Exploring the impact of a career guidance intervention program in schools: Effects on knowledge and skills as self-assessed by students

Abstract

The study aimed to test the impact of a career counselling intervention program (JOBS - Job Orientation. Training in business and schools) intended to improve students’ knowledge and skills related to employability’ preconditions. The intervention program was implemented as an optional subject for lower secondary and secondary education. Data were collected using a Solomon design from 1737 students, distributed in intervention and control groups, with and without pre-test, over one school year. The results showed no interaction between treatment and pre-test when self-assessed skills were tested and a small significant effect in case of self-assessed knowledge, but pre-test simple effect was not significant. Two conclusions emerged: intervention was effective, and pre-test did not improve the results by itself. The intervention program had significant effects on enhancing students’ knowledge and skills that are useful in career decisions. Taken outside the classroom, a career counselling intervention could offer more valid research data, but it also might have a smaller impact on student ability to cope with the requirements of social and work environment.

Full text

Exploring the impact of a career guidance intervention program
in schools: Effects on knowledge and skills
as self-assessed by students
Laura Teodora David
1
&Camelia Truța
1
&Ana-Maria Cazan
1
&Stefan Albisser
2
&Manuela Keller-Schneider
2
#Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature 2020
Abstract
The study aimed to test the impact of a careercounselling intervention program (JOBS - Job Orientation. Training in businessand
schools) intended to improve students’knowledge and skills related to employability’preconditions. The intervention program
was implemented as an optional subject for lower secondary and secondary education. Data were collected using a Solomon
design from 1737 students, distributed in intervention and control groups, with and without pre-test, over one school year. The
results showed no interaction between treatment and pre-test when self-assessed skills were tested and a small significant effect in
case of self-assessed knowledge, but pre-test simple effect was not significant. Two conclusions emerged: intervention was
effective, and pre-test did not improve the results by itself. The intervention program had significant effects on enhancing
students’knowledge and skills that are useful in career decisions. Taken outside the classroom, a career counselling intervention
could offer more valid research data, but it also might have a smaller impact on student ability to cope with the requirements of
social and work environment.
Keywords Career management skills .Self-assessment of skills .Self-assessm ent of knowledge .Vocational guidance .Solomon
design
One of the major developmental challenges that adoles-
cents face is to orientate themselves in the world of
professions and to take major-impact decisions about
their future. They can deal with it by developing com-
petencies, within and outside school (Albisser et al.
2011). Competencies play a vital role in orientating
and asserting in the world of professions, in overseeing
the demands and expectations of society (Keller-
Schneider et al. 2018) but the development of such
wide-array competencies is a challenge by itself.
Competencies as a cognitive and affective latent poten-
tial, that enables individuals to take decisions and deal
with challenging tasks (Blömeke et al. 2015)ismore
complex than factual or explicit knowledge necessary
for understanding a situation. Competence development
emerge from dealing with the requirements of any-given
specific situations (Neuweg 2014; Keller-Schneider
2010), if an individual gets involved himself in working
on challenging tasks and requirements (Keller-Schneider
2014,2016). Factual knowledge can easily be taught
and assessed in school as a learning outcome, but other
components of competencies (such as beliefs or atti-
tudes) could also be approached as learning outcomes
in school though challenging tasks aiming on more
complex goals (Anderson and Krathwohl 2001).
The present article examines the effects of a voca-
tional guidance intervention program implemented in
lower secondary and upper secondary schools in
Romania on students’career management skills. There
is a broad domain of career competencies which include
subject-specific skills, generic skills, self-management
skills, and career-building skills (Bridgstock 2009). In
the current study, we took under analysis students’ca-
reer management skills, more specific their knowledge
and skills related to exploring and orientating in the
professional world.
*Camelia Truța
camitruta@unitbv.ro
1
Faculty of Psychology and Education Sciences, Transilvania
University of Brașov, 56 N. Bălcescu, 500019 Brașov, Romania
2
Zurich University of Teacher Education, Zurich, Switzerland
https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-020-00973-0
Published online: 29 July 2020
Current Psychology (2022) 41:4545–4556

Development of Career Management Skills:
The Case of the Romanian Educational System
Despite the multiple meanings the concept caries, a broader
understanding of career management skills refers to those
competencies which provide individuals with structured ways
to collect and use information about the self, about the educa-
tional and occupational opportunities, and to make and imple-
ment career decisions (Sultana 2012). The competence is seen
as a holistic concept that integrates knowledge, skills and at-
titudes, having a situated and contextual nature (Mulder 2011;
Kurunsaari et al. 2018). Career competencies include knowl-
edge (e.g., knowledge about the self, about the world of pro-
fessions, about specific jobs, about companies in surround-
ings, about wages), skills (e.g., asking questions, presenting
important information or collecting information about a com-
pany), attitudes and beliefs (Keller-Schneider et al. 2018).
These competencies are considered to be under a continuous
process of development and highly relevant in understanding
the work, both at individual and group level (Bound and Lin
2013). From this point of view, education focused on devel-
oping competencies (i.e. competence-based education)
strongly contributes to the development of students’personal
and professional identity and to their paths towards becoming
competent professionals (Sturing et al. 2011).
