Jaime Recalde

2009 | International Management

Career Development

Entrepreneur / Business developer

After graduating from High School in South America, Ecuador, I went to live in the US for 6 months. This was a great experience. It opened my views regarding the world. Later, I started studying in the university in Ecuador “Business administration” for a year, after that, I worked for the car manufacture AUDI which connected me with Germany, during this time in my life, it became clear to me that I wanted to study abroad, I was hungry for more. I started studying in Deggendorf in 2005 which was an amazing experience, coming from a big city in South America, Deggendorf was so familiar, personal and exciting. I had the opportunity to make my semester abroad in Italy and later my internship in the UK which were very valuable for my personal growth. After my studies in Deggendorf I have been working for a German company called “Lindner AG” for 4 years as the Sales manager for the Latin American Markets, I was able to travel all over Latin America and I had the pleasure of getting to know extremely interesting people; this was an eye opener to see what was actually possible. In 2010, I started my own company Ecualeman GmbH with one of my best friends, this was the best decision in my life, now we are one of the main suppliers of goods to clients in Europe, South America and Asia. In 2014, I opened a second company “Café Sud America (CSA) GmbH”, bringing premium coffee with our own brand from South America to Europe. Due to all my past experiences, I soon realized that anything is possible if you are willing to take the risks, be disciplined and patient.

Reminiscing allowed: Remember your student days

During my studies I had a different view of the world. I saw many invisible rules that don’t really exist in the real world, I had the opportunity to get to know myself, to get to know people from different backgrounds which I believe is extremely important for your personal growth. Leaving the place and people you grow up with is a very therapeutical thing, I wish everybody could have this experience.

What advice would you give to today's students?

Focus in people the most, look for people with values, with different backgrounds. Connections are more powerful than CV’s, you need to build your own army with great people around you to be able to go further in life. Learn to be a team player, stay in contact with all your international fellow students, you never know, you might start a company with them in the near future.

Pay attention to 3 things moving into the future; your financial independence, your mental/physical health and your relationships, this is more important than anything you believe is important during your studies. It’s impossible to be happy all the time, accept it, but these 3 points will bring you peace. A peaceful environment is the key to a fulfilling and rewarding life.

Adrian Kapsalis

2014 | International Management

Career Development

I studied International Management at DIT between 2009 and 2013 and already did my first internships in the start-up and venture capital sector, as it was already clear to me back then that I wanted to become an entrepreneur. After graduating, however, I couldn’t resist my childhood dream and first worked as a trainee and then as a marketing and sales coordinator at Ferrari Central Europe before moving to the headquarters in Maranello, Italy, as a business development manager.

After three years at Ferrari, I took the leap into entrepreneurship and founded LOEWI together with Philipp Merk and Calvin Devereux to make personalised health available to everyone. We helped thousands of customers improve their health and well-being with LOEWI, had one of the largest venture capital funds in Europe on board as an investor and successfully sold the company after exactly three years. 

At the same time, I try to share my experiences with students, including teaching the course “Entrepreneurship & Innovation” as a lecturer at DIT.

Reminiscing allowed: remember your student days

I met some of my best friends during my studies. The “small” but familiar environment was brilliant for building long-term relationships and friendships. All too often we think back to our adventures in Carpe or the many WG parties.

What advice would you give to today's students?

Use your studies to try things out and understand what you really want! Studying is the perfect environment to have fun, get involved and learn and grow at the same time. For example, I highly recommend every student to get involved in student clubs, such as Fast Forest.

Dr. Malte Busch

2012 | International Management

Career Development

After graduating from high school I did an internship as an event manager and then studied international management at DIT. Afterwards I had the chance to gain insights into supply chain management at Siemens Wind Power (now Siemens Gamesa). However, I soon realised that I wanted to do a master's degree and decided to study International Management at Strathcylde Business School in Glasgow. I was then faced with the decision of either going into industry or following the call of the supervisor of my Master's thesis and doing my PhD. I decided to do a PhD and did so for 3 ½ years at the University of Coventry, focusing on stakeholder management in the automotive industry and the relationships between business, politics and civil society organisations. Afterwards I started as a lecturer at Coventry Business School with the aim of entering the business world in the medium term.

Reminiscing allowed: remember your student days

I remember my time in Deggendorf very well. I especially remember the many exciting encounters with students from all over the world and the opportunity to learn about different cultures. I am still in touch with many people from back then and I am very grateful that I had the opportunity to study in South America and to do an internship in Asia. I believe that these stays abroad had a significant influence on my personal development and professional orientation.

What advice would you give to today's students?

• To be curious and, despite all the complexity and uncertainties, to acquire a positive attitude that enables one to meet inspiring people and to be perceived as exciting at the same time
• To think big and not to let your own fear or the limits of your comfort zone slow you down
• Regularly acknowledge what has already been achieved and document goals and development steps
• Make connections with interesting people early on and don't be afraid to ask (unknown) people for advice. Normally curiosity is appreciated.

