Personnel Psychology and Security The Influence of Person-Job Fit on the Associations of Individual Employability, Work Ability, and Career Adaptation of Soldiers in Nigeria

Abstract

The personnel selection based on ethnoreligious factors, with the readoption of Fulani herders, bandits, and unknown shooters into the defense organization, has challenged Nigerian troops’ perceived individual employability, perceived work ability, and fit between person and vocation. Also, these have made personnel career adaptability a severe challenge for Nigerian soldiers. We examined person-job fit as a moderator in the associations of perceived individual employability, perceived work ability, and career adaptability. Two hundred and fifty-two Nigerian military personnel between eighteen and sixty years of age (M = 39; SD = .964) participated in the study. Through purposeful and convenient sampling techniques, we collected data using the Career Adapt-Abilities Scale, the Self-Perceived Individual Employability Scale, the Perceived Work Ability Scale, and the Person-Job-Fit Scale. Our findings showed that individual employability, perceived work ability, and person-job fit significantly predict military personnel’s career adaptation. Person-job fit moderated the association of perceived individual employability and military career adaptation. However, it did not influence the association between perceived work ability and military career adaptation. Our study showed that person-job fit, individual employability with work ability, and career adaptation are prerequisites for enlistment, deployment for combat, and well-being after combat experiences. Practical implications are that the insecurity challenges in Nigeria would have been mitigated if defense organizations had selected enlisted personnel for military work and deployment based on work ability, employability, and person-job fit so that they could quickly adapt to their careers and fight these insecurity challenges. Also, our study suggests that educational qualifications are not essential for military enlistment and deployment. We highlighted our study’s limitations and suggested further work on the topic.