Development of career management skills (CMS)
within schools varies across countries. In some coun-
tries, they are taught as a separate subject, in others
the subject is optional for particular age groups. In sev-
eral countries, courses for the development of these
skills are offered as stand-alone courses, usually at
higher education level (Sultana 2012). For example,
Hungary has a CMS policy conception in compulsory
education; Germany has a CMS policy in several sec-
tors: schools, VET, higher education, employment, and
social inclusion; Portugal has CMS policies in place in
higher education and in the employment sector (Gravina
and Lovsin 2012). In the European context, Romania
seems to be a particular case. Development of CMS is
regulated by the Law of Education (1/2011) as being
provided chiefly by the school counselling and guidance
services. The counselling and guidance activities are
taking place either as a distinct school subject included
in the National Curriculum or within school counselling
offices (Euroguidance 2019). Counselling is part of the
curriculum for the lower secondary cycle –grades five
to eight as a specific subject called Counselling and
personal development, starting with the 2017–2018
school year, and for vocational schools –grades nine
to eleven as a specific subject called Counselling and
guidance, starting with the 2014–2015 school year
(Euroguidance 2019). The content for both subjects
comprises of topics related to self-knowledge, learning
management, interpersonal relations, gender and social
equity, and career management. These distinct school
subjects are taught by the class master or by a school
counsellor which support at least 800 pupils
(Euroguidance 2019), meaning that there are no special-
ized teachers for them. Also, the content related to ca-
reer management skills covers at most 8 h per school
year.
A small study conducted in 2015 in south Romania con-
firms that only 58% of high-school students were ever in-
volved in a career counselling activity and one-third of these
activities were employed by the class master (Brătucu et al.
2015).
The second way of performing career counselling activities
for students is through school counselling offices established
at regional level. The offices are in charge of programs and
projects that offers information, counselling and guidance to
students, parents and teachers alike. Their responsibility is
also to monitor and support career counselling initiatives in
schools. So far, no consistent data could be found on the
impact of counselling offices’interventions on students’ca-
reer management skills.
The need for consistent and specialized interventions on
the development of CMS in Romanian lower secondary edu-
cation students is justified by the results of several survey
studies. For example, in a survey conducted in schools from
Bucharest, Romania capital city, in 2012, 70% of eight
graders answered that they want to continue to study to a
theoretical high-school and only 8 % choose a technological
high-school (CMBRAE 2012). This result emphasizes the so-
cial perceptions of students and their parents on the desirable
educational and professional paths, that is theoretical high-
school and university degree.
The same study showed that almost 60% of the stu-
dents considered that they lack or have too little infor-
mation about the labour market. Andronic and Andronic
(2011) showed similar results in another study.
Participants were eight grade students questioned three
months before the end of the school year when they
have to choose the path for secondary education. A
quite high percentage of respondents, 42% stated they
did not yet have an educational-vocational option.
Nearly half of participants declared they never received
any career counselling services. The percentage was
higher for students in their last year of high school.
No surprise that three quarters of them stated that they
rely on their parents or family members for advice on
the career decision.
So, the need for career and vocational guidance in Romania
is high, several authors pointing that career counselling inter-
ventions should focus on supporting students to learn about
personal strengths and the opportunities on the labour market
(Crăciun 2015).
4546 Curr Psychol (2022) 41:4545–4556

Learning Outcome of Career Counselling Programs in
Schools: Self-Assessment of CMS
When assessing the impact of any vocational guidance pro-
gram the following intervention domains should be consid-
ered (Flynn 1995): career decision-making (e.g., information
seeking, the realism of choice), effective role functioning
(e.g., job-interview skills), evaluation of the counselling pro-
gram (e.g., ratings of satisfaction, perceived effectiveness),
and specific career-related competencies. In the present study,
we focused on specific career management skills as self-
assessed by students enrolled in a vocational guidance inter-
vention program.
Using self-assessment for measuring acquired skills has
several advantages (Allen and van der Velden 2005; Richter
and Johnson 2001). First of all, self-assessments are easy to
administer to large samples and can be administered simulta-
neously in different locations. Secondly, the use of self-
assessment allows researchers to approach a wide variety of
skills, besides those in the cognitive domain. We include CMS
that are relevant for well-functioning in specific work or life
domains (such as exploring professions world or self-
knowledge skills). Thirdly, is it presumed that individuals
are more aware of themselves than observers are about them,
making therefore difficult to assess higher order skills by
using observation or testing (Connally et al. 2002). Last but
not least, when self-assessing competencies it is necessary to
construct concrete and objective items to ensure a good grasp
of the meaning by those who will answer the questionnaires
(Khaled et al. 2014). Even more so, students of all ages tend to
focus more on knowledge and skills when they report on their
competencies and less on attitudes or on the extended context
of their competence such as cultural awareness or professional
agency (Kurunsaari et al. 2018). Self-assessment of knowl-
edge and skills as a measurement of learning outcomes of
career counselling programs has several limitations.
Discrepancies between the real and the reported levels or fre-
quency of skills, discrepancies between the meaning given by
the researcher and that given by the respondents, problems
with comprehension and reflective abilities of respondents,
use of different and subjective anchor point for assessment
by various groups (Allen and van der Velden2005) are among
the strongest sources of measurement errors when using self-
assessment for measuring skills.
The use of self-assessment of CMS is sustained by various
studies reporting correlations between students’estimation
and the assessment of their actual tutor. For example,
Fitzgerald et al. (2003) found a moderately high correlation
between medical students’self-assessment on knowledge
examinations and their actual examination performance in
their first two years of study, in the third year the correlation
being lower. In a study on health sciences students, Cassidy
(2007) reported that most of the investigated students
demonstrated a good level of self-assessment skills, finding
a positive but low correlation between students’estimated
grades and grades given by teachers.
