LIFELONG CAREER SERVICES AND SUPPORT

The true value of our online MBA program is reflected in the success of our students and graduates. That’s why we’re with you at every phase of your career.

Don’t Compromise on What You Can Achieve

In our top-ranked online MBA program,1 every dimension of your experience—from personalized career services to leadership development to lifelong resources—is designed to help you translate your world-class business education into real professional advancement.

A Customized, Consultative Approach

We use an innovative approach to ensure you can achieve your career goals. Whether you are looking to move into a more senior role at your company, seek opportunities within other departments, explore other industries or pursue an entrepreneurial venture, UNC Kenan-Flagler will help you succeed.

You’ll have access to a team of career and leadership development professionals dedicated to our working professional MBA students – ready to support the unique needs and opportunities you’ll face. Our career & leadership experts will get to know you and your vision for career success, and work with you during unlimited one-on-one sessions to equip and empower you to execute your personalized development plan.

How we’ll support your career

WHAT YOU’LL EXPERIENCE……HOW YOU’LL USE IT…AND HOW WE DELIVER IT
1:1 coaching
Unlimited access to expert career coaches who understand the unique career needs of working professionals and are invested in your success.
With individualized support, you’ll clarify your career goals, reflect on your personality and motivations, and gain a holistic view of what distinguishes you as a leader, so you’re ideally positioned to communicate your value and target your next career move.
Self-assessment
Access a wide variety of UNC Kenan-Flagler and third-party assessment tools that deliver personalized insights to support your development and career planning.
With quantitative and qualitative data and insights that evaluate you on a variety of dimensions, from character traits, to work style, to skills, you’ll identify strengths and interests that enable you to make more informed career decisions.
Workshops and research
Engage in facilitated workshops, training opportunities and access informational resources that help build your knowledge and skillset outside of the classroom.
You’ll take learning beyond the classroom by participating simulations, hands-on experiences, and taking a deep dive on topics that enhance your knowledge and create comfort with new abilities, so you’re prepared to apply those career-ready skills with your team at work.
Employer engagement
Access a wide range of key employer contacts eager to attract top UNC Kenan-Flagler talent, as well as engaging in opportunities centered around where you are in your career journey and based on your unique recruiting or hiring needs.
With a holistic approach that integrates employers and stakeholders to drive connections, you’ll engage with recruiters and broader employer networks through just-in-time job postings, industry conferences, specially curated employer panels and events, and more.
Networking opportunities
A wide variety of formal, informal, facilitated and organic networking opportunities, designed to expand your network of professional and social connections for personal growth and career opportunities during the MBA and well beyond.
Networking opportunities

Complete list of career services offerings

1:1 coaching

Self-assessment tools

Workshops and research

Employer recruiting

Networking opportunities

1:1 coaching

Unlimited access to expert, industry-focused career coaches who will help you navigate your personal career exploration and recruiting journey. With individualized strategies, you’ll clarify your career goals, reflect on your personality and motivations, and gain a holistic view of what distinguishes you as a leader, so you’re positioned to communicate your value to employers and target your ideal career.

1:1 Career Coaching
Throughout your MBA, you’ll have unlimited access to expert career coaches who understand the unique needs of working professionals. Through personalized sessions, you’ll explore a wide range of career development resources, self-assessments, job search strategies and much more. With the support of your coach, you’ll create a plan to pursue the right career and make sure you’re fully prepared to pursue it.

1:1 Case Interview Coaching
Technical “case” interviews are standard practice in industries like consulting, strategy, and tech, and the preparation and skills required to shine in case interviews varies from behavioral or “fit” interviews. Practice is critical, so our coaches are trained by industry experts to provide case interview feedback and support. Additionally, we engage outside experts throughout the consulting and tech recruiting cycles to ensure you can get your reps in with expert feedback.

1:1 Leadership Coaching
Throughout your MBA, your development will often involve the setting of leadership goals, in addition to career advancement goals. You will have the opportunity to set and reach your goals by engaging with our coaches as needed. Through personalized sessions, you’ll identify your leadership goals using a wide range of leadership development activities, self-assessments, and much more. With the support of your coach, you’ll create a plan to pursue strategies to help you reach your goal, measure success along the way, and continue your leadership development.

Recruiting Strategy Sessions for Hiring Managers
Working Professional MBA students who are hiring talent for their workplaces are encouraged to work with our Employer Engagement & Recruiting Team to tap into the UNC Kenan-Flagler talent pipeline. By consulting with our team of experts, students who are currently hiring talent for their organization can map out a talent search strategy and leverage industry and market insights, expertise, as well as tools to reach Tar Heel talent.

