The career entry represents a pivotal phase in teachers’ professional development, characterized by specific challenges. While self-efficacy and emotion regulation have been identified as important resources (Kasalak & Dagyar, 2020), strain can lead to adverse outcomes for teachers and students (Ortner, 2012). Despite the mounting evidence on the significance of teacher emotions for classroom relationships, teaching quality, and teacher well-being (Frenzel, 2014), the interplay of emotional experiences, emotion regulation, strain, and self-efficacy during career entry remains under-researched. The present study aims to address this research gap by (1) exploring the relationships between these variables, (2) investigating group differences across five career pathways, and (3) comparing self- and external assessment. An online survey was conducted with 731 career starters and 202 mentors. Career starters evaluated their own emotional states, while mentors assessed these aspects in the career starters they guided. Emotions were measured using the self-developed TEM scale, encompassing 17 distinct emotions. Strain was measured using a composite scale, comprising job demand, job dissatisfaction and emotional exhaustion (Enzmann & Kleiber, 1989; Maslach & Jackson, 1986). Emotion regulation strategies were measured using the Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (Gross & John, 2003), self-efficacy with the General Self-Efficacy Shortscale (Beierlein, 2012), and core emotions with the Teacher Emotion Scales (Frenzel et al., 2016). Participants were categorized into five career pathways (early entry, regular Bachelor’s, regular Master's, lateral entry, special contract), and group differences were analyzed. Career starters and mentors both identified curiosity as the most frequent positive emotion. However, while career starters reported helplessness as the most frequent negative emotion, mentors perceived anxiety as more prominent. Regarding strain, emotional exhaustion and job demand were most prevalent among regular Bachelor’s and Master’s graduates. A notable finding was the consensus among both groups that levels of job dissatisfaction were low; however, mentors reported slightly lower levels across all groups. Significant differences were observed in self-efficacy levels: lateral entrants and special contracts reported the highest levels, while regular Bachelor’s and Master’s graduates reported the lowest. Even though all groups used reappraisal as their preferred regulation strategy, group differences are also evident here. The analysis reveals significant disparities among the groups, underscoring the challenges encountered by Bachelor’s and Master’s graduates, while concurrently highlighting the resilience demonstrated by lateral entrants and special contract holders. The findings of this study contribute to the development of evidence-based teacher training programs and mentorship strategies, with the objective of fostering well-being and professional success.

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