The measurement of the efficacy of a career guidance pro-
gram may involve three levels (Watts 1999): individual level
circumscribed by the learning outcomes, organizational and
societal level. In the current study, we measured the efficacy
on a vocational guidance program implemented in secondary
education cycle at individual level, given the age stage of
participants. As before-mentioned, the learning outcomes of
the intervention program were defined by self-assessed
knowledge and self-assessed skills related to career manage-
ment. They are also named “soft outcome measure”(Maguire
and Killen 2003) and represent a short-time efficiency mea-
sure for intervention programs in career guidance along with
attitudes, decision-making skills, self-awareness, opportuni-
ties of awareness, certainty of preference, or transition skills
(Killeen and Kidd 1991).
Methods
Aims and Hypothesis
The aim of the article is to analyse the impact of an education-
al intervention program designed to develop career manage-
ment skills in students in secondary education cycle. The in-
tervention program was implemented within schools in central
Romania in 2015–2016 and 2016–2017 school years as part
of a large educational pilot project (JOBS –Job Orientation.
Training in business and schools, Keller-Schneider and
Albisser 2018; Keller-Schneider et al. 2018). The impact
study (2015–2016) was conducted using a four-group
Solomon design to test whether students’knowledge and
skills related to career management improve after the pro-
gram. At the time of the intervention, there were no systematic
career counselling activities in the schools. Therefore, we
measured students’career management knowledge and skills
as learning outcomes of the intervention program. Our main
hypothesis was that participants in the intervention program
will self-evaluate their career management knowledge and
skills as increased after the program, when compared with
self-evaluations before the program or with non-participants
self-evaluations. Also, we tried to prove that there was no
learning effect of the pre-intervention measurement on the
learning outcomes measured after the intervention.
Description of the Intervention - JOBS Program
The major aim of the JOBS project was to support Romanian
students in their decision about their future career (Keller-
Schneider and Albisser 2018). Though a specific subject they
got the opportunity to develop knowledge and awareness
4547Curr Psychol (2022) 41:4545–4556

about the labour market and jobs requirements in students,
enrolled in their last years of compulsory education (lower
secondary education cycle) or at the start of their post-
compulsory schooling (secondary education; only technical
high-schools were included in the project). The project was
initiated by the Centre for International Projects in Education
(IPE) of the Zürich University of Teacher Education and was
carried out in eighteen Romanian schools. From each school,
two classes participated in the program. Within the program, a
one-year optional subject, called JOBS, was introduced in the
curriculum for eighth grade classes in lower secondary cycle
and for the ninth grade classes in technical high-schools. In
order to participate in the project, the schools made an appli-
cation and were selected by the Ministry of National
Education and by the Romanian side of the project manage-
ment. Upon selection, the schools’principals agreed to in-
clude the new subject in the curricula as part of the school-
based curriculum. The program was approved by the County
School Inspectorate. The schools attending the program re-
ceived logistic and financial support to implement the subject
in the classes. JOBS-teachers were trained and supervised to
follow the goals of the JOBS classes and the specific teaching
and learning approach.
The JOBS lessons were designed in an inter-disciplinary
approach, following the principles of student-centred and
task-based active learning. The three-hour lessons took place
once a week. Three collaborating subject teachers were trained
for the JOBS subject to teach the lessons in team-teaching.
The units of the textbooks where structured in six modules
including: examining a professional biography (interviews
with employees about their own career path), me and my
own strengths and interests (Curriculum Vitae, personal and
professional interests), the labour market (with two compo-
nents: jobs opportunities in my community and risks, require-
ments and prospects for a job), exploring a workplace (with
two components: planning and carrying out a visit at a real
workplace and reflecting and presenting the results of the
visit).
The JOBS lessons were based on a well-structured content
developed for the project, prior to the interventions. The
student-centred teaching method is explained in a teacher
handbook, with guidelines for every unit. Students work in
groups on tasks, presented in student textbooks. The learning
and teaching materials were developed by the Swiss partner
and first piloted in two trail schools from Brasov city, in
Romania. The teachers for the JOBS subject were recruited
from the schoolteachers willing to engage in the program. All
teachers were trained on delivering the content, using the
learning and teaching materials and on applying the principles
of active learning (Keller-Schneider and Albisser 2018).
The project introduced some new elements in the educa-
tional sceneries of Romania. First of all, the well-structured
content focused on facilitating students’grasp of the current
labour market and their career choices as a key element in
developing career management skills. The content unfolded
from analysis of the experience of a real employee to knowl-
edge of students’own qualities and interests and then to re-
flection on the opportunities in the work field that can be met
by one’s potential and competencies.
The second novelty introduces by the project was the
students-centred and task-based active learning approach to
teaching and learning. In this approach, the teaches is a facil-
itator who guides and supervises the learning process, encour-
aging students to solve relevant tasks, to reflect on their learn-
ings, and to present their insights logically and comprehensi-
bly (Weidinger 2017). The approach using student-focused
methods and task-based learning settings demands a rethink-
ing of traditional classroom roles of students and teachers and
is rarely used in the Romanian education system. Teachers
were trained to use active learning methods in class in order
to lead students to a realistic perceptionof the labour market in
their community as well as to their own interests and strength,
and to support them in making a realistic and personal deci-
sion regarding their educational and professional future. The
JOBS lessons were meant to form knowledge and skills useful
in real life situation and to support students’vocational
choices.
The content of the intervention and how it is conducted
bares its own importance, as discussed by Brown et al.
