Anyone interested in wielding the power of the Internet for career development may profit from learning more about Svetlana Khapova's research at the School of Business, Public Administration and Technology.
After completing her master's study at the North Caucasus State Technical University in economics and management of transportation, Khapova participated in a Global MBA program at Rotterdam Business School. This was followed by a short research position on e-government at the UT.
This Russian is currently working on e-support for careers, in particular, effectiveness of the support that people receive from the Internet to advance their careers. Her research assumes significant importance in light of ongoing discussions that the days of organizational careers are numbered. It is believed that organizations can no longer offer job security and structured hierarchical advancement to their employees. Khopova attributes this to today's `knowledge economy which demands flexibility and adaptability of organizations.' Subsequently, employment practices are undergoing dramatic changes and organizations are no longer able to provide life-long employment to employees. Creating an environment for learning and arming employees with new skills is now their primary concern, so that, if necessary, a foundation for employees' further employability is laid down. An increasing number of employees must shoulder the responsibility of career development themselves. However, this is easier said than done since not every individual is able to find the right job or determine a career path. The most common sources of seeking assistance in career development are colleagues, friends and spouses. The Internet is also becoming increasingly popular as a medium of career support.
Khapova conducted field experiments with two web-based career support systems offered throughout Europe: Change2IT and iCIS Community which offer various career counseling services like skill assessments, behaviorial preferences, career advice, e-learning, job-matching and online community.
Khapova says that she was surprised by several findings during this study. First, users made limited usage of the systems' integrated offer, `cherry picking' as it is called. Instead of availing the complete range of career support service, which was especially designed to provide the users with topnotch results, the users made only selective usage of the systems' functions. Unlike in conventional career counseling, where a career counselor persuades the client to take up a number of services, such as assessments of preferences, behavior or skills, online clients chose only what they believed relevant to them. Also, most users of the web-based career support systems displayed utmost interest in searching job vacancies databases, rather than seeking a better understanding of themselves and their professional interests, as they otherwise would with the help of the human career counselor.
Another important issue that came to light in this study, Khopova explains, is the way users perceived `human' services like career support on the Internet. Users do not easily trust the systems that collect data about their personalities and behavior. Khapova says users often think `How can a computer advise me on my personal career situation? I am not like others, my situation is unique!'
As for the future role of e-support, Khopova sums it up in a nutshell, `It is a matter of evolving existing technology to a more intelligent state. Researchers face the challenge of providing “human” e-support through the internet.'
Hometown: Stavropol, Russia
Languages: Russian, English
Favorite book: Père Goriot by Honoré de Balzac
Favorite music: Jzz
Favorite movie: Once upon a Time in America
Dream Destination: Japan
Best part of living in NL: New experiences
Worst part of living in NL: Being far a way from family
