04/01/2025

Exploring Emotions in Career Development: Strategies for Guiding Clients Toward Success

By Beka Moore & Victoria Sexton

Career anxiety can be a significant barrier for students, characterized by strong negative feelings about future career paths. Career development professionals play a pivotal role in alleviating these feelings. Understanding the impact of these feelings on the student experience can shape advising practices away from transactional and towards transformational.

Career Decision-Making Difficulties

The Career Decision Making Difficulties model (Gati et al., 1996) provides a framework for understanding individuals' challenges in making career decisions. The model categorizes these challenges into three primary clusters: lack of readiness, lack of information, and inconsistent information.

1. Lack of Readiness: This cluster occurs before beginning the career decision process and includes barriers such as lack of motivation, indecisiveness, and dysfunctional myths (e.g., "If I get an English degree, all I can do is teach.").
2. Lack of Information: During the career decision process, students may face challenges due to a lack of information about themselves, the career-making process, jobs/careers available to them, and ways of obtaining information.
3. Inconsistent Information: Students may obtain inconsistent information during the process through various means; this information may be unreliable or cause internal conflicts (e.g., between aspirations and abilities) or external conflicts (e.g., differing advice from family members or mentors).

Once college students identify these barriers, tailored interventions—such as career advising—can be employed to assist. According to the U.S. Department of Education (2013), students must be equipped to thrive in a world that demands more than just basic technical skills. Additionally, a publication by the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE), titled Recruiters and Students Have Differing Perceptions of New Grads Proficiency in Competencies, underscores significant disparities between employers' perceptions of students entering the job market and how students view themselves as they enter the workforce (Gray, 2024). Notably, employers frequently rate the proficiency of recent college graduates lower than the students themselves, indicating a significant skills gap perceived by employers but not acknowledged by college students.

Career Development and Feelings Study

The Career Development Center at Middle Tennessee State University (MTSU) started a research project in Spring 2024 using data starting in Fall 2023 entitled "Career Development and Feelings." Participants for the qualitative component of this study were selected through purposive sampling, explicitly targeting individuals who have had meaningful career appointments with the Career Development Center. At MTSU, the following four appointment categories were selected because of the personal nature of conversations in these meetings and because they have a more transformational approach than a transactional experience. The appointment types are assessment interpretation, career development, job search, and interview preparation.

The research seeks to understand the influence of career center engagement on how students feel and the emotions they identify with pre- and post-appointment. Questions were modeled after the Career Decision Making Difficulties taxonomy (Gati et al, 1996). Data collected through this mixed-methods survey revealed a pattern of apprehension prior to students' appointments with the Career Development Center, with students frequently describing their feelings about career planning using terms like "nervous," "anxious," and "overwhelmed."

However, the findings also demonstrated that targeted interventions by career services can significantly alleviate these feelings.

Chart 1

Anxiety Levels Pre- and Post- Meaningful Career Engagement

The study serves as a call to action for career development professionals to adopt a holistic approach—combining emotional support with practical guidance—to empower students to navigate their career paths with confidence and resilience.

Developmental Strategies for Navigating Career Making Difficulties

To address the issue of employability and career readiness, universities are increasingly focusing on integrating essential employment skills—such as communication, teamwork, and self-management—into their academic curricula (Jackson, 2016). According to Andrewartha and Harvey (2017), there is growing pressure on universities to showcase the capabilities and prospects of their graduates to prospective employers. Additionally, their research shows that students from low socio-economic backgrounds, as well as those from regional and Indigenous communities, have lower completion rates compared to their peers. Andrewartha and Harvey further explained that university career services play a crucial role in enhancing student employability, thanks to their wide range of services (Andrewartha & Harvey, 2017).

At MTSU, the Career Development Center is already implementing several strategies to combat these feelings and barriers in career development.

• Normalizing the Process: Acknowledging anxiety about careers as a shared experience can help students feel less isolated. Discussing shared challenges fosters connection and reduces feelings of shame.
• Asking Questions: Encouraging reflection through intentional questioning can empower students to understand their barriers and take ownership of their career journey. For example, Byron Katie's "The Work" (The Work of Byron Katie, n.d.) can provide a starting point for challenging negative thinking processes related to internal barriers.
• Confronting Failure: Career paths change, sometimes outside the student's control. An example of this is not meeting the academic requirements of a major. Having open and empathetic discussions about realistic goal setting is key to moving forward through these complex situations.
• Developing a Starting Point: While conversations, reflections, and goal setting are all vital to combating negative feelings in the career development process, it is crucial to develop a starting point with the student. Having the following steps and realistic timelines to achieve them will instill confidence.
• Consider Actionable Programming: Through a new initiative entitled The Career Leadership Badge Program (MTSU, 2023) MTSU encourages students to develop core competencies such as resume writing, interviewing, and networking. This structured program (intended for students to complete independently) can boost their career readiness.

Career services professionals have the unique opportunity to transform career anxiety into proactive behavior. By blending developmental theories with practical interventions, practitioners can help students confidently navigate their career paths and embrace their future.

References

Andrewartha, L., & Harvey, A. (2017). Employability and student equity in higher education: The role of university careers services. Australian Journal of Career Development, 26(2), 71-80. https://doi.org/10.1177/1038416217718365

Gati, I., Krausz, M., & Osipow, S. (1996). A taxonomy of difficulties in career decision making. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 43(4), 510-526.

Gray, K. (2024). Recruiters and students have differing perceptions of new grads’ proficiency in competencies. National Association of Colleges and Employers. https://www.naceweb.org/career-readiness/competencies/31ad4621-2693-4815-bf78-8d0667ca3e46

Jackson, D., & Wilton, N. (2016). Developing career management competencies among undergraduates and the role of work-integrated learning. Teaching in Higher Education, 21(3), 266–286. https://doi.org/10.1080/13562517.2015.1136281

MTSU. (2023). Career Leadership Badge Program – the Career Development Center. https://www.mtsu.edu/career/career-leadership-badge/

U.S. Department of Education. (2013, April). K-12 reforms: Strategic initiatives to foster real change. https://www.ed.gov/sites/default/files/reforms-overview.pdf

Beka Moore currently serves as the Director of the Career Development Center at Middle Tennessee State University. With 15 years of experience in higher education and a diverse background in business ownership, teaching, counseling, and government, Beka is a dynamic leader known for driving innovation and fostering collaboration. She builds high-performing teams, balances individual growth with institutional priorities, and equips people for meaningful life transitions. A strategic thinker and problem-solver, Beka strengthens partnerships, streamlines operations, and delivers sustainable, long-term solutions through a creative yet practical approach. She can be reached at Beka.Moore@mtsu.edu

Victoria Sexton is celebrating her second year as a Career Advisor at Middle Tennessee State University this July. She is a lifelong learner and advocate for those with barriers to their achievement of higher education. With a background in case management, crisis response, and basic needs support, Victoria motivates, coaches, and encourages students through their academic journeys to find what success means to them. Her Gallup Strengths are Input, Learner, Individualization, Intellection, and Empathy. She can be reached at Victoria.Sexton@mtsu.edu