(2003). The authors identified five categories of essential in-
gredients that contribute to increased efficacy of career guid-
ance interventions. The critical ingredients stated by Brown
and colleagues and their equivalent in JOBS program are: (a)
workbooks and written exercises –each student involved in
JOBS program received a workbook, (b) individualized inter-
pretations and feedback through discussion and clarification –
the teachers trainings included topics related to giving feed-
back, (c) in-session occupational information exploration –
one module of the JOBS classes consisted in exploration of
a profession, another module included a visit in a real compa-
ny, (d) modelling (by testimonies and direct contact with em-
ployees who can self-disclose how they made their own career
choices and how they overcome problems) –in the first mod-
ule of the JOBS program students were asked to interview an
employee about his/her experience and career path, and (e)
attention to building support, by promoting the search for
and use of occupational information outside of sessions –
the JOBS lessons ended with students presentation of their
learnings during the program and relevance of it outside
school.
Procedure
A four-group Solomon design was used in order to as-
sess the effect of the intervention. We used this design
because it has the advantage of being the only type of
4548 Curr Psychol (2022) 41:4545–4556

experimental design to assess the presence of pre-test
sensitization. Pre-test sensitization prevents generaliza-
tion of results from the pre-tested sample to the popu-
lation (Braver and Braver 1988; Bortz and Döring
2006). Considering the above-mentioned lack of consis-
tent career guidance activities within schools in
Romania, even a survey on the matter may count as
an attempt to increase awareness and produce some pos-
itive effects. Therefore, we considered this type of de-
sign as the best methodological option for controlling
the possible effects introduced by the pre-test. The
study included three phases: a survey prior to the inter-
vention in the first week of the school year, the inter-
vention program, and a post-intervention measurement
at the end of the school year.
Participants
1737 students from eighteen schools have been included in the
study, nine lower secondary schools and nine technical high-
schools. For each school, the JOBS class represented the in-
tervention group, a same-level class that did not take part in
the JOBS program represented the control group. The Non-
JOBS classes attended the regular career counselling activities
delivered in schools by the school educational counsellors.
Mean age of the participants was 14.3 years (age range: 13.2
to 16.1 years).
As the intervention took place in the school settings, we
used convenience sampling, participants were not randomly
assigned to the four groups of the Solomon Design (Table 1):
1. Group 1 (experimental): Students enrolled in JOBS
Program with pre-test and post-test –JOBS t1-t2 (n=
341)
2. Group 2 (control): Students not-enrolled in JOBS
Program with pre-test and post-test –Non-JOBS t1-t2
(n=338)
3. Group 3 (experimental): Students enrolled in JOBS
Program without pre-test, only with post-test –JOBS t2
(n=393)
4. Group 4 (control): Students not-enrolled in JOBS
Program without pre-test, only with post-test –Non-
JOBS t2 (n=665).
We tested for differences between groups given by the
distribution of participants.
Distribution according to school type (Gymnasium Vs.
Technical High-Schools) There were no significant differences
between the intervention groups and the control groups related
to school types. In the samples (JOBS-classes and Non-JOBS-
classes), the school categories of gymnasium and technical
high-schools are equally represented (Chi
2
after Pearson (1,
N= 1737) = .050, p=.43).
Distribution of Gender The intervention and the control
groups did not differ in distribution according to gender,
whether investigated as a whole or according to school type
(not statistically significant) (Pearson Chi
2
:Total(1,N=
1737) = .004, p= .494; Gym (1, n= 836) = .071; p= .793;
THS (1, n= 901) = .150; p=.738).
Distribution of Gender According to School Type In the distri-
bution of gender according to school type a considerable de-
viation can be seen. Girls are represented over proportionally
in the gymnasium classes, while boys are over represented in
high-schools classes (Pearson Chi
2
(1, N= 1737) = 13.969,
p=.000).
In the distribution per sub-samples (Jobs, Non-Jobs) an
unequal distribution is visible, although less stark (Jobs (1,
n= 734) = 7.76; p= .006; Non-Jobs (1, n= 1003) = 4.426;
p=.012).
The intervention group and the control group (JOBS
vs. Non-JOBS) differ neither in their distribution ac-
cording to school type, nor in their distribution accord-
ing to gender. However, they form an asymmetrical dis-
tribution of female and male students specific to school
type, with more males in the technical high-schools.
Distribution according to age per sub-sample show sim-
ilar distribution for JOBS and Non-JOBS (JOBS (1, n=
Table 1 Description of participants (gender and educational level)
Solomon design groups Total
JOBS t1-t2 Non-JOBS t1-t2 JOBS only t2 Non-JOBS only t2
Gender Female 167 155 181 333 836
Male 174 183 212 332 901
Educational level Lower secondary cycle (Gymnasium - GYM) 169 165 189 322 836
Secondary cycle (Technical high-schools - THS) 172 173 204 343 901
Total 341 338 393 665 1737
4549Curr Psychol (2022) 41:4545–4556

734) = .76; p= .236; Non-JOBS (1, n= 1003) = .426;
p=.112).
Concerning the four groups of Solomon design, no signif-
icant differences were found (Pearson Chi
2
ns) for the distri-
bution of participants according to school type or gender. The
basis for the investigation of group effects can, therefore, be
judged as comparable.
Data on parents’level of education, profession and occu-
pation were compared (Table 2, Table 3, Table 4)and are
shown in the following tables.
In both groups, most students reported their parents’edu-
cation at high school level (about 50%), followed by the lower
secondary education (about 28%) and by the vocational
school (about 10%). University and post university studies
were rarely reported. There are no differences concerning
the distribution of the education level of parents between
JOBS and Non-JOBS students.
In the case of the fathers, most of them work in industry
domain (70%) followed by those working in service domain
(19%), while in the case of mothers most of them work in
services domain (67%), followed by the industry domains
(29%).
