Visiting Europe's biggest corporate offices while in Vienna

May 27, 2019

It is one thing to learn about theories and business principles in a book, but it is another thing to see everything you have learned throughout your studies come to life! The Business Environment Exploration (BEE) club has one main goal, which is to provide students with the opportunity to travel to different cities and visit companies within those cities. The main goal of these trips is for students to better understand the corporate culture in those specific cities as well as to get a glimpse of what an average day in some of Europe's biggest corporate offices is like. This year, BEE club decided to choose Vienna as their trip while visiting companies like Austria Presse Agentur (APA), Raiffeisen Bank and Vienna Insurance Group.

"For me the memories we have from these trips and the learning outcome is the most important, sometimes it will lead to a job and other times it could lead to expanding your network, in any case, the project we started with has surpassed all of our expectations and I hope it keeps growing after our generation graduates." - Donika Kristaj, President of the BEE Club

The group of 37 students had the opportunity to gain an excellent add-on experience, while also networking with a wide range of individuals from each company. This engaged students to ask their new acquaintances any questions that they had as well as receive advice from these business professionals. Alongside meeting new people during their trip, students enjoyed a networking event while in Vienna with two RIT Croatia alumni who currently work at IBM in Bratislava, Krešimir Guvo and Tin Paro, whose current employment is a result of a previous BEE Club trip to Bratislava. These alumni gave these ambitious students insightful advice on what awaits them after graduating.

"By visiting these companies, students got to introduce themselves in person and make an impression on their potential future employers and colleagues, which otherwise they wouldn't be able to." - Petra Očinić, Career Services Office & RIT Croatia alumna

After observing 3 different companies, students were able to get a glimpse of each one and which they could see themselves working for potentially for an internship or job opportunity after college. Giving students this opportunity, allows them to foresee what company structure and atmosphere they seem to be more suited towards their preferences. Of the three companies, students stated that Austria Presse Agentur (APA) had a very comfortable feel and flat hierarchy structure. The second company, Raiffeisen Bank, operated under a more complicated and structured vertical hierarchy. Yet, for Vienna Insurance Group, not only was the view from their office breathtaking and overlooking the entire city of Vienna, but the overall experience and warmth of the company representative was a memorable experience for the students.