Background: Reflection is a fundamental component of career planning, enabling adolescents to critically examine their beliefs, experiences, and aspirations. Grounded in transformative learning theory (Mezirow, 2009), this study examines the role of reflection-inducing tasks in fostering criticality, self-reflection, and insight during career planning among lower secondary school students in Switzerland. These metacognitive outcomes are crucial for developing lifelong career management skills and navigating the complexities of modern career pathways.Methods: A four-year intervention (2021–2025) implemented via an online platform engaged 1,748 students from grades 9 to 11 in reflective tasks. The intervention aimed to stimulate reflection through personalized tasks, addressing students' interests, emotions, and aspirations. Linear mixed-effects models analyzed the relationships between task-induced reflection, task completion, and metacognitive outcomes, accounting for individual and class-level variance. Results: As hypothesized, task-induced reflection was positively associated with criticality, self-reflection, and insight. Furthermore, baseline measures strongly predicted follow-up outcomes, emphasizing the importance of initial dispositions toward reflection. However, against our hypotheses, the number of tasks completed negatively correlated with criticality. Exploratory analyses revealed that this effect was moderated by motivation levels: students with high motivation in career planning benefited from more tasks, while those with low motivation experienced diminishing returns. Across all models, random intercepts revealed substantial variance at the student level but minimal variance at the class level, underscoring the individualized nature of career planning. Conclusion: Reflection-inducing tasks effectively promote criticality, self-reflection, and insight, particularly when students are motivated and experience task-induced reflection. These findings emphasize the importance of integrating reflective practices into career education and highlight the highly individual process underlying career planning. Future research should explore how teachers can support students to enhance critical thinking and explore career trajectories beyond immediate solutions. By fostering metacognitive skills within a supportive and reflective framework, educators may play a critical role in preparing students for lifelong adaptability and successful transitions in an evolving workforce.

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