Exploring the Relationship Between Personality and Subjective Career Success

This study delves into the influential dynamics between the Big Five personality traits and subjective career success in the Ukrainian IT industry, offering a new perspective in career development research. Traditionally, career success research focused on human capital attributes and demographic factors, while dispositional factors such as personality remained underexplored. This research fills this gap, especially relevant in modern, non-linear organizational environments. The study engages IT professionals in Ukraine, using surveys to assess the relationship between their personality traits, based on the Big Five Inventory-2, and their subjective career success, measured through the Subjective Career Success Inventory. The analysis includes 150 complete responses from various demographics within the IT sector, ensuring a comprehensive examination of the dispositional factors influencing career success. Results reveal significant correlations between personality traits and career success perceptions. Extraversion demonstrates a substantial positive relationship with career success, aligning with the hypothesis that sociability, assertiveness, and enthusiasm are advantageous in professional settings. Agreeableness also shows a positive correlation, suggesting that cooperative and empathetic traits enhance career experiences and success perceptions. Conscientiousness is positively correlated with career success, emphasizing the importance of organization, diligence, and reliability in achieving career goals. Contrary to expectations, neuroticism exhibits a positive correlation with career success, indicating complex dynamics that might involve factors like increased career-driven motivation among neurotic individuals. Openness, with a modest but significant positive correlation, suggests that creativity and openness to new experiences hold value in the IT industry, albeit not as primary drivers of career success. The study's findings on the relationships between personality traits and various facets of career success offer deeper insights. Extraversion correlates positively with aspects like recognition, quality of work, and career satisfaction. Agreeableness positively influences the perception of meaningful work and authenticity. Conscientiousness strongly correlates with recognition and quality of work, while neuroticism shows a mixed relationship, impacting authenticity and work-life balance negatively. Openness, while showing a smaller effect, contributes positively to career growth opportunities and overall satisfaction. In summary, the study illuminates the crucial role of personality traits in shaping career success, particularly in the dynamic IT sector. It underscores the importance of social engagement, assertiveness, cooperation, organization, and creativity in professional development. The negative impact of neurotic traits highlights the need for supportive work environments and stress management strategies. These insights are invaluable for both individuals and organizations in understanding and fostering career success in the modern workplace.