There are no significant differences concerning the distri-
bution of parents’professional domain between JOBS and
Non-JOBS students. Surprisingly, a high percentage of the
respondents declared that they do not know the profession of
their parents; in both groups there was a larger percentage of
students declaring “Idon’tknow”parents’profession at the
end of the school year (post-test) than at the beginning of the
year (pre-test). It could be that students realize the profession
is not very easy to identify, that is more to it that just a job and
they were not so sure any-more if they know their parents’
profession correctly.
As Table 4shows, more than three quarters of students’
fathers have an occupation in an executive position, while
around half of the students’mothers have such a position.
One quarters of mothers are housewife. Management position
or self-employment is reported by around 5 % of the students,
for both fathers and mothers.
The intervention and the control groups do not differ ac-
cording to parents’occupation.
Measures
Instruments Based on the theory, that individual resources
shape learning processes and learning output (Blömeke et al.
2008; Keller-Schneider 2010,2014;Weinert2001), several
individual characteristics (like beliefs, motive, self-efficacy),
socio-demographics and learning outputs were measured. In
the present analysis, we focused on students’career manage-
ment skills, that were measured using two distinct instru-
ments: self-assessment of career-related skills and self-
assessment of career-related knowledge. The instruments
were developed based on the learning goals of the of the six
units of the JOBS program. Each unit was covered with two to
three items (Keller-Schneider and Albisser 2018). The items
focused on knowledge and skills about asking questions, iden-
tifying own strengths and interests, insights into professions
and opportunities in the labour market, the link between the
salary and consumption and the link between work and free
time. In addition, the trained skills on taking notes,preparing a
presentation, collaborate with others and using learning tools
were assessed by the students as well.
1) Skills were measured thorough a 15-item scale –Self-
assessment of skills scale (Spot Scale), using a six-point
Likert scale. Each item asked students to evaluate their
own level in performing or in knowing how to perform
specific actions related to career management (e.g.
“Presenting important information about a profession
on a poster”,“Finding a workplace using the
Internet”). Those actions were selected from the career
management skills aimed to be developed by the JOBS
program. The exploratory factor analysis showed a single
factor solution explaining 43.1% of the variance, with an
Eigenvalue of 6.46 and factor loadings higher than .43.
The Cronbach’s Alpha was .90 (N=1737).
2) Knowledge was measured through a 10-item scale, Self-
assessment of knowledge Scale (Ek Scale), using a six-
point Likert scale. Students were asked to evaluate their
knowledge regarding their own strengths and interests,
the labour market and the job opportunities in their com-
munity (e.g. “I know what career interests I have”,“I
know how work, money and consumption are related”).
The exploratory factor analysis showed a one-factor solu-
tion explaining 34.8% of the variance, with an Eigenvalue
is 3.83 and factor loadings higher than .49. The
Cronbach’sAlphawas.80(N=1737).
3) Socio-demographic data about gender, age, class, type of
school, parents’level of education, parents’profession
Table 2 Parents’education
Level of education Jobs Non-Jobs
n%n%
lower secondary 97 28.3 164 25.4
vocational school 33 9.6 70 10.9
high school 179 52.2 341 52.9
university 2 .6 2 .3
post university education 9 2.6 33 5.1
Idon’t know 23 6.7 35 5.4
Distribution of parents’education: Pearson Chi
2
(1, n= 988) = 5.344,
p=.375
4550 Curr Psychol (2022) 41:4545–4556

Table 4 Parents’occupation in
time 1 and time 2 Occupation of JOBS pre-test JOBS post-test Non-JOBS pre-
test
Non-JOBS post-
test
n%n%n%n%
Father
Employee-execution level 256 79.3 218 69.9 281 81.4 445 74.4
Employee-management level 12 3.7 16 5.1 13 3.8 23 3.8
Employee- support position 0 0 2 .6 0 0 0 0
Self-employed 20 6.2 14 4.5 19 5.5 14 2.3
Unemployed 25 7.1 16 5.1 25 7.2 29 4.8
Socially assisted 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Pensioner 8 2.5 4 1.3 5 1.4 13 2.2
Without occupation 2 .6 3 1.0 2 .6 6 1.0
Student 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Idon’t know 2 .6 39 12.5 0 0 68 11.4
Mother
Employee- execution level 188 55.1 169 52.6 186 53.4 314 53.1
Employee- management level 19 5.6 10 3.1 19 5.5 31 5.2
Employee-support position 14 4.1 18 5.6 10 2.9 14 2.4
Self-employed 2 .6 0 0 1 .3 0 0
Unemployed 5 1.5 4 1.2 3 .9 7 1.2
Socially assisted 4 1.2 1 .3 4 1.1 1 .2
Housewife 81 23.8 84 26.2 104 29.9 138 23.4
Pensioner 4 1.2 6 1.9 2 .6 9 1.5
Without occupation 21 6.2 4 1.2 12 3.4 3 .5
Student 1 .3 0 0 5 1.4 1 .2
Idon’t know 2 .6 25 7.8 2 .6 73 12.4
Fathers: pre-test, χ
2
=(1, n= 668) = 3.550, p= .830; post-test, χ
2
=(1, n= 910) = 9.881, p= .273
Mothers: pre-test, χ
2
=(1, n= 689) = 10.088, p= .433, post-test, χ
2
(1, n= 912) = 15.409, p=.080
Table 3 Parents’profession in
pre-test and post-test Professional domain of JOBS pre-test JOBS post-test Non-JOBS pre-test Non-JOBS post-test
n%n%n%n%
father
Agriculture 16 6.0 9 3.0 13 4.7 9 1.6
Industry 187 69.8 160 52.6 193 69.9 299 52.4
Services 51 19.0 35 11.5 48 17.4 82 14.4
Knowledge (research, IT) 1 .4 0 0 2 .7 2 .4
State administration 9 3.4 9 3.0 14 5.1 23 4.0
Idon’t know 4 1.5 91 29.9 6 2.2 156 27.3
mother
Agriculture 4 1.8 3 1.1 1 .5 8 1.6
Industry 62 28.6 47 17.4 61 28.9 83 16.1
Services 145 66.8 112 41.5 139 65.9 219 42.5
Knowledge (research, IT) 1 .5 0 0 1 .5 3 .6
State administration 5 2.3 0 0 2 .9 3 .6
Idon’t know 4 1.8 108 40.0 7 3.3 199 38.6
Father’s occupation: pre-test, χ2 = (1, n= 544) = 2.199, p= .821; post-test, (1, n= 875) = 5.217, p= .390
Mother’s occupation: pre-test, χ2 = (1, n= 428) = 4.185, p= .523; post-test, χ2(1, n= 785) = 3.701, p= .593
4551Curr Psychol (2022) 41:4545–4556

and parents’occupation were collected using a demo-
graphic questionnaire.
