Putting AI into career coaching
The effectiveness of a career coaching intervention conducted by a chatbot
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 21285231 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Katharina Ebner (0000-0002-2067-3603, Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, corresponding author), Annabelle Hofer (0000-0001-6759-1755, University of Cologne), Roman Souček (0000-0002-9877-1414, MSH Medical School Hamburg – University of Applied Sciences and Medical University), Daniel Spurk (0000-0002-5865-108X, University of Bern) |
| Year | 2026 |
| Volume | 168 |
| Pages | 104264 |
| Publication date | 2026-08-01 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Journal of Vocational Behavior (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0001-8791 • E-ISSN: 1095-9084 |
| Publisher | Elsevier BV (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1016/j.jvb.2026.104264 |
| OpenAlex | W7164415602 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 87 |
Advancements in technology have introduced chatbots as a promising tool in the coaching context. While predominantly studied in clinical settings, they also show promise in supporting career concerns. However, whether chatbot career coaching can enhance clients' career adaptation process as conceptualized in Career Construction Theory (CCT), remains a fundamental and unanswered question. Grounded in Solution-Focused Brief Therapy principles, a career coaching script was developed and implemented as a chatbot using respective technology. Within a randomized waitlist control group design ( N = 82), residualized change-regression analyses demonstrated the effectiveness of the chatbot career coaching in reducing negative affect over a three-week period compared to a control group. Moreover, lower negative affect after the chatbot career coaching intervention was significantly associated with greater career goal clarity. The results provide initial, theory-informed evidence of the effectiveness of career coaching chatbots and address the urgent need to evaluate the benefits of this technology for career-related interventions
Career Counseling · Career development · Chatbot · Coaching · Intervention (counseling) · AI in Service Interactions · Educational Leadership and Innovation · Psychological Treatments and Assessments
Chatbots and Conversational Agents in Mental Health
Career adaptation
Life Design
Living up to the chatbot hype
Career adaptivity, adaptability, and adapting
Career self-management
Four-quadrant investigation of job-related affects and behaviours
Changing personality traits with the help of a digital personality change intervention
Career Adaptability
Performance
The Health Benefits of Writing about Life Goals
How Should My Chatbot Interact? A Survey on Social Characteristics in Human–Chatbot Interaction Design
Four Ways of Considering Emotion in Cognitive Load Theory
Career adaptability
The development of goal setting theory
Two decades of self‐leadership theory and research
The Career Futures Inventory
Career Adapt-Abilities Scale
Protean attitude and career success
Origins and functions of positive and negative affect
Effect of purpose-based career coaching on career decision-making
Negative Career Goal Discrepancy and Goal Adjustment in Young Adults
Chatbots for learning
Incongruities between values, motives, and skills
Contemporary career orientations and career self-management
Self-determination theory and the facilitation of intrinsic motivation, social development, and well-being
Examining the Effectiveness of Solution-Focused Brief Therapy
Perceived difficulty, energization, and the magnitude of goal valence
Goal attainment scaling
Self-efficacy mechanism in human agency
Social cognitive model of career self-management
A life-span, life-space approach to career development
Toward a consensual structure of mood
| Highly cited | No |
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