Email this article 
Hide
Show all
Original Research
Employability attributes and personality preferences of postgraduate business management students
Submitted: 01 August 2012 | Published: 10 May 2013
About the author(s)
Ingrid Potgieter, Department of Human Resource Management, University of South Africa, South AfricaMelinde Coetzee, Department of Industrial and Organisational Psychology, University of South Africa, South Africa
Abstract
Research purpose: The purpose of the study was to determine the relationship between employees’ employability attributes (as the Employability Attributes Scale measures them) and their personality preferences (as the Myers-Briggs Type indicator, Form M, measures them). Motivation for the study: There seems to be a paucity of information about how employees’ personality preferences relate to their employability attributes in South Africa’s multicultural organisational context.
Research design, approach and method: The authors conducted a quantitative survey. It involved a non-probability sample of 304 early career adults enrolled for an Honour’s degree in business management in an open distance learning higher education institution. They used correlational statistics and multiple regression analyses to analyse the data.
Main findings: The authors observed a number of significant relationships between the participants’ personality preferences and their employability attributes.
Practical/managerial implications: Career counsellors and human resource practitioners need to recognise how employees’ personality preferences influence their employability attributes in the management of their career development and employability.
Contribution/value add: The findings add to the existing career literature on the career metacompetencies that influence employees’ employability. They also provide valuable information that organisations can use for career development support and counselling practices in the contemporary world of work.
Keywords
Metrics
Total abstract views: 10968Total article views: 25411
Crossref Citations
1. Incorporating personality in user interface design: A review
Tomás Alves, Joana Natálio, Joana Henriques-Calado, Sandra Gama
Personality and Individual Differences vol: 155 first page: 109709 year: 2020
doi: 10.1016/j.paid.2019.109709
2. Navigating on the precursors of work readiness amongst students in Johannesburg, South Africa
Khensani Magagula, Eugine T. Maziriri, Musawenkosi D. Saurombe
SA Journal of Industrial Psychology vol: 46 year: 2020
doi: 10.4102/sajip.v46i0.1778
3. WITHDRAWN: College student employment data platform based on FPGA and machine learning
Xu Lin
Microprocessors and Microsystems first page: 103471 year: 2020
doi: 10.1016/j.micpro.2020.103471
4. Intrapreneurial Self-Capital, Kecerdasan Emosional dan Self-Perceived Employability pada Mahasiswa Tingkat Akhir
Fiqi Hariya Afshida, Cholichul Hadi
INSAN Jurnal Psikologi dan Kesehatan Mental vol: 6 issue: 1 first page: 70 year: 2021
doi: 10.20473/jpkm.V6I12021.70-78
5. The Relevance of Psychosocial Development in the Youth Employment Journey in South Africa
Errol Pillay, Paul Singh
Commonwealth Youth and Development vol: 22 issue: 2 year: 2025
doi: 10.25159/2663-6549/17784
6. The significance of employee biographics in explaining employability attributes
Jo-Anne Botha, Mariette Coetzee
South African Journal of Economic and Management Sciences vol: 20 issue: 1 year: 2017
doi: 10.4102/sajems.v20i1.1636
7. Personality type, eating behaviour and suicide risk in women in treatment for obesity
Maria do Desterro de Figueiredo, Stella Nabuco Nasser, Carina Bertoldi Franco, Christiane Bischof dos Santos, Cesar Luiz Boguszewski, Henrique Lacerda Suplicy, Adriane Maria Rodrigues, Rosana Bento Radominski