Data Collection The survey was filled in by the students during
a lesson at school, in their classrooms, in the presence of a
teacher. The intervention group worked on the survey during a
JOBS-lesson, students of the control-groups worked on it dur-
ing another lesson. The pre-test measure was done in the first
two week of the school year, the post-test in the last ones of the
school year.
Results
The first aim of our research was to identify if the JOBS
intervention had an effect on students’skills and knowledge
related to career management. To test this result in the
Solomon design, we computed a 2 × 2 Factorial ANOVA
(JOBS vs Non-JOBS x with pre-test vs without pre-test).
Significant interaction would suggest pre-test sensitization,
meaning that the effect of treatment changed depending on
whether there was pre-test exposure or not. Simple effects
were also computed in order to find if there were a significant
simple effect of the intervention in pre-test groups (JOBS t1-
t2, Non-JOBS t1-t2) and lack of significant simple effect of
the intervention in the non-pre-test groups (JOBS only t2,
Non-JOBS only t2). Under these circumstances, there would
be evidence that the intervention had an effect but only for
pre-tested groups. If the interaction is not significant, there
was no evidence of pre-test sensitization (but that does not
mean that the treatment had an effect). If treatment has main
effect on both pre-test groups and non-pre-test groups, there is
unqualified evidence of the treatment effect. After checking
the effect of the pre-test, we focused on the effect of the inter-
vention, through ANOVA repeated measures (Tables 5and
6).
The ANOVA factorial showed no significant interaction
between the pre-test and the group (JOBS versus Non-
JOBS), but the group had an effect on the self-assessed skilled
measured in post-test: F(1, 1546 = 35.91, p< .001,
η
p2
=.023). This shows that the pre-test did not enhance the
effect of the intervention. The four groups differed significant-
ly in post-test, the Games Howell multiple comparisons re-
vealed that significant differences were found between JOBS
and Non-JOBS groups: JOBS with pre-test students had
higher scores than Non-JOBS with pre-test or than Non-
JOBS without pre-test. Additionally, JOBS participants with
pre-test did not differ from JOBS participants without pre-test,
as well as Non-JOBS participants with pre-test did not differ
from Non-JOBS participants without pre-test (Table 7).
A similar analysis was conducted to compare the effect of
the intervention on self-evaluated knowledge. In this case, the
interaction effect was significant, but with low effect size,
showing that the pre-test exposure had significant effects on
the treatment: F(1, 1723) = 13.28, p< .001, η
p2
= .008. The
groups differ also in post-test, however, JOBS groups reported
significantly higher scores at the end of the intervention, while
the Non-JOBS students did not change significantly: for
JOBS students F(1, 639) = 85.50, p<.001, η
p2
= .217; for
Non-JOBS students F(1, 907) = 1,05, p= .306, η
p2
= .004
(see also Table 8).
Table 5 Descriptive statistics of
self-assessed skills and knowl-
edge for the four groups
Group Self-assessment of skills Pre-test Self-assessment of knowledge Pre-test
MSDnM SD n
Jobs With pre-test 4.39 .97 288 4.32 .84 310
Non-Jobs With pre-test 4.24 .94 266 4.31 .89 295
Group Self-assessment of skills Post-test Self-assessment of knowledge Post-test
Jobs Without pre-test 4.58 .80 349 4.61 .85 372
With pre-test 4.58 .87 317 4.81 .74 329
Non-Jobs Without pre-test 4.36 .92 587 4.46 .85 612
With pre-test 4.25 .91 303 4.36 .78 310
Table 6 ANOVA factorial, UNIANOVA and ANOVA repeated
measures results for self-assessed skills
ANOVA Factorial - Tests of Between-Subjects Effects
Dependent Variable: Self-assessment of skills Post-test
Source df Mean Square Fp Partial η
2
Group 1, 1552 28.36 35.91 <.001 .023
Pre-test 1, 1552 .98 1.25 .263 .001
Group * Pre-test 1, 1552 1.15 1.46 .226 .001
a. R Squared = .023 (Adjusted R Squared = .021)
UNIANOVA - Tests of Between-Subjects Effects
Solomon group 31,552 9.51 12.04 . < .001 .023
ANOVA Repeated measures -Tests of Within-Subjects Effects
Sphericity assumed)
Measure: Self-assessment of skills Pre-test - Post-test
JOBS 1287 4.329 9.27 .003 .031
Non-JOBS 1265 .501 1.65 .200 .006
4552 Curr Psychol (2022) 41:4545–4556

The larger difference is between JOBS and Non-JOBS
with pre-test, followed by the difference between JOBS with
pre-test and Non-JOBS without pre-test (Table 9).
