The purpose of this thesis was to gain a new understanding of the newcomer’s adaption process, from an organizational and an individual perspective, within the context of societal dynamics as they are seen in today’s society. This is based upon an observation that the labor market is changing. The effects of increasing job mobility and re-evaluation of work have led to a growing interest in career transition and newcomer adaption. However, our current understanding and approach to recruitment and the newcomer’s adaption process doesn’t seem to reflect these changes. The thesis refers these current societal dynamics to Anthony Giddens’ understanding of the late modern society, where the individualization and globalization effects the way we live our lives. This includes career related issues.

The thesis is constructed as an analytical perspective of the current understanding of the newcomer adaption process. Based on critical realism and through inductive theory analysis, organizational socialization literature and Socialization Resources Theory represents this current understanding. The current knowledge is valued as highly limited since it works upon the basis of the wishes and goals of the organization, where the individual’s autonomy and motivation aren’t in the center of attention. Therefore, this thesis includes Parkes’ and Schlossberg’s work within transition theory, to gain a further understanding of the individual’s perspective in this process. All theories are analyzed individually and compared. Because of their different paradigms the diverse understandings of the process are synthesized to gain a holistic and contextual understanding of the newcomer’s adaption process.

The synthesis results in a new theory: Newcomer Adaption Process (NAP) which is presented together with an illustration of the graphical model. This new understanding of the newcomer’s adaption process is based upon the recognition that an employment effect several aspects of the individual’s life, other than just the ones connected directly to the organization. The model provides a more realistic and practical overview for psychologist and consultants that work with coaching, HR-development and recruitment than the organizational socialization approach alone. This because is it gives an overview of the general aspects and processes connected to the transition into an organization, without undermining the individual’s autonomy or the role the organization plays within this process. The theory is presented and further discussed in the light of the dynamics of the society. Recommendations to further research are suggested.