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Successful identity development (Erikson, 1968) is considered important in the fast changing societies of the globalized world. Finding your “niche” in society through occupational choice is one of the major developmental tasks in emerging adulthood (Arnett, 2000). Vocational identity specifically refers to the cognitive processes that are involved in relating self to work (Vondracek & Skorikov, 1997). In Iceland young people tend to drop out of upper secondary and tertiary education in higher proportions than elsewhere (Kristjana Stella Blondal et al., 2010). Lack of school engagement (Kristjana Stella Blondal & Sigrun Aðalbjarnardottir, 2012) has been shown to influence dropping out of school. Youth in general are also indecisive in their career choices (Abrams et al., 2013) and do not carefully consider the many educational options (Svanhildur Svavarsdottir, 2010). Problems surrounding career choice are possibly an indicator of poor vocational identity development. The purpose of this study is to start exploring the content of vocational identity of emerging adults in Iceland, focusing on the possible conflict between globalization and local culture (Hannerz, 1996; Jensen et al., 2011; McAdams & Cox, 2010). Vocational identity is an important construct in career development theories but its content still needs considerable research (Porfeli et al., 2013). A first step in understanding how Icelandic youth develop identities is using a narrative approach to allow full expression of their thoughts and ideas concerning issues and problems in relation to education and the labor market (McAdams & Pals, 2006). Narrative approaches have been increasingly applied in career development (Hartung, 2013) and are based on multiple theoretical views and strategies. We decided to apply McAdams’ (1993, 2015) life story approach designed to explore narrative identity to decode the content of vocational identity. Four 22 year old women and two men were interviewed. The semi-standardized interview included McAdams’ life story approach (1993). The participants were asked to give an account of events they saw as high points, low points and turning points in their lives. They were asked to consider whether any of those events might have influenced their career choice. Participants were selected from a random sample of high school students in a longitudinal study of interests, personality and life goals (Katrin Osk Eyjolfsdottir, 2012) for maximum variation (Creswell, 2007). Four of the participants are still in upper secondary school (gymnasium) and two attend university. All have part-time jobs alongside their studies, the majority are partnered and four have started independent living away from their families. The interviews were analyzed based on grounded theory approach using constant comparison (Charmaz, 2006). The results center around two main themes. The first theme captures the influence of globalization on their worldview in relation to their careers. A changed world was the first of four subthemes that emerged. Technology and transportation has transformed and brought the world closer but made it more complex. Horizons have been widened and it is hard to localize oneself in the world. More education is needed than before but it is difficult to make choices from the variety of educational options because the world changes fast. This results in simultaneously feeling overwhelmed or intimidated by the big ever-changing world and having at your fingertips a world full of opportunities. The second theme reflects the influence of local culture and society apparent in their common career stories. A good worker is a clear subtheme; they consider themselves and their family members hard workers with important qualities for the job market such as diligence, conscientiousness, initiative, and communication skills. They also express somewhat contradictory ideas about the crazy labor market. They feel it is enough to possess all those good qualities to get a job, and they doubt the existence of unemployment. Nevertheless, it is hard to get work and you need good luck, family or friendship relations to be able to land a good job. Notably education was not mentioned in this context. Finally the young people possess relentless optimism and a firm belief that their career will work itself out (ice: reddast) as long as they possess those good qualities along with honesty and persistence. The narratives clearly show inconsistency and conflicting views between self and society – the local and global – leading to difficulty in defining future goals and forming a coherent vocational identity. Contrary to expectations (Jensen et al., 2011) their career related narratives are firmly grounded in local ideas of diligence handed down in their families and belief in kinship for success in the labor market instead of education. Both global and local changes make it hard for them to plan and decide on educational pathways. This conflict is however resolved in the “heroic” narrative of the self (McAdams, 2015), based on the enduring cultural fatalistic belief (Terry Gunnell, 2009) that it will all somehow turn out well for them in the end.