Disentangling the emotional nature and influence of work- related events among career counselors: A multiple study investigation

Increasing attention is being devoted to career counselors’ professional roles, with most of
the studies focusing on counselors–clients interactions and client-related outcomes (Milot-
Lapointe et al., 2021). However, less is known about career counselors’ work experiences and
events during their working life. Building upon Affective Event Theory (Weiss & Cropanzano,
1996), this contribution aims to explore career counselors’ daily work experiences and their
role in shaping emotional reactions and job outcomes through three studies addressing three
different objectives. The first objective was to explore career counselors’ perceptions of the
importance of emotion in their activities, the main events they encountered on a daily basis, and
how they managed their emotions in these situations. To that end, a qualitative study among 17
career counselors was conducted (Study 1). A series of themes related to their difficulties and
emotional processes at play emerged. Our second objective was to develop a taxonomy of these
work events. Based on Study 1, we developed a series of work-related events and evaluated the
factorial structure and predictive validity of these events on a total of 365 counselors using a
cross-sectional quantitative design (Study 2). The models fitted the data well and the frequency
of work-related events taxonomy predicted job satisfaction, job performance, and emotional
exhaustion. To examine the ecological validity of our findings, our third objective was to
examine how daily work-related events impact daily career counselors’ emotions and work
outcomes. We thus conducted a final study using an experience sampling method during ten
working days among 87 career counselors (Study 3). The expected results from Study 3 are that
daily work events correlate with daily levels of job satisfaction, job performance, and emotional
exhaustion. Theoretically, we unravel the experiences of career counselors rather than only
focusing on counseling outcomes from the perspective of clients or counselors–clients
interactions. We thus participate in research by moving the academic dialogue from focusing
on how career counselors influence clients’ outcomes to examining how career counselors encounter and manage work-related issues. We also contribute to integrating the Affective
Events Theory in the context of career counseling and respond to prior calls that pointed out
the importance of emotional processes in career theory (Hartung, 2011). At the methodological
level, we yield insights into the complex nature of work-related events and emotions, and how
these affective experiences can influence career counselors’ work outcomes. At the practical
level, our findings offer valuable guidance to organizations aiming to develop interventions that
effectively improve career counselors’ profession and workplace environments.