“Career by choice” or “career by chance”. The determinants of flexible professional biographies

The article is an attempt to summarise several editions of the qualitative research entitled “Social and individual consequences of non-standard forms of work”. Th e study was conducted in the Lubuskie district in 2008, 2011 and 2012 among people who worked on flexible terms at the time of the research. The research was intended to answer the question about the individual and social consequences of flexible forms of employment. Based on the analysis of the content of interviews it is possible to distinguish two types of careers: career by choice and career by chance. Career by choice is typical of those who do not feel time and financial pressure with regards to their labour market activities and can subjectively feel the freedom of decisions concerning creating their careers. Career by chance characterises those who accept any job on flexible terms mainly for financial reasons and due to their inability to find another employment.