Book excerpt: The Routledge Companion to Career Studies is an in-depth reference for researchers, students, and practitioners looking for a comprehensive overview of the state of the art of career studies. Split into five parts, the volume looks at major areas of research within career studies and reflects on the latest developments in the areas of theory, empirical studies, and methodology. The book's five parts cover (1) major theoretical and methodological debates and approaches to studying careers; (2) careers as dynamic, ongoing processes covering such issues as time, shaping careers, career outcomes and patterns, and the forces shaping careers; (3) the local, national, and global context of careers, (4) implementing career research to design practical interventions in areas such as education, counseling, and national policy; and (5) a commentary on the current state of career scholarship and its future development as represented in this volume, by founding scholars in the field. This book will be a sourcebook for scholars studying careers, research students intending to take up the study of careers, and anyone – scholars and practitioners – with an interest not only in understanding careers, the factors shaping them and where they lead, but also in how this understanding might be used in practice.