Career Counseling in the new Career Era: A Study about the Influence of Career Types, Career Satisfaction and Career Management on the Need for Career Counseling

Abstract

We investigate whether the perceived need for employer-independent career counseling differs between individuals according to their career type. We identify six different career types, basically varying in terms of career path and career aspirations: the bounded, boundaryless, staying, homeless, trapped and released career type. We investigate moreover (1) whether career satisfaction mediates the relationship between career types and the perceived need for career counseling and (2) whether this is moderated by the career support people get from their organization and by their career self-management. We use data from a representative sample of 957 Flemish employees. The study reveals that mobility on the labor market, more than a discrepancy between one's career aspirations and one's career path, drives the need for career counseling. People in homeless, released and boundaryless careers are most likely to participate in career counseling. Moreover, the results strengthen the argument that lifelong access to neutral career counseling is valuable in the current career era. Career counseling fulfils a need of people who are dissatisfied with their career. This need cannot fully be met by organizational career management activities. The study moreover sheds light on a potential pitfall of career counseling. Mechanisms should be developed for the people lacking career competencies and the appropriate career self-management behavior to find their way to career counseling.