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The aim of the paper is to present the causes and manifestations of the changed conditions of work for employees since the 1990s with a particular focus on the situation in Germany. These changes are characterized by a higher demand for expertise and a lower protection against life risks for employees. The paper seeks to address some of the issues surrounding this.

The desire to realize an individual concept of personal identity in work life is argued to be the main driving force of individual career development. It is set in relation to new normative guiding principles of employment (protean career model, boundaryless career model, employability construct).

Empirical studies support the importance of an individual work identity concept for individual career development. The political and, more importantly, the economic situation in Germany, Europe and other parts of the world has dramatically changed since 1989. The prospective demographic changes in Germany until 2050 and their effects on the job market are also considered.

The paper describes the underlying causes for the changes in the conditions of employment and how these are manifested in the conditions of work, and it also presents empirical findings about the individual coping with career changes.

Political skill is measured with the political skill inventory (PSI), and the construct is composed of four distinct dimensions. Previous validation studies of the PSI found evidence in support of the four‐factor structure, but only using self‐reports. Furthermore, no efforts have been made to also identify a single, higher‐order factor solution through second‐order factor analysis. The present research aims to expand on prior work and report on a two‐study investigation of both the construct validity and antecedents and consequences of the political skill construct.

To test construct validity, Study 1 combined self‐ and other reports of political skill from 467 employees in a confirmatory factor analysis. Study 2 used longitudinal data from 202 employees to constructively replicate Study 1 results and to test hypotheses regarding the antecedents and consequences of political skill.

The results of Study 1 confirmed both a four‐factor and a single higher‐order factor solution of the political skill construct, thus supporting our hypothesis. Study 2 constructively replicated the Study 1 factorial validity results, and supported hypotheses regarding the dispositional and developmental experience antecedents, career‐related consequences, and mediation of these antecedents and outcomes by political skill.

These two studies test the construct validity of political skill using both self‐ and other‐reports. Further, this is the first research to test the Ferris et al. conceptualization of political skill, by examining its antecedents, consequences, and mediation of the antecedents‐consequences relationships.

The purpose of this paper is to seek to predict increases in political skill, and more specifically networking ability, based on hierarchical position, time involvement, and the moderating effects of job incumbents’ age.

These hypotheses were tested in a panel design with hierarchical regression analyses over two years with 150 works councillors from Germany. Self-reported political skill, time involvement, and position were measured at time 1, and political skill was measured again two years later.

Works council members increase their political skill when they hold a higher position and have more time involvement. Further, councillors’ age was found to moderate these relationships. That is, older councillors develop political skill (specifically networking ability) at a higher rate than middle aged employees.

Future research should test the hypotheses in different populations and also include other ratings of political skill.

It might not always be necessary to have available relevant social skills for a new job already, as these skills can develop over time.

Political skill is a resource at the workplace with the potential to promote fairness, health, and well-being.

The present findings add a new perspective to interpersonal skill development: certain job demands moderated by age can change a job incumbent's social skills, particularly networking ability, over time and make her or him more capable of doing well. Thus, it is not always necessary to have available relevant social skills for a new job, as these relevant skills can developed within the context of the new job.

The purpose of this paper is to determine whether political skill is equally effective in its prediction of job performance for different job demands.

This paper uses self‐report sources of employee performance and self‐report of political skill after several weeks along with three ratings of target individuals' job demands.

Results support the hypothesis that Holland's enterprising category (i.e. because of its job demands and requisite job competencies to be effective) will moderate the relationship between political skill and job performance, demonstrating stronger predictability under high enterprising job demands.

The present results suggest that political skill is a better predictor of job performance under situations of high enterprising job demands than under conditions of low enterprising job demands. Furthermore, social and conventional job demands do not significantly moderate the political skill‐job performance relationships, implying that these job demands act as an important boundary condition.

Politically skilled individuals are more likely to succeed in environments (e.g. enterprising jobs) where they have the opportunity to exercise interpersonal influence, and where that interpersonal influence is directly related to their performance.

This paper makes several contributions to theory and practice in vocational achievement and political skill. Perhaps, most significant is the identification of job demands as a boundary condition in the political skill‐job performance relationship.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the role of protégé self‐presentation by self‐disclosure, modesty, and self‐monitoring in mentoring.

This study used three data sources (i.e. employees, peers, and mentors) and a longitudinal design over a period of two years.

Employee self‐disclosure and modesty at time 1 predicted an increase in mentoring received and mentoring given at time 2. Further, self‐monitoring moderated the modesty‐mentoring given relationship such that employees high in self‐monitoring had the strongest positive relationship between modesty at time 1 and mentoring given two years later. Also, modesty interacted with self‐monitoring at time 1 to influence the number of mentors involved with employees. That is, the modesty – number of mentors relationship was positive for those high in self‐monitoring, and negative for those low in self‐monitoring.

Employees can exercise influence over the amount and type of mentoring experiences they receive based on the style on interaction they utilize with potential mentors, with specific reference to self‐monitoring and the use of modesty.

It is modesty, and early career employees' ability to present it well, that will lead to positive affect (i.e. liking) and behavior (e.g. benevolence and generosity) by senior managers.

Investigates the role of protégé self‐presentation by self‐disclosure, modesty, and self‐monitoring in mentoring.