How do social opportunities, collective support and latitude for individual action contribute jointly to the occupational development of company employees? A. Sen’s capability approach was adopted here in the framework of a survey on eight French firms in the chemical and metallurgical industries and three municipal street-cleaning departments. The focus was on the key moments at which employees’ capabilities were put to the test and brought to light (at recruitment, during vocational training, and via occupational mobility) and the assessment criteria adopted at these moments. Several organisational configurations can be distinguished in terms of the links existing between opportunities for development and collective support in these settings.