The intervention had an effect even in the absence of the
pre-test since there were significant differences between JOBS
without pre-test and Non-JOBS without pre-test groups.
Improvement of self-assessed knowledge equalled an effect
size of .21 which is larger than the one obtained in the case
of self-assessed skills.
Discussion
Using a Solomon design for testing the effectiveness of an
extended intervention program has many benefits in terms of
accuracy of findings and controlling the effect of pre-test,
especially in testing learning outcomes (Bortz and Döring
2006). In the present study we used students’self-
assessment of career management knowledge and skills as
learning outcomes of a vocational guidance program, with
the aim of investigating if such a program could really con-
tribute to the development of career management skills in
Romanian students.
The results sustain that the intervention program had sig-
nificant effects on enhancing students’knowledge and skills
useful in making career decision, establishing and following
career goals. The Solomon design showed that the treatment
had an effect even when we controlled for the pre-test sensi-
tization, filling in the pre-test questionnaire at the beginning of
the school year did not contribute by itself to the increase of
the knowledge and skills self-assessed at the end of the school
year. However, there was a significant interaction effect be-
tween the treatment and the pre-test self-assessed knowledge
that might suggest that filling in a questionnaire on the topic
generates, in time, interest in looking for information or pay-
ing attention to knowledge about the labour market. On the
other hand, the interaction effect was not present for skills.
Skills need exercise and more effort to improve than
collecting and accessing information. When compared, the
increase in knowledge and skills due to the intervention
program was larger for knowledge than for skills, but the
computed effect sizes were lower than those cited in the
literature. For comparison, Baker and Taylor (1998) found
an overall effect size of career education programs of .39,
while Whiston et al. (2011) mentioned an overall effect size
of .30. The last authors deepened their analysis on different
criteria such as the type of effect, the person who’s the main
actor, the context, etc. The results support an effect size for a
cognitive effect of .19, self-assessment of knowledge fitting in
this category. Also, for effective functioning the effect size
was .12, skills may be seen as appropriate functioning in re-
lation with behaviour needed to demonstrate career manage-
ment competencies. The classroom instruction (as teaching
environment) has an effect size of .31 measured by Whiston
et al. (2011), classroom being the main but not the only envi-
ronment where the career counselling intervention took place.
A second finding is a discrepancy found in declaring par-
ents’profession in the two measurements. The students gave
Table 8 ANOVA factorial, UNIANOVA and ANOVA repeated
measures results for self-assessed knowledge
ANOVA Factorial - Tests of Between-Subjects Effects
Dependent Variable: Self-assessment of knowledge Post-test
Source df Mean Square FpPartial η
2
Group 11,619 33.50 51.79 <.001 .031
Pre-test 1, 1619 .92 1.43 .232 .001
Group * Pre-test 11,619 8.59 13.28 <.001 .008
a. R Squared = .036 (Adjusted R Squared = .034)
UNIANOVA - Tests of Between-Subjects Effects
Solomon group 31,622 13.082 20.223 <.001 .036
ANOVA Repeated measures -Tests of Within-Subjects Effects
(Sphericity assumed)
Measure: Self-assessment of knowledge Pre-test –Post-test
JOBS 1309 35.42 85.50 <.001 .217
Non-JOBS 1294 .30 1.05 .306 .004
Table 9 Differences between the four groups for self-assessed knowl-
edge in post-test
Multiple Comparisons - Games-Howell
Dependent Variable: Self-assessment of knowledge Post-test
(I) Group for Solomon design Mean Difference (I-J) SE p
JOBS t1-t2 Non-JOBS t1-t2 .44*** .06 <.001
JOBS only t2 .20** .05 <.003
Non-JOBS only t2 .34*** .05 <.001
Non-JOBS
t1-t2
JOBS only t2 −.24*** .06 <.001
Non-JOBS only t2 −.10 .05 .278
JOBS only t2 Non-JOBS only t2 .14* .05 <.031
Table 7 Differences between the four groups in post-test for self-
assessed skills
Dependent Variable: Self-assessment of skills Post-test
(I) Group for Solomon design Mean of (I-J) SE p
JOBS t1-t2 Non-JOBS t1-t2 .33
***
.07 <.001
JOBS only t2 .004 .06 1.000
Non-JOBS only t2 .22
**
.06 .002
Non-JOBS t1-t2 JOBS only t2 −.33
***
.06 <.001
Non-JOBS only t2 −.10 .06 .339
JOBS only t2 Non-JOBS only t2 .22
***
.05 .001
4553Curr Psychol (2022) 41:4545–4556

more “don’tknow”answers in post-test, one explanation be-
ing that they gained in awareness about how a profession can
be identified. The acquired knowledge enlarged their sensitiv-
ity towards information about the world of professions, and
JOBS-program emphasized on understanding professions and
their requirements more than on categorizing them according
to a system. Puzzling is that the same results was obtained in
the control group, a possible explanation being that students
found it difficult to correctly differentiate between profession,
occupation, and workplace. This result suggest that the career
counselling programs should also include specific knowledge
about the world of professions. Previous studies on the impact
of current career counselling programs in Romania showed
that Romanian students reported the need of career planning,
development of self-awareness, improvement of communica-
tion and career planning skills (Andronic and Andronic 2011).
These findings are supported by another study showing that
the number of Romanian students who declared themselves
confused in making the choice of the appropriate career path
for them is on a rise (Chircu 2014).
