Diana Valdez

Three birds with one stone: high-quality academics, internationality and a well-established network

This decision has paid off for me in every respect: not only because of the opportunity to discover a new culture and thus further realise my potentials, but also because of the high-quality academics and internationality at IU (formerly known as IUBH). The teaching is characterised by a high degree of practical relevance. The main focus is on finding solutions to cases and on critical analysis of the development of new approaches. Students are encouraged to be creative and to directly apply what is taught. Additionally, the students as well as a large proportion of the professors and lecturers come from different parts of the world, which generates an international exchange of different ideas and work methods. At the same time, the IU (formerly known as IUBH) network gave me the opportunity to make contact with students, professors and professionals in the field of aviation. The network I was able to establish there made studying far away from home easier for me: on the one hand, the support of friends from all over the world, whom I met during my studies, and on the other hand, of course, the support of the university staff, who were always very helpful.

International Career: Joining Qatar Airways

To acquire practical experience in aviation, I completed internships at Menzies Aviation in London and at Lufthansa Consulting GmbH in Frankfurt. The selection process for both internships was quite long, but thanks to the high-quality academic background, I did well in the selection process and was accepted. After finishing my degree, I found out that Qatar Airways was recruiting new graduates on the IU (formerly known as IUBH) campus and applied there. Despite the large number of applicants, I prevailed and now work as Pricing Analyst at Qatar Airways in Doha. I am currently responsible for setting QR Cargo pricing guidelines for the regions of origin and managing the sales organisation to maximise network margins.
Looking back, I can only recommend this to students and prospective students: Be curious, think outside the box and be open to other cultures!