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In a socioeconomic context that is undergoing continuous change, career adaptability emerges as a central construct for understanding the employability of graduates. The purpose of this paper is twofold: first, to analyze intra-individual differences in career adaptability among graduates between the end of graduation (time 1) and integration into the labor market 18 months later (time 2); and second, to analyze the effect of career adaptability on graduates’ employment status 18 months after completing graduation.

A sample of 183 graduates in four different study fields (Economics, Engineering, Social Sciences and Humanities and Law) completed the Career Adapt-Abilities Scale at two different points in time: when they graduated and 18 months after graduation. To assess intra-individual differences over time and the effect of career adaptability on graduates’ employment status, a repeated measures design was used.

The obtained results confirmed a positive association of the four dimensions of career adaptability, with higher scores for the group of employed graduates, in the two measurement times. No statistical differences emerged within personal variables.

This study evidences the relation of career adaptability and employability and demonstrates that it is possible to identify those students who are more vulnerable in terms of career adaptability resources before university-to-work transition and, on this basis, to outline specific interventions to promote their employability.

By adopting a design with two repeated measures of career adaptability, this study offers new insights about the specific role of adaptability in a university-to-work transition period.

Success in the transition between the university and the labor market is an important indicator of the adaptation of newly graduates to the worker’s role in life. This study aims to describe the validity and reliability of the University-to-Work Success Scale based on its internal structure and relationship with measures of career success, protean career orientation and life satisfaction in newly Portuguese graduates.

Using an online protocol, responses were collected from 576 graduates for less than twelve months (74.1% women), aged between 20 and 64 years (M = 25.8, SD = 6.693). Instruments included a socio-demographic questionnaire and measures of transition success, career success and life satisfaction.

The internal structure of the scale was evaluated through exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses that supported a four-factor hierarchical structure with a good fit. The reliability of the factors evaluated by Cronbach’s Alpha was satisfactory. The scale consists of 29 items divided into four subscales (professional insertion and satisfaction, confidence in the future of career, income and financial independence and adaptation to work).

These results support the use of the scale as a valid and reliable measure to assess success in the transition between university and the labor market in newly Portuguese graduates.

This study is very important because this measure can serve as a basis for both preventive and corrective career interventions and policies. The preventive approach can help graduates in their transition to the labor market by promoting career resources. The corrective approach can include re-evaluating organizational integration practices after employment, with an emphasis on promoting gender equality.

The purpose of this paper is to develop a subjective multidimensional measure of early career success during university-to-work transition.

The construct of university-to-work success (UWS) was defined in terms of intrinsic and extrinsic career outcomes, and a three-stage study was conducted to create a new scale.

A preliminary set of items was developed and tested by judges. Results showed the items had good content validity. Factor analyses indicated a four-factor structure and a second-order model with subscales to assess: career insertion and satisfaction, confidence in career future, income and financial independence, and adaptation to work. Third, the authors sought to confirm the hypothesized model examining the comparative fit of the scale and two alternative models. Results showed that fits for both the first- and second-order models were acceptable.

The proposed model has sound psychometric qualities, although the validated version of the scale was not able to incorporate all constructs envisaged by the initial theoretical model. Results indicated some direction for further refinement.

The scale could be used as a tool for self-assessment or as an outcome measure to assess the efficacy of university-to-work programs in applied settings.

This study provides a useful single measure to assess early career success during the university-to-work transition, and might facilitate testing of causal models which could help identify factors relevant for successful transition.