WU Executive Academy alumni have it good – in the WU Executive Club
All MBA and Master of Laws students automatically become WU Executive Club members upon graduating from the WU Executive Academy. Some months earlier, they can already take advantage of selected services; once they have earned their degrees, they are given full access to the complete range of benefits, which continues to grow every year.
An exclusive community of currently more than 1,900 international managers and executives from over 80 countries, the WU Executive Club provides a unique networking forum as well as a dynamic platform for the exchange of experience and expertise from across the business spectrum. On average, our alumni have fourteen years' professional and seven years' management experience in a wide variety of fields, making the alumni network an invaluable source of knowledge.
"As the president of the WU Executive Academy's International Alumni Board, I am proud to be a WU Executive Academy graduate. The club provides us with a comprehensive set of services, which is, however, only one of the reasons why it is extraordinary in my opinion. Another motivation for me to support it comes from the fact that as an alumnus I think of myself as an ambassador for my MBA: the more I contribute to making this great program even more widely known, the more people can benefit from it, and the bigger an asset my own degree will become," says Peter Wilfinger, Sales Director at Papernet GmbH.
A focus on career development
The WU Executive Club places special emphasis on helping alumni advance professionally. Career development is the Career Center's top priority. The Online Career Center plays a particularly important role in this context: it gives alumni access to exclusive job offers provided directly by the businesses in question, and allows the WU Executive Academy’s executive search partners to do direct recruiting.
Our executive search partners include not only top businesses like Eblinger & Partner, Egon Zehnder, Iventa, Pedersen & Partners and Kienbaum Consultants International but also consultancies with an industry-specific focus such as GJP International (specializing in the energy sector) or Inner Circle Consultants (specializing in financial services).
Moreover, alumni have free access to top jobs advertised at an international level thanks to a cooperation with QS Global Workplace, one of the world's leading MBA career platforms.
Also available from now on: WU Vienna's ZBP Career Center, Conrad Pramböck, Atieh International and Muellbacher Personalberatung will offer alumni individual career and expatriate consulting services at special rates, nicely rounding out the portfolio in this field.
International Career Workshops and 5-minute Speed CV Checks
There are also regular career workshops organized in cooperation with selected executive search partners—a Career Breakfast with Eblinger & Partner or a Career Development Workshop with Egon Zehnder, for instance—to help alumni advance professionally.
"The WU Executive Club is an excellent forum for meeting professionals from the recruitment industry as well as many colleagues with intriguing backgrounds who work in exciting fields," says Professional MBA alumnus Richard Hubatka, founder and CEO of LiquidColour.
The annual Speed CV Checks in Vienna and Bucharest are further highlights in the WU Executive Club's career calendar. During a Speed CV Check, participants have five minutes to discuss their career questions with an HR consultant—before moving on to the next consultant. That way, they can collect a wealth of feedback on their career situation from outside experts. This innovative format is very popular not only with our alumni and participants but also with our executive search partners: "This type of event provides an excellent opportunity to meet highly qualified and ambitious executives," says Conrad Pramböck, Head of Compensation Consulting at Pedersen & Partners Executive Search.
Martin Pichler and Linda Zelenka, Senior Consultants at Eblinger & Partner, are equally convinced of the format's considerable benefits: "Being committed to creating relationships that make a difference, we are always delighted to get to know interesting and highly qualified individuals in a pleasant atmosphere, and to give them a chance to present themselves and ask HR decision-makers for expert advice on essential questions. Speed CV Checks are thus a win-win situation for both sides."
That being the case, the executive search partners of the WU Executive Club are not the only top businesses eager not to miss out on the opportunity to make contact with highly qualified candidates on such occasions. The list also includes Amrop Jenewein and Strametz & Partner in Vienna as well as Stanton Chase Romania and Kienbaum Romania in Bucharest.
Regular specialist events provide practical insights
The WU Executive Club also regularly organizes specialist events with distinguished international speakers. Besides holding expert presentations, they present best-practice examples from their organizations or talk about topical issues facing their sectors, thereby providing alumni with practical insights. Afterwards, the speakers are available for Q&A sessions and for discussing individual questions. The range of specialist events includes the MBA Alumni Lounge, which takes place five times a year, and the monthly WU Executive Insights series. In fall, for instance, an MBA Alumni Lounge on leadership skills will be held in the exclusive Erste Lounge of Erste Group, the host of the 2013 series of events. The WU Executive Club is looking forward to welcoming Tatjana Oppitz, General Manager at IBM Austria, on this occasion.
Networking from Vienna to Moscow
Every year, some 30 specialist and networking events in Vienna and our hubs in Bucharest, Bratislava and Moscow enable alumni to network with leading representatives of the business community, WU faculty members and former classmates.
At the WU Executive Club, it is not all about business, though—it is also about having fun: highlights include the alumni Christmas party, which traditionally supports a social project; the WU Alumni Lounge at the WU Ball, the summer party, receptions hosted by the Rector of WU Vienna and get-togethers in Bucharest and other Central and Eastern European capitals—as well as a number of sporting events such as the Vienna City Marathon or the Entrepreneurship & Innovation Beach Volleyball Cup.
Alumni benefit not only from the Career Center and a variety of events. They can also enjoy concessionary conference and seminar fees as well as special insurance offers.
The alumni newsletter published every other month, the exclusive alumni web and the WU Executive Club's LinkedIn Group keep them informed about the latest news.
For more information on the WU Executive Club, please visit:
https://www.executiveacademy.at/alumni
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Profit from the largest network of managers in CEE
Prof. Schlegelmilch, the WU Executive Academy has been operating successfully in CEE for many years now. What is this success the result of, do you believe?
Due to its outstanding geographical location and high quality of life, many multinational corporations and organizations choose Vienna as the headquarters for their activities in CEE countries. Through our traditionally close contacts with those companies and the expertise of the largest business university in Europe, we know exactly where the special challenges lie in these markets, and can optimize our range of executive trainings until it is perfectly suited to meet those challenges. A service like that is valued extremely highly by our clients.
What programmes are in particularly high demand in these countries?
Demand is especially strong for the top management training courses, such as our Global Executive MBA, and our specialised MBA programmes focusing on the areas of finance and the energy industry. Apart from these, our tailored corporate programmes are becoming increasingly popular.
Why do these managers trust the WU Executive Academy in particular?
For a variety of reasons. On the one hand, it certainly has to do with the high quality of our training courses, something which is reflected in our current Financial Times Executive MBA ranking and our international accreditations. On the other, however, it’s also the access they are given to the biggest network of managers in the CEE region. This network gives our participants access to an inexhaustible wealth of experience in practical know-how and successful strategies, while at the same time extending their professional network.
What would you recommend a manager do to work successfully in CEE?
As a result of the rising competition in the job market and increasingly complex economic framework conditions, working continuously on your knowledge and skills is absolutely imperative. Even if you’re on the right track, you’ll get run over if you just sit there! Investing in your own further training and getting to know the right people is always an essential precondition for long-term managerial success, therefore – and nowhere is that more true than in Central and Eastern Europe.