Professional Position Positioned: The Interwoven Experience of Being a Young Adult and New at Work Analysed from a Relational Perspective of Age

Abstract

To gain an in-depth understanding of the position of being a young adult and new at work simultaneously, this study examines the doing of age in relation to others in the lives of young adults, rather than focusing on age as a category and/or developmental phase. The study focuses on being a young adult from a critical and relational perspective of age. Based on focus group interviews with young adults, mostly women, working in retail, the aim is to analyse the position of being a young adult while new at work through age-marked relationships. The results reveal how this position can be understood both in terms of security and insecurity. Security arises in the sense of opportunities for learning and leaving responsibilities to older and more experienced colleagues. Insecurity arises in the sense of being exposed to insecure employment, the risk of being allocated less challenging tasks and being judged for failures.