Motivations, expectations and the development of career-capital In self-initiated expatriates

This study investigates current, past and future self initiated expatriate’s (SIE) as an increasingly important source of human capital. Through the use of a structured questionnaire, responses were collected from 309 individuals. This paper contributes to existing literature surrounding the topic of why SIE’s decide to move and what these individuals perceive as important within organizations. The results of the study reveal that SIE’s move abroad for different reasons, with adventure and career reasons reported as most frequent. With regards to employer branding, individuals who move for both career or adventure reasons value intrinsic factors, such as feeling accepted and feeling good at work. Careerists are found to value extrinsic factors such as promotion and job security, compared to adventurers who place more value on employer reputation, such as the quality and innovation of goods. Finally, in order to further understand how firms can retain SIE’s, three frequently reported reasons for repatriation are identified; personal development, social and bureaucratic reasons. Following the empirical research, the study is supported by the career capital theory in order to provide implications and recommendations for practitioners. Developing knowing-how career capital is particularly important in careerists. Developing knowing-whom career capital is considered important for both adventurer and careerist SIE’s. Finally, developing knowing- why career capital is closely linked to intrinsic factors and is considered important for all SIE’s, regardless of their reasons to move