“As a corporate development expert, I deal with many of the topics we covered during the ExInt master’s program practically every day.”
Katerina Machacova, Corporate Development Expert, Semperit AG Holding
After spending a year in Germany as a child, my younger self made one of the best decisions of my life after returning home to the Czech Republic: attending the Austrian High School in Prague for my secondary education. After graduation, it made sense to look for educational opportunities in Austria, since I’ve always known that I wanted to study abroad. WU offered me exactly what I needed, an wide variety of economics and business courses with the option of specializing in the fields that interested me the most, internationalization and strategy.
The MSc ExInt was a new program at that time, and I’m so glad that I took a chance on it, because it provided me with a profound and solid knowledge base for my current position as well with lifelong friendships. I already kicked off my professional journey at Semperit during my studies, initially just for a short summer internship, but this quickly developed into a long-term career development path, including a master’s thesis cooperation. During the Semperit Global Graduate Program, I had the chance to rotate through various departments throughout the Group, including Treasury, Controlling, and HR. I focused mainly on lean manufacturing, however, which was a completely new, yet extremely fascinating area for me.
The MSc ExInt, combined with the Graduate Program, allowed me to gain a wide scope of theoretical expertise as well as practical experience that I now profit from in Corporate Development. I am involved in the development and implementation of entrepreneurial and internationalization strategies for the Group, and work on special projects from both internal and external perspectives, increasing Semperit’s efficiency and strengthening its position on the market. I am regularly confronted with many of the complex strategic, financial, and leadership topics that were covered in the ExInt curriculum, and feel well equipped to master them with ease!