Bachelor or Master? Startup or multinational company? Key Account Management or Finance? These are only a few of the questions, ESB students ask themselves almost every day! The AW/IB Get Together has proven to be a great opportunity for former and current students to connect and to develop great relationships.
This is why we invited our Alumni back to campus, so that they could not only meet their former fellow students, but also share their career paths and experiences with the ESB students. The event started at 2.00 pm with a welcome speech by Nino Samparisi, head of the organization team, together with Isabel Cortadellas, who unfortunately was in New York with the NMUN team.
Prof. Dr. Marlene Ferencz then introduced the Alumni to the new IB program that has changed quite a lot during the past few years, followed by Daniel Nothelfer, the Alumni president who then talked about the ESB Spirit, trying to grasp what it actually is that makes studying in Reutlingen so unique.
Manuela Zehender who graduated in 2008 and now works at Clarks Shoes in Reutlingen, described her every-day work as a Key Accountant. Afterwards, Jascha Chong Luna, founder of Eyeglass24 talked about his different career steps, from studying in Reutlingen, to taking a one-year break, to founding his own start-up business, which was awarded “Start-up of the Week” from Handelsblatt.
Prof. Dr. Daniel Simonovich finished the presentation part, introducing the possibility of a DBA, which was particularly interesting for the Alumni, but maybe even a possible future outlook for the students.
All presentations were very interesting and provided a great basis for the Q&A session after the coffee break.
At the beginning of the event, each Alumnus got to pick a question concerning his or her experiences at ESB, the current employment, dreams and hopes for the future, etc. which was then answered in a few words. Then it was time for the first networking opportunity. Students could gather around those Alumni who work in the department interesting for them, so those curious about Marketing, talked to people who actually spend their time doing exactly that. This did not only inform about the sectors, we already knew we liked, but also opened our eyes for other areas of business, not yet discovered.
The evening then continued with a three-course buffet in the mensa, which provided another great opportunity to share experiences. At the end of the night some Alumni, as well as students, caught the shuttle bus into the city, to end the AW/IB Get Together at the bar Dolce, where the networking was continued in a really relaxed and laid-back atmosphere.
All in all the Get Together was a great success and we hope to see everyone again at the next event!