Self-assessment tools

Access a wide variety of UNC Kenan-Flagler and third-party assessment tools that deliver personalized insights to support your development and career planning. With quantitative and qualitative data and insights that evaluate you on a variety of dimensions, from character traits, to work style, to skills, you’ll identify strengths and interests that enable you to make more informed career decisions.

360 Leadership Assessment and Debrief
360 degree feedback allows you to understand your personal strengths and weaknesses through the lens of constructive feedback of others who’ve worked closely with you. Opting into use of this tool, feedback, and discussion with a career coach can inform your personal development plan — and career goals.

Birkman Assessment and Debrief
The Birkman Method measures personality traits to provide insights into how you might interact in a team setting. The Birkman assessment can help you understand perceptions that shape your leadership style, and is an important input as you learn how to help organizations build more effective teams, develop talent, and do better work.

CareerLeader Assessment and Debrief
All UNC Kenan-Flagler MBA students have access to CareerLeader’s assessment tool and data-driven insights, which help business students and rising executives make better career choices and decisions. With the support of your career coach and your CareerLeader profile, you’ll validate assumptions about your ideal organizational fit and career path with insights that help you shape and drive your targeted trajectory.

CliftonStrengths Assessment and Debrief
The assessment measures your unique talents and categorizes them into the 34 CliftonStrengths themes, based on how you naturally think, feel and behave. With an understanding of your Top 5 Strengths, you’ll be able to work with a coach to discover what you do best, how to turn your talents into leadership strengths, and use the results to create a pathway to maximizing your potential.

EQ 2.0 Self-Assessment and Debrief Coaching
TalentSmartEQ allows you to assess your emotional intelligence and leadership traits, using the most accurate measures available. You’ll get a meaningful analysis that includes strategies to increase your emotional intelligence, and have the ability to debrief your results with a coach.

Workshops and research

Engage in facilitated workshops, training opportunities and access informational resources that help build your knowledge and skillset outside of the classroom. You’ll take learning beyond the classroom by participating in simulations, hands-on experiences, and taking a deep dive into topics that enhance your knowledge and allow you to gain confidence with new leadership skills, so you’re prepared to apply those right away in your post-MBA career.

Access to Online Resource Hub
This online resource library offers access to diverse career guidance by topic and career goal, tools and templates representing recruiting best practices, and access to helpful topical resources, including subsidized third-party subscriptions, a webinar recording archive, and our growing library of identity-based resources.

BlueSteps Workshops, Job Board, Discount
As a UNC Kenan-Flagler student, you’ll have access to BlueSteps resources, including connections to leading executive recruiters, interactive workshops, career assessments, job postings & career coaches worldwide. UNC Kenan-Flagler students and alumni have access to a discounted membership to BlueSteps’ premium resources, job board, and communications.

Career / Industry Workshops
Our industry-specific professional development programs offer career preparation essentials that will supplement what you learn in the classroom, spark curiosity and build awareness of additional resources and strategies to support your career, and ensure that you’re ready to hit the ground running when you start your new role. For example, for students interested in finance, we offer seminar classes from Training the Street, the same organization that trains employees at top Wall Street firms. In the marketing and consulting programs, we work with key industry experts and organizations to offer unique and innovative opportunities for experiential learning.

Crucial Conversations Training/Workshops
Backed by 30 years of social science, Crucial Conversations skills represent the standard in effective communication and the marker of high-performance individuals and organizations. Through our certified Crucial Conversations coach, you’ll have the opportunity to participate in workshop sessions and coursework that teaches nine skills working through disagreement to achieve better results.

Designing Your Life/Work Life Coaching/Workshops
Design thinking can help create a life that is meaningful and fulfilling, and applying specific design thinking concepts to your career can transform how you think about the experience of work and engage and lead teams. Our DYL certified coach hosts workshops throughout the year for students to learn and practice principles that can transform your work life and lead you to your dream job.

First 90 Days Transition Coaching/Workshops
With the support of Career & Leadership Coaches trained in the First 90 Days methodology, you’ll create a plan for a high-impact transition into your next role or career pivot. Through resources, collaborative workshops with your peers and 1:1 coaching, you’ll determine how to more effectively lead new teams and projects, and create momentum to deliver results.

