Effects of two types of career interventions on students with different career coping styles

• Compare the effects of two career interventions on diverse groups of participants
• The two career interventions had a significant impact on career adaptability.
• A short group program had a more robust effect than a single informative session.
• Career coping styles moderated the effects of career interventions.
• Insecure and pessimistic style students benefit only with the short program.

Research on the efficacy of career interventions often lacks comparative analysis of the effects of different types of interventions. Additionally, little is known about the effects of interventions on diverse clients. Previous studies showed that students display different career coping styles and that these styles are relatively consistent across samples. The present study analyzes the effect of two types of career interventions (a single career information session and a six-week career intervention) on the career adaptability of students with different career coping styles. The study involved 319 students from grade 9 and grade 12 of three Portuguese public schools. Results show that although the interventions were effective for most of the students, the single informative session improved the career curiosity and confidence of only one group of students, whereas the six week career intervention revealed a more robust effect in students with insecure, pessimistic or superficial career coping styles. The theoretical and practical implications of the study are also discussed.