As stated before, Romanian students do not benefit enough
of vocational training and the need for career counselling in-
creased in the last years (Cojocaru and Cojocaru 2015). Career
counselling in schools is covered by the curricular area
‘Counselling and guidance’, with an average of eight hours
per school year, delivered by a school counsellor or class
master (Euroguidance 2019). The number of allocated hours
is not enough to promote systematic programs for training and
developing students’lifestyle management skills or career
management skills (EACEA 2019;Ţânculescu 2013). As sev-
eral analysis show, the main focus in these classes is on
supporting students to identify their own interests, to acquire
self-knowledge, interpersonal-skills and learning skills and
not on labour market, professions descriptions or career path
(EACEA 2019). JOBS program aimed at offering a sustain-
able alternative for career counselling in the Romanian edu-
cational system by confronting the students with tasks related
to career management skills. The findings of the Solomon-
design study support this idea and the need to include both
knowledge and skills as learning outcomes in career counsel-
ling programs. Also, these findings could serve as a valid basis
for policy-makers in others East-European countries in de-
signing career counselling or life-skills programs for second-
ary education.
Several aspects should be taken into consideration when
reporting the findings. Firstly, we could not control for con-
tamination effect. The JOBS and Non-JOBS classes included
in the study were in the same schools. Due to the long period
of the intervention, it is quite possible that the Non-JOBS
students were exposed to information and learning techniques
implied by the program. The JOBS teachers were subject-
teachers who conducted in addition JOBS classes as well.
They might also be a source of contamination for the Non-
JOBS classes if they transferred JOBS learning methods to
their specific subject classes. Another aspect that needs to be
mentioned is that the control group (Non-JOBS students)
interacted as usual with school counsellor and their class mas-
ter, and that both could have been vectors of vocational train-
ing activities or information. The significant differences be-
tween pre-test and post-test for JOBS students and the differ-
ences between JOBS and Non-JOBS students in post-test sug-
gest, however, that the intervention had a significant effect on
JOBS students and that the Non-JOBS students didn’tsignif-
icantly change career related knowledge and skills, despite
possible contamination from the experimental group.
Secondly, the effect of the intervention cannot be
completely isolated from other possible educational impinge-
ment on career management skills. Even if in Romania there
are no structured strategies for development of such compe-
tencies in school, students do not completely lack knowledge
about professions world, as they are constantly exposed to
information on the topic inside their social network or on
internet and media. This is the case for any educational inter-
vention that is done in real-life setting.
Thirdly, even if during data collection some individual
characteristics such as self-concept, motives, beliefs on learn-
ing and achievements, (Keller-Schneider et al. 2018) were
also measured, none of these variables was analysed in rela-
tion with career management knowledge and skills. There is
evidence that self-efficacy and perceived importance of the
training program are related to achievement and more in-
depth analysis might offer a better explanation of the results
(Dubeau et al. 2016).
Overall, the results showed that JOBS knowledge and
skills are teachable. However, the data were collected by
self-reported measures which, in fact, have several limitations
regarding the in-depth understanding of items and reflection
on the answers which, in this case, obviously required meta-
cognitive abilities. Also, social desirability cannot be excluded
as participants filled in the questionnaires in the presence of
one of their teachers.
Nevertheless, we consider that taken outside the classroom
an intervention on career counselling might offer more valid
research data, but it also might have a smaller impact on stu-
dent potential to cope with the requirements of social and
work environment.
On a larger scale, the program had an impact on multiple
levels. Due to the results of the study (Keller-Schneider and
Albisser 2018; Keller-Schneider et al. 2018) the Romanian
Ministry of National Education included a new mandatory
subject in the revised curriculum for gymnasium schools
called “Counselling and personal development”,startingwith
the school year 2017–2018. This new subject has four mod-
ules, one of them is Career counselling. County level institu-
tions involved in teacher continuous training, namely Centers
for Resources and Educational Assistance and Teacher
4554 Curr Psychol (2022) 41:4545–4556

Houses, included in their training offer the training course on
topics and methods developed in JOBS program for in-service
teachers. Also, following the change in the curriculum and the
impact of the JOBS program in the schools in which was
implemented, a new gap was identified –the need to train
future teachers in pre-service settings, such as universities or
teacher training programs, on approaching vocational guid-
ance and active learning in their future work.
Even though the evaluation study was conducted only in
Romania, the JOBS program and the teachers and students
materials developed within the programs were translated in
several languages (English, Hungarian) and are used,
completely or partially, in Republic of Moldova, North-
Macedonia and Kosovo (Zurich University of Teacher
Education n.d.).
In conclusion, a career guidance intervention program de-
signed as a school subject and implemented in school proved
to be an effective intervention in developing career-related
skills and knowledge in students from secondary education.
The length (one school year), the learning approach based on
task-based and student-centred learning, the content focused
on specific skills and knowledge related to self-knowledge
and orientation in the world of professions were among the
main characteristics of the program which contribute to its
effectiveness. However, in order to have long-term outcomes,
any intervention program on career counselling should be de-
signed with consideration for several aspects at multiple
levels: the specific career counselling needs of the students
from every educational cycle, the career management skills
that are necessary for orientation in the world of professions,
the training of in-service or pre-service teachers who will de-
liver the program, the social context and the labour market.
Nevertheless, as the findings of the current study point, the
effectiveness of such programs should be assessed through
specific learning output, such as career-related skills.
Compliance with Ethical Standards
Conflict of Interest On behalf of all authors, the corresponding author
states that there is no conflict of interest.
Ethical Approval We confirm that we have complied with the ethical
standards in the treatment of the samples included in the research. All
ethical guidelines were followed as required for conducting human re-
search. This study was approved by the Faculty Committee of Faculty of
Psychology and Education Sciences, Transilvania University of Brasov
on 21.04.2015. All participants provided written informed consent prior
to enrolment in the study.
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