Eating and Weight Disorders - Studies on Anorexia, Bulimia and Obesity vol: 26 issue: 2 first page: 547 year: 2021
doi: 10.1007/s40519-020-00877-9
8. Empleabilidad y trabajo del profesorado universitario. Una revision del campo
Jimena Botero Sarassa, Erico Rentería Peréz
Athenea Digital. Revista de pensamiento e investigación social vol: 19 issue: 3 year: 2019
doi: 10.5565/rev/athenea.2140
9. Why is there a fallacious association between competence and wage employment among graduates in Ethiopia? The case of agro-food processing graduates
Melaku Mengistu Gebremeskel
Cogent Social Sciences vol: 11 issue: 1 year: 2025
doi: 10.1080/23311886.2025.2544058
10. Linkage between Students’ Skills and Employability: Moderating Influence of University Reputation
Hongyu Zhang, Asadullah Khaskheli, Syed Ali Raza, Amna Masood
Corporate Reputation Review vol: 27 issue: 4 first page: 229 year: 2024
doi: 10.1057/s41299-023-00169-9
11. Exploring the mediating effect of personality traits in the relationship between entrepreneurial intentions and academic performance among students
Smita Panda, Vasumathi Arumugam, Remya Lathabhavan
PLOS ONE vol: 18 issue: 11 first page: e0293305 year: 2023
doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0293305
12. Psychosocial employability attributes as predictors of staff satisfaction with retention factors
Melinde Coetzee, Rudolf M Oosthuizen, Elleen Stoltz
South African Journal of Psychology vol: 46 issue: 2 first page: 232 year: 2016
doi: 10.1177/0081246315595971
13. Burnout, employee engagement and self-perceived employability in the South African public sector
Rudolf M. Oosthuizen, Claude-Hélène Mayer, Ntombifuthi J. Zwane
SA Journal of Human Resource Management vol: 19 year: 2021
doi: 10.4102/sajhrm.v19i0.1340
14. Traits versus Grades—The Incremental Predictive Power of Positive Psychological Factors over Pre-Enrollment Achievement Measures on Academic Performance
Beatrix Séllei, Nóra Stumphauser, Roland Molontay
Applied Sciences vol: 11 issue: 4 first page: 1744 year: 2021
doi: 10.3390/app11041744
15. PENGARUH PSYCHOLOGICAL CAPITAL TERHADAP KESIAPAN KERJA PADA MAHASISWA MAGANG MERDEKA BELAJAR KAMPUS MERDEKA
Aulia’ Khoirun Nisa’
Jurnal Ilmu Psikologi dan Kesehatan (SIKONTAN) vol: 2 issue: 1 first page: 1 year: 2023
doi: 10.47353/sikontan.v2i1.1119
16. The Role of the Psychological Contract in the Relationship Between Career Adjustment Ability and the Perception of Employability
Vasfi Kahya
Mehmet Akif Ersoy Üniversitesi İktisadi ve İdari Bilimler Fakültesi Dergisi vol: 12 issue: 1 first page: 162 year: 2025
doi: 10.30798/makuiibf.1469170
17. Can business ethics-based education improve HR graduates’ employability, knowledge, skills, and competence?
Musaddag Elrayah
Journal of Education for Business vol: 96 issue: 8 first page: 522 year: 2021
doi: 10.1080/08832323.2021.1874255
18. The desired employability skills and work readiness of graduates: Evidence from the perspective of established and well-known employers of an emerging economy
Nazamul Hoque, Mahi Uddin, Afzal Ahmad, Abdullahil Mamun, Mohammad Nazim Uddin, Rashid Ahmed Chowdhury, Abu Hanifa Md Noman Alam
Industry and Higher Education vol: 37 issue: 5 first page: 716 year: 2023
doi: 10.1177/09504222221149850
19. The effect of Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL) on higher education graduates’ employability
Matthias Hennings, Robert van der Veen, Ying Zhu
Journal of Education and Work vol: 37 issue: 7-8 first page: 568 year: 2024
doi: 10.1080/13639080.2025.2487423
20. Well-being of first-year students: The role of study characteristics, strengths and deficits
Karina Mostert, Charlize Du Toit
SA Journal of Industrial Psychology vol: 50 year: 2024
doi: 10.4102/sajip.v50i0.2117