Free Nationwide Business Journal Access
Our subscription delivers full digital access to all 46 regional Business Journals including Raleigh/Durham, Charlotte, Austin, Silicon Valley and 42 more. The 46 regional Business Journals provide daily business news so you can stay up to date on topics and trends that prepare you with knowledge you’ll use in recruiting and employer conversations.

Identity-Based Resources, DEIB Guidance
UNC Kenan-Flagler is committed to providing equitable opportunities and resources for all students and alumni. We cultivate lists of and links to organizations, events, and resources serving the diverse and myriad identities, ethnicities, and statuses represented within our community to ensure that our entire community is well-served. These lists are annually updated and often augmented by student suggestions and discovery. Additionally, we link to expert guidance on the general and growing field of diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging.

Industry Bootcamps
Industry bootcamps take workshops up a notch by intensifying your level of preparation for the skills you need to succeed in the field. Where workshops might serve as a more introductory overview with tips on entering the field, Industry Bootcamps are developed to prepare committed seekers to succeed on the job by incorporating live experiences with alumni and industry practitioners, intense and meaningful practice sessions, and a valuable feedback loop to measure progress on critical skills development.

Pre-MBA Diversity Conference Prep/Coaching (Forte, Consortium)
Pre-MBA Diversity Conferences offer eligible soon-to-be students a unique opportunity to gain exposure to the market, recruiters, and interviews early. Your coaches and industry experts will walk you through the process to prepare your exploration, networking, branding, and interview strategies, all while building critical community within your cohort of peers. This support extends to on-site coaching and follow-up coaching to help you determine your best next steps.

Preparation for National MBA Conferences
National MBA Conferences present exciting but overwhelming opportunities to network, interview, and learn about your intended targets, but you need to be prepared with a foolproof strategy to succeed. Through a series of workshops, 1:1 coaching, and resources, coaches and industry experts will empower you to identify your targets for the conference, develop strategies for casual and structured networking opportunities, and prepare and apply for early interviews at the conference.

Premium Casing Resources
For those students with a demonstrated commitment to recruiting in the consulting, strategy, and tech industries where case interviews are required, we subsidize access to premium preparation resources like RocketBlocks, David Ohrvall’s Zintervu case prep and coaching, and more.

Subsidized Premium Career Resources
You will have free access to several well-known third-party resources to support your career development goals. Examples of these premium resources include Firsthand (general and sector-specific career advice from industry insiders) and LinkedIn Learning (digital library of thousands of technical, business, software, and relationship management courses).

Tactical Leadership Workshops
Leadership development is a key part of earning your MBA, and our coaches offer opt-in workshops that help you explore your leadership growth opportunities, develop strategies to improve your skills, and lead with the Carolina Way in mind. You might choose from topics like “Servant Leadership in the Workplace,” “Increasing Team Engagement,” “Defeating Imposter Syndrome,” and more.

Veteran/Military Transition Support and Resources
You’ll have the support of designated members of our experienced Career & Leadership team who offer a variety of career strategies and transition support services to active duty and veteran students. Through collaborations and connections to the larger Carolina Veterans Resource Center and Veterans student associations, you’ll have the chance to engage with a robust community at the annual MBA Veterans conference (with access to pre-conference preparation), as well as other curated employer and student programming – including networking events – designed to provide key insights into veteran hiring pathways and experiences.

Weekly Newsletter (events, jobs, resources)
The weekly e-newsletter from our Career & Leadership team outlines key resources, recruiting events, career webinars, and jobs (and much more) that you’ll want to know about!

Employer engagement

Connections to hundreds of employer partners eager to attract top UNC Kenan-Flagler talent, alongside coaching, advice and resources that help you find and pursue opportunities that are the best fit for you. Through facilitated on-campus and off-campus recruiting events, and the partnerships our team cultivates with key employers, you’ll gather information and make contacts that support you during the recruiting and interview process, so you can confidently pursue and close on the best career opportunities.

Access to Career Connections (12Twenty) Portal
The designated platform for all Career & Leadership activities, Career Connections connects you to the UNC job board, registration for career and leadership programming, facilitated recruiting engagement, and sign-ups for one-on-one coaching appointments.

Employers also use the portal to post positions to the School’s internal job board, review candidate resumes, access student resume books, and promote their recruiting opportunities. Via Career Connections, you’ll be able to learn specific details around employer connectivity, and research broader hiring, salary, and market recruiting trends. This mix of historical and real-time employment data will help empower you as you make your career decisions, and lead negotiation/compensation conversations with employers.

