When the labor market becomes tighter and the economy is uncertain, companies often respond by downsizing and by asking those employees who remain to be more productive and dependable. It is, therefore, of interest to both managers and researchers to better understand the dynamics of organizational citizenship behavior (OCB). OCB is defined as one's willingness to do more than required, to go the extra mile. This study explores how one's subjective sense of career orientation (the internal career) affects OCB. The research was conducted in eight medium‐to‐large organizations in Thailand and it was discovered, as predicted, that internal career orientations impact the level of OCB. This finding is important because other research shows that the relationship between dispositional variables and OCB is inconclusive.