Shaping citizens and leaders capable of transforming the world stands at the heart of CATÓLICA-LISBON’s mission. Beyond delivering academic excellence, long-term professional success requires a fully integrated set of technical, personal, digital and career-management skills, enabling each student to stand out in a demanding and constantly evolving global market.

At the center of this vision is Careers & Talent, the department responsible for the personal and professional development of every CATÓLICA-LISBON student, starting on the very first day of their program – and, in many cases, even before classes begin. Its mission is to ensure that each student builds a complete and coherent learning journey, where academic excellence is reinforced by practical, employability-driven and leadership-oriented skills.

In an increasingly competitive global context, this close and continuous guidance – which is also a mandatory curricular requirement – represents a distinctive advantage in preparing future leaders. In the first semester of the 2025-26 academic year, the impact of the initiatives led by Careers & Talent was particularly significant.

Within the Learn In Action program, undergraduate students had access to 268 initiatives, totaling around 4,000 participations. Designed to strengthen transversal skills and prepare students for the job market, the program supports them in topics such as CV and LinkedIn profile development, personal pitch construction, interview preparation, networking strategies and self-awareness.

For master’s students, the Career Accelerator Lab offered nearly 300 initiatives, bringing together more than 11,200 participations. This program enhances personal and career-management skills through workshops and hands-on sessions with companies, allowing students to better understand the job market, connect with professionals, prepare applications and build the foundation for a successful career, whatever each individual’s definition of success may be.

A strong connection to the corporate world is one of the strategic pillars of Careers & Talent. In just one semester, more than 100 companies from different countries, sectors and sizes took part in department-led activities, giving students a direct and realistic perspective on how various areas operate and which skills are most valued by recruiters. Participating organizations included Deloitte, The Boston Consulting Group, BNP Paribas, Siemens, Indie Campers, Ae Economics, Glovo, Lidl, L’Oréal, Roland Berger, Nike, Goldman Sachs and the European Central Bank, illustrating the global and multidisciplinary nature of the school’s training ecosystem.

Alongside structured programs and group activities, Careers & Talent also guarantees personalized support. In the current academic year, up to the end of November 2025, the department held 243 individual guidance sessions and reviewed more than 800 résumés, ensuring that each student communicates their profile in a strategic, clear and competitive way.

The results of this work are evident in an employability rate before graduation that exceeds 40% in undergraduate programs and 70% in master’s programs, in the admission of our bachelor’s graduates to top master’s programs worldwide, and in the continued consolidation of CATÓLICA-LISBON’s position among the top 30 Business Schools in Europe.