A qualitative examination of calling in the context of job mobility among clergy

We examine the significance of a calling from God in an individual’s experience of seeking to move between jobs and the implications for career theory and career counselling practice. In-depth interview data from 31 ministers in the Church of England (C of E) demonstrate how they invoke, interpret and navigate calling when planning and attempting a job move. Calling was often prominent in participants’ accounts, but institutional practices were experienced as undermining calling and the customary ways in which it was discerned when engaged in moving on. A social constructivist method identified four significant themes in faith-based narratives of calling in relation to job mobility. Prospects for integrating the findings into career theory and counselling practice are discussed.