Carmen Adlassnig

Interview

Where do you work today and what is your position?

ZIBERT + FRIENDS GmbH, Corporate Strategy and Communications.

What does your role entail?

As my title suggests, I am responsible for several different tasks. I’m responsible for the marketing of the live communications agency and am also the first point of contact for our CEO for internal strategic developments, integrating the strategic decisions into the company’s work processes and portfolio.

Why did you take the position and what inspires you?

When I finished my internship semester at ZIBERT + FRIENDS in 2012, I quickly realized I wanted to stay there. I became junior project manager when I left university. Since then, I’ve worked in various positions and have been able to build up a very good understanding of the workings of the company. A good dose of people skills combined with the ability to think strategically helped me move into my current position.

Did you imagine you'd be doing this kind of job before you began your studies?

No. I really wanted to do something focused on sports and television, like becoming a live sports reporter for the Champions League final.

Did the teachers and projects at the university prepare you for the work you're doing today?

Of course some professors guided me more than others, but in general, I learned some important things at Macromedia University. Like the ability to organize a team efficiently and in a competence-oriented way; how to analyze clients successfully; make presentations in a compelling way and to work successfully under time pressure.

At which company did you carry out your internship semester and how would you rate your experience there?

At ZIBERT + FRIENDS GmbH. It was terrific, otherwise I wouldn’t have stayed!

How was your contact with your fellow students? Are you still in touch today?

In the sports and event management course, we were all in very close contact with each other because of the many sporting events. It was a very positive group dynamic, a lot of fun most of the time, and obvisouly tough at times too. Everything you’d expect when a bunch of young, extroverted people with strong characters come together. And that is why it was so enriching and always a pleasure. A lot of us still meet regularly.

When you think back to your studies, what stands out in particular?

The group, the excursions, my “favorite professors”, that indescribably fantastic feeling when the examinations were over and I delivered my Bachelor thesis.

How important is it to be "open to change" to be successful today and tomorrow in the modern, digitally driven world of work?

I have grown up with constant change and transformation. I think it defines my generation and enables us to quickly adjust ourselves to new situations and find our way easily within them. We get bored when things stagnate. So “openness to change” is very important to us, within our current and potential employers and within the general working world.

Do you know where you want to be in 10 years time?

I would like to work abroad for a while and bring my job and family closer together. At the moment I don’t want to work for any other employer, but who knows what will happen in 10 years!