Employer Strategy Sessions | Industry & Market Insights
The Career & Leadership team continuously measures the impact of core employer relationships by monitoring engagement, tracking year-over-year outcomes and trends, and soliciting student and stakeholder feedback. Annual Employer Strategy Sessions are held with key partners to debrief, consult on recommendations, and plan for the upcoming recruiting year.

As an MBA student, you’ll benefit from these relationships as the team facilitates productive employer-to-student interactions, and shares company and market-specific insights that you can leverage as you navigate your recruiting journey.

Kenan-Flagler Career Connections Job Board
Hundreds of employers use the UNC Kenan-Flagler job board to market available opportunities to our MBA students each year. These employers work with our Employer Engagement and Recruiting team to post open roles (and may choose to design customized recruiting plans), ensuring you can target companies and opportunities that are specifically seeking UNC Kenan-Flagler MBA talent.

Kenan-Flagler Hot Jobs Resource
In addition to postings within Career Connections, you will have exclusive access (via the Career Connections portal) to the Hot Jobs link which houses a list of full-time and internship opportunities sourced directly by our team from the Kenan-Flagler alumni network, employer partners (typically promoting non-Kenan-Flagler specific roles), newsletters, external sites, and more. These MBA-level roles (not posted in Career Connections) can range from part-time to just-in-time/full-time opportunities (not posted in Career Connections) and are added on an ongoing basis.

Resume Books
Hundreds of company partners have access to curated class resume books (via Career Connections), which they use to connect with and recruit UNC Kenan-Flagler MBA talent. The Kenan-Flagler employer engagement and recruiting team leads a robust process around maintaining and promoting resume books (designed to help you best position yourself and your experience) and works directly with employers as they filter these books based on profile, areas of interest, etc. and lead direct outreach.

Resume Review Support
Creating a killer resume is a key step in standing out to employers and securing your dream job. You’ll have access to a variety of resources including workshops, your career coach, and our Business Communication Center, where you’ll hone in on how to communicate your experience and value to employers, craft an effective resume and cover letter, and even benchmark and score your resume to identify areas of improvement.

Networking opportunities

A wide variety of formal, informal, facilitated and organic networking opportunities, designed to expand your network of professional and social connections for personal growth and career opportunities during the MBA and well beyond. You’ll be empowered with the skills and opportunity to tap into alumni, fellow students, faculty, staff and employers to discover more about organizations, roles, career paths, interview advice and much more. This powerful network will give you an advantage as you pursue your post-MBA career, and will be there to support you throughout your career.

Alumni Engagement / Networking Opportunities
With a vast network of active alumni champions, you’ll have numerous opportunities to engage with alumni through curated opportunities. You’ll learn from a diverse set of connected alumni who are always eager to share their career paths, experiences and industry insights through programming that includes panels and classroom discussions. Many alumni also strongly engage in and help to lead recruiting efforts for their companies, participating in premier Career & Leadership events, as well as on-campus facilitated recruiting activities.

Alumni Directory Access
With a vast network of active alumni champions, you’ll have numerous opportunities to engage with alumni through curated opportunities. You’ll learn from a diverse set of connected alumni who are always eager to share their career paths, experiences and industry insights through programming that includes panels and classroom discussions. Many alumni also strongly engage in and help to lead recruiting efforts for their companies, participating in premier Career & Leadership events, as well as on-campus facilitated recruiting activities.

HeelsEngage Alumni Networking Platform
This campus-wide online networking platform connects you with Carolina Alumni – as well as fellow students, faculty, and staff – who can share their professional expertise and knowledge to assist you in exploring career options, offer professional advice and identify recruiting opportunities. Through this interactive platform, you can search for alumni, seek mentorship and join community groups (including one specific to UNC Kenan-Flagler) that allow you to explore career-specific questions, industry trends, hiring practices and more, to improve your job search success.

“When it came time to actually start applying to jobs, I reached out to one of my classmates up in New York who had successfully transitioned his career into the financial services industry. His reference, along with my training with the Career & Leadership team, helped me land the job and pivot my career.”

Joe Ahmed, Class of 2015
Financial Institutions Supervisor, Federal Reserve Bank of New York

Big Ambition at Work:
What Online Students Are Achieving

Learn how MBA@UNC is helping students and alumni pursue new opportunities and excel at every stage of their careers.

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