What does the world of management and strategy bring to your mind? Boardrooms and consulting projects? While these can be exciting parts of your professional life, one student is showing a business master is about stepping into industries where change is happening right now.
For Elisa Joerg, that meant railways. Her internship at voestalpine Railway Systems shows how the program doesn’t just teach strategy—it throws you straight into the middle of Europe’s mobility revolution.
What did Elisa do for her internship?
voestalpine Railway Systems keeps Europe moving. High-speed trains, freight lines, urban trams—the company builds the rails, turnouts, and monitoring systems behind it all. Elisa, half Austrian and half Brazilian, has been chasing her love of transport for years. She’s worked in automotive consulting, aluminum strategy, and even Porsche business development. “My passion for transportation has been a consistent thread throughout my career, including my current internship.”
At voestalpine, she jumped into Sales Process Excellence and Business Development. She helped roll out global business processes, tested a new CRM, cleaned up master data, and built dashboards in Power BI. It wasn’t coffee runs—it was the nuts and bolts of digital transformation. “My main responsibilities were to support the implementation and roll-out of Business Development processes across multiple international organizations.”
The work cut across departments, which meant constant collaboration with Sales, IT, and Business Process Management. It gave her a front-row seat to how tech and strategy actually meet. “I also took part in rolling out a new CRM system, harmonizing customer data, and preparing dashboards in Power BI.”
How does a business master prepare you for real impact?
The big lesson? Data only matters if it changes something. Elisa saw firsthand that analytics and process improvement don’t mean much until they lead to results. “The most valuable lesson I’ve learned is the importance of aligning analytical work with real business impact.”
She learned this through CRM. Clean data wasn’t just nice to have—it shaped sales performance, customer engagement, and planning. Every dashboard she worked on had real consequences. “I saw how crucial clean data is for driving meaningful decisions.”
And none of it worked in isolation. Huge organizations live and die on communication. Seeing how every department’s input shaped outcomes was just as important as the numbers. “I saw firsthand how everyone’s contribution shapes the effectiveness of CRM processes.”
How can a business master help you overcome challenges?
It wasn’t easy. Elisa was balancing competing deadlines across departments—each with its own priorities. But the pace of the Master in Management & Strategy had already toughened her up for that. “One of the main challenges was managing and prioritizing multiple tasks and deadlines across different departments.”
She was also finishing her capstone at the same time. That meant splitting her focus between an academic milestone and corporate projects that demanded precision. The juggling act sharpened her structure, time management, and focus. “During the internship I was simultaneously working on the capstone project, which required effective time management and structure.”
Instead of being overwhelmed, Elisa turned it into momentum. The program had trained her to handle pressure—and she proved it in the real world. “Thanks to the demanding nature of the program, I felt well-prepared to handle this.”
Why should you consider the Master in Management & Strategy?
This isn’t a business master where you hide in classrooms. From day one, you’re in the thick of it—owning projects, working with leaders, and seeing your decisions ripple through an organization.
Rotations across strategy, operations, finance, and marketing give you a taste of different paths. The projects are practical, the stakes are real, and the mentoring comes from people who know exactly what it takes to lead.
If you’re serious about accelerating your career—in consulting, corporate strategy, finance, or tech—this program is the fast lane. You’ll leave with the skills, network, and confidence to lead anywhere.
Benjamin is the editor of Uncover IE. His writing is featured in the LAMDA Verse and Prose Anthology Vol. 19, The Primer and Moonflake Press. Benjamin provided translation for “FalseStuff: La Muerte de las Musas”, winner of Best Theatre Show at the Max Awards 2024.
Benjamin was shortlisted for the Bristol Old Vic Open Sessions 2016 and the Alpine Fellowship Writing Prize 2023.
