The relationship between work and experience of competence

Due to the increasing unemployment rate, the probability that people will f ind jobs which harmonize with their personal characteristics keeps decreasi ng. With this in mind it can be assumed that job-induced changes in persona lity in the sense of the socialization hypothesis could increase. Competenc e is an important requirement for people to successfully master present and future work demands. One possibility to foster the development of competen ce is to design jobs that incorporate this potential into job tasks (Hacker , 1991; Bergmann, 1999). This study examines the influence of work and in p articular the influence of the design of job tasks on people's development of competence. The study used a correlational design. The sample consisted of 251 subjects capable of gainful employment, We collected data concerning the self-concept of professional competence. The data were analyzed using regression analysis. The results show that personal characteristics as well as the quality of the job / work can predict competence. A relationship to learning-relevant job characteristics can be shown, especially in the area of meta-cognitive knowledge and meta-cognitive control processes. Consider ing that it is assumed that ability to transfer is the principal factor det ermining the development of competence, the result is interesting since met a-cognitive skills and cognitive abilities are considered necessary prerequ isites for positive transfer.