Being an “outsider in”: skilled migrants' career strategies in local organizations

Purpose – Although the literature on the careers of skilled migrants is growing, relatively little is known about
their experiences inside host country organizations. This article is a replication and an extension of a study by
Zikic et al. (2010) on career challenges and coping strategies of skilled migrants. In contrast to the replicated
study, where the focus was on the unemployed pool of talented migrants, in this study, the authors look at the
career experiences of those who are already employed. Similar to the study of Zikic et al. (2010), the authors seek
to explore how migrants understand their careers and what approaches they use to enact career opportunities
from the perspective of “insiders” in local organizations.
Design/methodology/approach – The authors used a qualitative explorative approach. Based on 24 indepth interviews with highly qualified specialists, who were hired for positions in Luxembourg corresponding
to their professional profiles, the authors explore what challenges they face at the workplace and how they
tackle them.
Findings – This research not only replicates the study of Zikic et al. (2010) but also extends the authors’
knowledge of the careers of skilled migrants in the context of local organizations. By focusing on employed
skilled migrants, the authors open a “black box” of their career challenges and strategies and extend an earlier
career typology (Zikic et al., 2010) into what happens within local organizations. In particular, this study
identifies two major challenges that skilled migrants experience, namely, “trying to fit in” and “managing
career mismatch”. Then, it shows three unique strategies that skilled migrants use to manage their careers.
This allows us to cluster skilled migrants into three categories that the authors conceptualized, namely
“workhorses”, “career rebels” and “career conformists”.
Originality/value – This study contributes to the literature on the careers of skilled migrants by theorizing
the experiences of migrant careers after organizational entry. It also contributes to the talent management
literature by providing nuanced insights into the challenges, strategies and profiles that this global talent has.