Lehigh Business graduate programs include NextYOU, a structured, three-level career development and coaching program built into your degree. From career clarity and professional branding to interview preparation and offer decision-making, NextYOU is designed to ensure every student graduates marketplace-ready.

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NextYOU at a Glance

NextYOU is Lehigh’s structured career development and coaching experience for business graduate students, built into your program from day one. 

  • Program type: Co-curricular career development and coaching
  • Who it's for: All MBA and business master's students
  • Delivery: Runs alongside your graduate business coursework
  • Focus: Strengthening career readiness, job search strategy, professional storytelling, and leadership decision-making
  • Goal: Ensuring every student graduates marketplace-ready
  • Format and structure: 1:1 sessions, small-group sessions, and instructor-led workshops across three progressive levels

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A Structured Career Coaching Experience for Business Graduate Students

NextYOU is not a collection of optional career resources—it is a guided, milestone-based master’s and MBA career coaching program designed to ensure every FLEX MBA student graduates marketplace-ready.

Working with the Director of Graduate Talent Development & Coaching, students move through three progressive levels of career development, building the skills, strategy, and confidence needed to navigate both their first role and future career transitions.

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Career Development Framework

NextYOU is built around five interconnected focus areas that carry through all three levels of the program. Rather than treating career development as a checklist, the framework is designed to build on itself, each skill reinforcing the next.

Program focus areas:

  • Career clarity and self-awareness
  • Professional branding and storytelling
  • Job search strategy and execution
  • Networking and relationship-building
  • Interview preparation and offer decision-making

Three-Level Career Journey

The NextYOU journey unfolds across three progressive levels, each building on the previous to deepen professional readiness through guided activities, applied practice, and coaching support.

Level 1: Foundation & Launch

Building Career Readiness

Level 1 establishes the foundation for a successful graduate career journey. Students clarify professional direction and build the core materials needed to engage confidently with employers.

Key experiences include:

  • Career assessment and self-discovery
  • Personal brand and career vision development
  • Resume and application foundations
  • Resume optimization and applicant tracking system (ATS) awareness
  • LinkedIn profile optimization
  • Target employer strategy and networking prioritization
  • Mosaic Slide for authentic professional storytelling

International student career preparation:

  • International students complete additional programming focused on U.S. job-search strategies, employer targeting, professional storytelling norms, and work authorization pathways (CPT, OPT, and beyond).

Level 2: Activate & Communicate

Coaching-Driven Career Execution

Level 2 focuses on execution and is supported by 1:1 coaching and small-group sessions with the Director of Graduate Talent Development & Coaching.

Key experiences include:

  • Instructor-led career workshops
  • Individual coaching sessions for personalized strategy and feedback
  • Small-group coaching sessions centered on shared career goals
  • Multiple career path exploration
  • Career strategy documentation
  • Professional storytelling (short, long, and STAR formats)
  • Networking and relationship-building practice
  • AI-supported mock interview simulations

International student career strategy:

  • Additional modules support strategic networking, sponsorship conversations, and long-term career and visa planning.

Level 3: Lead & Decide

Advanced Career Leadership & Decision-Making

Level 3 prepares students to transition confidently into the marketplace through advanced execution, leadership behaviors, and continued coaching.

Key experiences include:

  • 1:1 coaching focused on offers, trade-offs, and next-step planning
  • Small-group coaching on negotiation and leadership presence
  • Strengthening professional relationships and follow-through
  • Advanced interview preparation
  • Offer evaluation and values-aligned decision-making

International student marketplace transition:

  • Focused guidance supports OPT timing and long-term transition planning.

 

NextYOU: MBA & Master’s Career Development and Coaching

Lehigh's graduate business career journey, NextYOU, is a structured career development and coaching experience for MBA and business master’s students. Delivered as a three-level professional development co-curriculum, the journey strengthens career readiness, job search strategy, professional storytelling, and leadership decision-making, helping students secure internships and full-time roles and navigate future career transitions with confidence.

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Have questions about earning your MBA or business master's degree at Lehigh? Whether you want to know what the program is like from someone living it or need answers about admissions, tuition, or next steps, our team is here to help.

Student Outcomes

Lehigh Business graduates go on to roles across industries—from career changers to professionals who have advanced within their current organizations. See where Lehigh Business graduates land.

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FAQs About the Lehigh Business Career Coaching Program

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