From My Own Company to LinkedIn’s Leadership Program

Stephan Wölcher, BSc–a graduate of the Bachelor’s program in Industrial Engineering and a participant in LinkedIn’s Business Leadership Program

During my studies, I had the opportunity to work full-time at my own company and help build it up as a co-founder. In doing so, I was sometimes able to directly apply the knowledge I gained in class to solve problems at the company.

How do you manage to balance a part-time degree program with a full-time job? Stephan Wölcher knows how.

The graduate of the part-time bachelor’s program in Industrial Engineering at CU Carinthia University of Applied Sciences has already firmly established himself in the professional world after successfully completing his studies. The ability to balance his studies with his career has been instrumental to his still-young career.

He has also already made a name for himself as a young entrepreneur–Wölcher is one of the founders of the company “Wogenfels,” which specialized in wooden wallets. In early 2017, he helped found mediapool mvp GmbH, where he has been employed full-time ever since.

Although this avid longboarder in his free time was unable to gain any study abroad experience due to his full-time job, his career has given him insights into countries such as Egypt, Serbia, Slovenia, Germany, Taiwan, and China. Starting in the fall of 2018, he will expand his personal map to include Ireland. Wölcher secured a coveted training position on the LinkedIn platform from among approximately 1,700 applicants and will thus benefit from training in the Business Leadership Program in Dublin.

“The program is designed to train future leaders,” says Wölcher, who works in sales and marketing at the Klagenfurt-based company “mediapool.” His affinity for social media also comes in handy here–a topic he explored in his bachelor’s thesis titled “The Development of a Modular ‘Social Media Basic Strategy’ for Companies in Austria.”

As diverse and varied as his life path has been so far, it has all been easily compatible with his studies. “You can acquire a broad spectrum of knowledge and skills, which in turn are very versatile. The interdisciplinary knowledge stays with you forever and helps you solve complex problems, even if they fall outside your immediate field,” explains the Klagenfurt native, outlining why he highly recommends the Industrial Engineering program.

Balancing work and school proved challenging at times, but he was able to overcome these challenges thanks, in part, to the sense of community at CU Carinthia University of Applied Sciences. “It was often difficult to pass exams while handling customer orders and hiring new employees. Thanks to the strong camaraderie in my class and the formation of study groups, it was still possible to study in the minimum amount of time and successfully build up the company,” Wölcher reports.