“CEMS helped me to acquire general management know-how, build a strategic mindset and strengthen my intercultural competencies.”

Anja Schmid, Corporate Development at voestalpine

After having successfully graduated from my Bachelor’s here at WU (incl. an unforgettable exchange semester in Florida), I decided to stay in Vienna and enroll in the CEMS program. For my CEMS term abroad, I went to HEC Paris where I not only received the opportunity to improve my French and eat too many éclairs but also to work on a consulting project with Urgo Group. With an international team, we carried out market analyses and evaluated business models for different target countries. Back in Austria, I worked in Business Development for a local medical start-up, as well as did a Global Sales internship with an international automotive supplier.

In 2017, I then received the opportunity to do a 10-week internship with voestalpine’s plant in Corpus Christi, southern Texas. I was fascinated by the responsibility and trust I received from day one as an intern as well as by the highly motivated employees. After another internship in the Corporate Development Department at voestalpine AG, I decided to stay with the company. End of 2017, I started working full-time as Assistant to the Head of Corporate Development at voestalpine AG with various strategic tasks. About one year later, I took over the full responsibility for the group-wide strategy process & review within the team of Corporate Development, incl. current focus topics such as conceptualizing a sustainability strategy, conducting business model innovation workshops or carrying our scenario analyses. Honestly, during my CEMS studies voestalpine didn’t appear on my radar but my first internship with the company turned out to be a real lucky strike. I now have the opportunity to work for an international group in the field of strategy allowing me to apply all the knowledge and soft skills I acquired during my CEMS studies.