Promoting career optimism and career security during career coaching: development and test of a model

ABSTRACT This study explores how career coaching contributes to clients’ career optimism and career security from a career resource perspective. Drawing from the Career Resources Model (Hirschi [2012]. The career resources model: An integrative framework for career counsellors. British Journal of Guidance & Counselling, 40(4), 369–383), we propose that career identity resources (self-clarity and career-goal clarity) are essential prerequisites to develop career optimism and career security which are needed to successfully plan and manage careers. Data drawn from a single career coaching intervention for university students served as basis to develop and test a framework linking career identity resources with the psychological career variables career optimism and career security and revealed that working on clients’ self-clarity positively contributes to the development of career-goal clarity, career optimism and career security. The findings additionally outline that the positive effects of career coaching on clients’ career optimism and career security are explained by an increase in career-goal clarity. These results suggest a process model for career coaching interventions.