The Effect of Personal Branding Factors on Generation Y Employability and Career Satisfaction: The Case of Croatia

Abstract

Personal branding as a concept is increasingly analysed in theory and practice, as it can significantly contribute to the development of young people’s careers after graduation. Generation Y’s importance and impact on the labour market is evidenced by the fact that Millennials are the generation with the highest education rate and soon they will make up the most of working population in the labour market. Accordingly, it is important to analyse the Generation Y’s personal branding concept and its impact on their career satisfaction. The aim of this paper is to investigate the relationship between Generation Y’s personal branding variables, perceived employability and career satisfaction. The concept of personal branding is analysed through three variables: strategic, technological and differentiation factors. For the analysis of direct and indirect relationships and the impact of one variable to another, structural equation modelling was used. The research results show that strategic factors of personal branding affect the construct of career satisfaction indirectly, through perceived employability. It means that an individual who acts strategically and focuses his activities on building and developing his professional image at the same time raises the level of his perceived employability and is more satisfied with his own career. In conclusion, the obtained research model can be used as a model for assessing development orientation, use of personal branding and career satisfaction.