Outplacement Counsellors: Examining Their Work Values, Personality Traits, and Career Success

Outplacement counsellors help people who have been laid off to find a new job, and their personal characteristics are likely to determine the quality of their services. This study examined 50 German outplacement counsellors and, to anchor the description, compared them to 52 psychotherapists, because both groups share similar job-related challenges (e.g., working with people in crisis situations). Although they differed in their educational background and career history, the results demonstrated that both groups set great value upon generativity values such as helping other people and passing on knowledge, and this was particularly true for outplacement counsellors who have been laid off themselves. Both groups were also more conscientious, agreeable, and emotionally stable than a German norm sample, although outplacement counsellors were more extraverted and emotionally stable than psychotherapists. Furthermore, conscientiousness and neuroticism predicted indicators of career success for both groups. The findings have implications for the qualification of outplacement counsellors.