Training/Job Fit and Worker Satisfaction

Abstract

The importance of having a job different from the one for which one is trained was investigated. A measure of training/job fit was presented and its relationship to satisfaction was tested. Also assessed was whether training/job fit moderated the relationship between social properties of work environments and satisfaction. The data used were from a survey administered to 2,286 military personnel working in 3 7 different United States Army units. The respondents held a wide variety of jobs, and the units were geographically dispersed. Training/job fit was related to satisfaction. Individuals who had jobs which fit their training reported higher levels of satisfaction, however, the relationship accounted for less than 1% of the variance in satisfaction. More substantial differences resulted from the tests of the moderator effects. The explainable variance in satisfaction associated with peer behaviors and group process was substantially higher for individuals not working in jobs which fit their training than for those whose training fit their jobs.

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