from 1945 to 1975.

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