Industry Mentoring Program Presentations: Part 2

In part two of the Mentoring Program presentations, six exceptional Bachelor students presented their first-hand industry experience under the wing of a leading industry representative through MU’s Mentoring Program.

Intended for students entering their last year to get a “taste of the real life” experience with direct contact to managers and senior management, those who have consistently shown initiative and kept up good grades throughout their studies are specially selected for the program and invited to participate in this unique opportunity. The program is tailor-made for each student as the students can express their field of interest and mentors are searched accordingly.

Wednesday, April 13^th:

Iryna Andrukh: “Benchmark analysis: Competitors Check”. Mentor: Mrs. Kerstin Hennemann, Director of Groups and Events, Palais Hansen Kempinski Vienna, & Team

Irina had the chance to see all the departments of the hotel and then spent the majority of her time in sales department where she undertook a benchmarking analysis of Kempinski and the high-end Vienna hotels. ‘’It’s very important for us to know our competitors in Vienna, and Irina helped greatly in this research,’’ said Mrs. Hennemann.

Anna BURTON: “Mix & Mingle". Mentors: Mr. Christoph Peschek, Managing Director, Mr. Jürgen Gruber, Director of Sales, Mag. Sebastian Pernhaupt, Director Marketing and Sponsoring, SK Rapid Wien

For Anna, the chance to work with Vienna’s biggest football team fell right in line with her post-graduation plans to pursue a master’s degree in sports management this fall. She chose to look at improving customer experience through emotionalizing, differentiating, and providing exclusive networking opportunities for Rapid fans.

Konstantin Charkseliani: "Understanding hotel real estate market from the inside. A view from the Christie & Co team." Mentors: Mag. (FH) Lukas Hochedlinger, MRICS, MSc, Managing Director Austria, Business Development CEE, & Ms. Sandra Pechac, BA, Mr. Marvin Kaiser, BSc, Consultant, Mr. Simon Kronberger, BA, Consultant, Christie + Co Austria and CEE

Konstantin mentored with one the leading hotel and leisure advisors in Europe, offering research support for the Central and Eastern European market. He created a market snapshots through internet research of publications and hotel data, supported day-to-day operations, created databases and worked with CRM software. ‘’The mentoring program is a great idea, having students spend time in the industry,’’ said Mr. Kaiser. ‘’It was a pleasure working with such a bright young guy!’’

Thomas Jandejsek: “Erste Sparinvest Job-Rotation & The New Erste Campus: Seating-Plan Management”. Mentor: Dr. Alexander Fleischer, Head of Fixed Income, Head of Global Strategies & Research, Erste Sparinvest, & Team

At first Thomas was doubtful of the importance of his main project, but he soon realized the impact a seating plan can have on work flow, team dynamics and efficiency. He helped his Mentor plan the seating for the Fixed Income Division at the newly built Erste Bank facilities, which has since been implemented at the new campus.

Alexander Kulumbeg: „Virtual Trainings Improvement”. Mentors: Mag. (FH) Bernd Eder, Vice President Finance, Mergers & Acquisitions, Integrated Management Systems, Kapsch CarrierCom Group & Mr. Manfred Tanzer, Project Manager & Process Management, Integrated Management Systems, & Team

Alexander devoted his time in the Mentoring program designing a step-by-step interactive learning system to improve the e-learning process for employees at the international railroad and transportation company. ‘’I’m very grateful to have gained the experience of working in a huge company, and I gained an excellent perspective on Human Resource Management’’ said Alexander.  

Robert Suga: “Behind the Scenes of the ECR's Charity Dinner at Rathaus”. Mentors: Mr. Christian Chytil, Managing Director, Ms. Michaela Hellman, Head of Catering, Impacts Cateringsolutions GmbH

Robert had the chance see both the massive amount of preparation and logistical planning behind catering a major event and the results of serving over 600 guests. In the preparation process he accompanied his Mentors to site visits as well as meetings with important clients:  ‘’usually you don’t have the opportunity to get in to these meetings, so that was great for me to experience, ‘’ he says.

Click here to read Part 1 of the Industry Mentoring Program Presentations!