How a Master of International Business alumna made her career in the luxury automobile industry

Lene Staertzel completed her Master of International Business (MIB) in 2011. She now works as the Delivery Programs Manager for Porsche Cars. In her free time, she enjoys running marathons (the Big Sur Marathon is her favorite) and reading, which she keeps up with by using Audible. (The best thing about Audible is being able to speed up the reading so you can learn things more quickly, she said.)

We spoke with Staertzel about how the Master of International Business Program helped her succeed in her career and more.

Q: Tell us about your journey after you graduated from the Master of International Business program.

Staertzel: “After a quick summer internship at the United Nations in NYC, I accepted a position with the Audi Graduate program where I rotated through all different departments of an automotive company, acquiring a well-rounded understanding of the industry, its challenges and opportunities. I then moved to Los Angeles via a position with Volkswagen of America where I supported the Aftersales (Service) side of the business. For the past three and a half years, I have been working for Porsche Cars, first on the West Coast and now managing the European Deliveries Program on the East Coast. This position brings me close to family in Atlanta after my husband and I just welcomed our first child.”

Q: How did the Master of International Business program help you to face any challenges you’ve had in your journey?

Staertzel: “As the MIB program was a very compact and expedited program, I really learned how to use my time wisely, buckle down and study for my classes and get the best possible results. This helped me as I took on a few new roles in the past seven years, always having to learn quickly to get up to speed. Additionally, a lot of my grades were based on group projects, which encouraged the teamwork environment I later encountered in all my corporate positions.

I also really exhausted the Business Career Services Office, aka Ana Romero, having taken advantage of her counseling to find the best possible position for me. What I loved the most was that no matter how far of a reach an application might have been, I never heard, ‘Oh, that will be hard to get/competitive,’ but, instead, “Great, here is what you need to do in order to secure that job.’”

Q: What is your best memory from the Master of International Business program? And any “life” advice for current Master of International Business students?

Staertzel: “My favorite memory was traveling with my MIB friends to Prague, Budapest and Munich for our study tour. It led me to learn more about my fellow classmates and to lifelong friendships. Which leads into my number one advice and that would be to genuinely network. Make friends and lean on them for advice and support. I ALWAYS reach back out to my network. They proofread  your resumes/cover letters, test you on interview questions or refer you to jobs. They can help you with anything from giving you career/life advice or they simply live one block down the street from you and become your best friend and family away from home when living in California (shout out to fellow classmate Natalie Smith!).”