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Self-employment is considered one of the responses to precarious employment, particularly among those who lost jobs during an economic crisis. Although starting a new business is widely available, operating new ventures remains challenging. This article aims to explore the premises of self-employment success, namely self-employment intention and proactive coping as crucial predictors of further performance.

The authors recruited participants among initially unemployed individuals who participated in the entrepreneurial program aimed at creating self-employment. Since entrepreneurs are expected to have specific personal characteristics important for performance, the authors assessed proactive coping as the key factor for self-employment intention.

The results depicted proactive coping as crucial in performing own ventures in the long run, which suggests that self-employment intention may change over time.

Proactive coping is particularly appropriate for self-employed at any stage of the entrepreneurial process because it maintains the intention to perform own business. Thus, the findings underline the need for proactive coping training for entrepreneurs, particularly those previously unemployed.

As the self-employment intention may differ in time, the importance of being proactive in operating small businesses increases.

Job search behavior is an important factor of an individual's career. In this study, proactive individuals' search for career opportunities during the transition from unemployment to employment is investigated. This investigation concentrates on the “in-between jobs” phase to better understand career transition. Proactive coping is a particularly important aspect of the transition from unemployment to work.

Using the career self-management model and proactive coping theory, this paper establishes a conceptual model and adopts path analysis to examine the model with a sample of 208 unemployed workers from Poland.

The results indicate both direct and indirect effects for proactive coping on job-seeking behavior. Unemployed job seekers, with greater proactive coping, intensify their job search behavior and increase their chances for re-employment.

Proactive coping is an important factor in career development. The findings of this study are a promising starting point for career self-development training for unemployed workers in transition.

Most of the training for the unemployed prepares them to react and adapt to ongoing circumstances. Our findings show the importance of being proactive during active coping with unemployment.