Explanatory factors of professional reconversion: Proposal of a conceptual model[Les facteurs explicatifs de la reconversion professionnelle : Proposition d'un modèle conceptuel]

In recent years, career transition has become a favorite subject for many researchers who are trying to understand and explain why a worker changes job sector or activity, often without any relation to skills, expectations, or aspirations with the old job. Individuals are constantly looking for ways to improve their working conditions and quality of life, consequently they won't hesitate to open to new horizons if their job doesn't give them satisfaction or when they find themselves drawn in by new professional and biographical objectives. This article seeks to trace the different variables that explain professional career change, based on the literature evoking the question of professional reconversion. It will then develop a conceptual model to determine the causal relationship between these variables and the decision to change jobs and start a new career path. In this context, we have found a variety of factors that determine these professional transitions. They are linked mainly to personality traits such as aspirations, motivations, and personality, as well as organizational (intrinsic, extrinsic, or interpersonal elements) and demographic (age, gender, marital status, and human capital variables) elements. Based on our conceptual model, we will develop hypotheses that we will subsequently test in an empirical study to validate and confirm them. We are thus pursuing a positivist working method. We aim to explain natural phenomena in the field using a well-adapted scientific methodology. Our sample will comprise around 400 workers who have undergone or are attracted by a career transition experience. Based on the hypotheses we developed from the literature review, we have designed a relevant conceptual model explaining the relationship between several variables and career path change.