Karin Althaus, Marketing Lead, Cvent

In order to help current students and recent graduates to find their way in the working world, many of our alumni shared their career story. Here the story of Karin Althaus, Marketing Lead DACH Region for Cvent in London. USI Degree: Master in International Tourism, 2014.

How did you start your career?

I always saw myself more in business travel or the events industry than in leisure. Attending ACTE with our class then allowed me to connect with extremely inspiring and helpful professionals from all different parts of the travel and events industry – and even after the conference I kept in touch with them. Not only did they help me with great advice, but after my graduation they also referred me for open positions in their companies.That’s how ultimately, I ended up interviewing for a Sales position at Cvent. The event planning experience I had gained during my internship and the subsequent part-time role as congress manager for the 70th Annual Conference of the International Institute of Public Finance at USI helped me a lot in both the interview process and my every-day work at Cvent, as I knew event organisers’ challenges and how technology could help. After a few months I ended up realising though that Sales wasn’t forme and I got the opportunity to join Cvent’s Marketing team.

Why did you choose a career in Cvent?

What convinced (and still convinces) me about Cvent is the camaraderie and the “work hard play hard” culture – and there’s a great mix of people and cultures. Moreover, Cvent offers great training for new starters which makes it easy to hit the ground running. The company’s fast growth brings great potential for personal development and there are tons of opportunities I don’t even know of yet.

What is your current role/duties?

As Marketing Lead for the DACH region, I’m responsible for planning and executing marketing campaigns in Germany, Austria and Switzerland to develop these new markets, build brand awareness, generate demand and help drive sales growth. I develop and manage partnerships with key industry publications, tradeshows and associations, localise sales and marketing collaterals and work closely with the regional sales teams to design and implement integrated campaigns across content, digital, direct marketing, e-marketing, events, advertising, and PR.

In your opinion, what are the qualities necessary for a successful career in Cvent?

Despite offering all the advantages of a big company, Cvent maintains agreat and energetic start-up feeling. Being proactive, speaking up and being entrepreneurial is therefore really important. Moreover, being adaptable and dynamic are two other qualities that are crucial for successin this very fast paced environment.

What positive aspects and qualities meant most to you during the study programme you attended?

In my view, USI’s strong points are the following: Firstly, there’s the many hands-on group projects with and for industry stakeholders. They really gave me a valuable insight into the industry and were a great opportunity to make first contacts with the real world and industry professionals. Secondly, I really appreciated the international environment which made my time at USI even more enriching. And the third important plus is USI’s constant search for improvement based on feedback, industry needs and trends.

What competences and/or skills acquired in your USI Study Program have been useful/are useful to your professional career?

The Master in International Tourism has given me a very broad overview of the tourism and travel industry with all its different areas and has offered plenty of opportunities to build a personal and professional network which for me has been and still is of utmost importance. Moreover, working on group projects with people from all over the world has really helped me develop strong communication skills and the ability to take into account different views, cultures and approaches.

What is your advice to USI students entering the job market?

Firstly, as great as it is to have a plan – be open to whatever life throws at you. Suddenly you might come across amazing opportunities you haven’t even known of. And secondly, it’s all about people. Build your network before you need it and don’t be afraid to ask people for help and advice.