Journal of Management Information Systems

Volume 16 Number 3 1999 pp. 219-240

Supervisor Support and Career Anchor Impact on the Career Satisfaction of the Entry-Level Information Systems Professional

Jiang, James J and Klein, Gary

ABSTRACT: Keeping satisfied information systems (IS) professionals at the entry level has become a difficult task for IS managers. Financial incentives have led to escalating costs without widespread improvement of the situation. To capitalize on nonfinancial rewards, organizations must understand the relationships between employees' internal desires, the environment fostered by the organization, and career satisfaction. This paper is a report on a study of 101 entry-level IS professionals. The data analysis indicates that IS professionals find more satisfaction with their career when supervisor support is prominent and an adequate range of opportunities that satisfy career desires exist within the organization.

Key words and phrases: career anchors, career satisfaction, MIS entry-level personnel, supervisor support