•This study is very interesting to me because it demonstrated that protean attitudes can be dynamic, rising and lowering according to necessity of the employment condition. This opens the door to more studies regarding whether protean orientation, attitudes, etc. are traits or states. The paper presents a longitudinal test of protean career attitude (PCA) during unemployment (N = 460)•Panel analysis of changes from unemployment and reemployment•PCA was significantly associated with increased self-esteem and job search activity•PCA significantly predicted reemployment•PCA decreased upon reemployment demonstrating a dynamic nature.