Supporting Student Wellbeing: A Positive Psychology Lens for Career Coaching

How one business school is shifting from resume reviews to true student flourishing — and what your team can learn from it.

For decades, career serviceshave focused on a familiar toolkit: job boards, resume critiques, cover letter reviews, mock interviews. And for good reason — these are essential tools to help students enter the workforce with confidence.

But what if we’re stopping short?

What if employability isn’t the full story?

What if career success — real, lasting success — depends just as much on resilience, purpose, mental wellbeing, and the ability to flourish in a complex world?

This is the shift underway at WHU – Otto Beisheim School of Management, one of Europe’s top business schools. And at the center of it is Dr. Shu Ling Tan, a former MBA Career Center Manager who made an unusual — and inspiring — move: she became WHU’s first Positive Health Psychologist and was a key person in the launch of the school’s Positive Health & Wellbeing Center.

Now, she’s redesigning career services from the inside out.

And on Wednesday, July 9, she’s joining us for a one-hour webinar to share how — and why — your team might want to do the same.

🌱 From Career Coaching to Health Psychology: A Shift in Perspective

Dr. Tan spent over a decade coaching high-performing MBA students. She saw the pressure they were under. The burnout. The anxiety. The self-doubt hiding behind impressive LinkedIn profiles.

Even the students with job offers in hand weren’t always thriving.

That led her to a deeper question: How can we build career support that nurtures the whole person — not just their resume?

So she went back to the science. With a PhD in Philosophical Health Psychology and a Master’s in Applied Positive Psychology, Dr. Tan has been at the forefront of integrating mental wellbeing, mindfulness, and emotional intelligence into higher education.

Today, at WHU, she’s pioneering a new kind of career services model — one grounded in positive psychology, purpose-driven development, and sustainable success.

🧠 What You’ll Learn in the Webinar

This is not your typical higher ed session. It’s a bold look at how career services can — and must — evolve to meet today’s students where they really are.

In this live conversation, Dr. Tan will share:

✅ How WHU is using positive psychology to reshape student success
✅ Practical tools you can apply to support resilience and wellbeing
✅ Reflections on the limits of traditional students' career pathways
✅ What it means to truly prepare students for an uncertain future

Whether you work with undergrads, grads, or MBAs, this session will give you new language, new frameworks, and new inspiration to reimagine your approach.

📣 Why This Matters (More Than Ever)

Students today are navigating a different reality:

• Mental health challenges are on the rise
• Burnout is showing up earlier and earlier
• Career paths are non-linear, uncertain, and constantly shifting

Career services can no longer be just a finishing school for resumes. We need to be anchors for purpose, belonging, and sustainable success.

The good news? You don’t have to start from scratch. This session will show you what’s possible when you integrate psychology into practice — with real examples, not just theory.

🔗 Watch the recording: Redesigning Career Services Through Positive Psycholog This is a must-attend for:

• Career Services Directors & Coaches
• Student Success & Wellbeing Leaders
• Higher Ed Innovators
• Anyone who cares about building more human, holistic support for students

Watch the full session and be part of the conversation shaping the next era of career education.

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