Kim Plinke

2013 | International Management

Career Development

During the Abitur I noticed that I enjoy organising things, but after the Abitur I decided to go to Australia for some time to learn English and enjoy my freedom. After my return, the thought of event management had solidified, I saw my strengths in this business area. Accordingly, I was looking for a course of studies that was a bit more diversified and with which I could later go into different areas if I should notice that the event industry is not really my thing after all. I decided to do an internship in the event industry before I started my studies to get first impressions of what it is like to work in this field and I really liked it right away. By chance I came across the International Management course in Deggendorf and simply submitted my application, with success.

If I had to describe my career after graduation in one word, it would be the word "bumpy".

After my studies I moved to London and thought with a bachelor degree, 3 languages and two completed internships it would be no problem to find a job or at least another internship. However, this turned out to be more difficult than expected. At some point I started working as a waiter because I had cabin fever and money was running out. During a break while waiting tables I got into a conversation with the owner of the restaurant chain, who offered me a job as an event manager starting the next day. Event management for three restaurants was not what I wanted to do but it was a start and I thought: "better than nothing". After about a year I started sending out applications for other jobs from time to time, which was very frustrating. The job market in London is very crowded and everybody seems to have a lot of qualifications. It got to the point where I was even happy about rejection, because that was better than no feedback. After two and a half years in the restaurant business I found a new job and I was overjoyed... until I started there. After only one week I realised that this job would not fulfill me at all. As chance would have it, I got into conversation with an event agency through an acquaintance at the same time, which actually didn't have any vacancies. After five interviews they offered me a job, which was a great relief, because I wouldn't have been able to continue with the other "new" job for much longer. The negative point about the job in the event agency was that I had to start at the bottom again, i.e. from event manager to event assistant. But I really wanted to work in an event agency, so it was worth it.

It took a while until I had gained the necessary trust of my bosses. After a year I was frustrated to still be in the assistant position, but I promised myself I would grit my teeth and keep on doing it. Today I can say that it was worth it. After almost two years, everything changed and my career took off. I got two promotions within half a year and now I am where I wanted to be. It all came a bit later than planned, but sometimes you have to take a detour to get what you want. It is important not to give up, even if it is sometimes difficult. I am very happy in my job now and I know that the way for me will go further up, which motivates me to give everything every day.

Reminiscing allowed: remember your student days

The thought of moving to Deggendorf (a place I had never heard of before) did not appeal to me at all at the beginning. I had received a rejection for my desired course of studies at another university and was frustrated. However, my mood changed right in the first week of my studies and I can now say that it was the best decision of my life to study in Deggendorf. I had an amazing time and made friends for life. The IM course was just the right thing for me and my plans to work in the event business. To cut a long story short: you learn a little bit from everything (even if some professors might not want to hear that :-), which helps me a lot in my current job. The mixture of hard and soft skills in this course of studies is perfect and I have learned and experienced an incredible amount. The IM program enabled me to do an internship in Berlin in an event agency and to spend two semesters abroad in Mexico. Two things that have helped me a lot, both professionally and personally. The contact between professors and students is very relaxed, which made it much easier to attend lectures :-)

What advice would you give to today's students?

What do I want to give the students today without sounding like a mother? - Enjoy your study time, take as much as possible with you without missing the fun times of studying. If you have the opportunity to do an internship and/or a semester abroad - go for it. Nothing prepares you better for working life than this. And very important: don't bury your head in the sand after the first semester, everything is not as bad as it sometimes seems at the beginning. The same applies when you start working. Sometimes you have to take detours to get where you want to go.

Thomas Spiegel

2009 | International Management

Career development

It took a very long time before I knew what I wanted or what I was good at. So I tried to get experience in as many things as possible at a very early stage in order to work my way towards my dream job. First I did an apprenticeship, then my desire to study in English and in as small a programme as possible brought me to Deggendorf. After my studies and the stays abroad, I worked, did an MBA in Brussels and then ended up at Google. Marketing and media was the area that really inspired me in terms of content and people.

From Google I moved to Dentsu Aegis Network, a global agency network. There I found the greatest possible creative freedom for myself, first as agency managing director in Austria and since 2015 as Group CEO Switzerland in Zurich. We have now grown to over 700 employees in Switzerland and cover not only media and marketing but also IT consulting and business transformation.

Reminiscing allowed: remember your student days

I often and gladly remember the time in Deggendorf, especially because of the people it was really something special. The university was very familiar, International Management was a small, colourful programme with great subjects and Deggendorf itself was friendly, affordable and open to us students. From my studies, I took lifelong friendships with me that mean a lot to me.

I like to think back to the lectures and projects, the focus on soft skills was ahead of its time and prepared us well for many key moments in our careers. All in all, I simply had a lot of funny and remarkable scenes in my head that will stay with me for the rest of my life.

What advice would you give to today's students?

You should enjoy the time and not put yourself under pressure by setting too specific goals. If you set yourself a job, an employer or even a certain salary too early, you will miss many exciting opportunities and may not spontaneously accept a challenge. There are so many opportunities to try yourself out during your studies that you should make use of them. Founding a company, failing with it or making it successful is secondary. Impressions and experiences from success and failure are always helpful and are also highly appreciated by employers.