Meike Lorré: Von der UdS zur Gründerin

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What is your name and where do you live?

My name is Meike Lorré and I currently live in Saarbrücken in Germany.

What did you study at Saarland University (UdS) and when?

I did my Bachelor’s in “Intercultural Communication & Business” at UdS from 2011-2015. 

What did you do professionally after completing your studies?  

Thanks to my intercultural and fluent language skills in English and French, I had a large choice of opportunities in Marketing, Project Management as well as HR-Management. In this sequence, I worked in these 3 fields after my Bachelor. In summer 2025, I launched my own business in Coaching and Consulting for Internationals in Germany. If you are curious and would like to learn more about my career, you could visit my LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/meike-l-932887203/.

What did you particularly like about your studies at Saarland University?

During the last school year, I did research on degree programmes that offered a curriculum focusing on foreign languages and found 3 of them that seemed to be a great choice. As my graduation results at school were better than the NC for the degree programme at Saarland University, I was admitted and chose Saarbrücken due to that and its proximity to France.

Do you have any advice for current students?  

Studying is a unique opportunity to enlarge your personal and professional horizon, to get to know to many people from everywhere around the globe and to travel around the globe yourself. Be it in a semester abroad or during your semester break. You probably won’t get as many opportunities again to do that once you finished your studies. Studying an interdisciplinary degree programme like “Intercultural Communication & Business” also helps you to stay cognitively flexible, that is to say to be capable to easily adapt to new professional tasks/fields. That’s a huge advantage now with Artificial Intelligence. The openness to learn new things and to look beyond your own nose you gained in your interdisciplinary studies should help you with that. 

Do you have a special anecdote or story from your time at UdS? 

Together with some friends of mine, we went to a party on campus (it might have been the one in physics tower or another one in the Business/Law-Building) even if we had a lecture the next morning. In order to take part in both (the party and the lecture) we have had the idea to take cushions with us to the course the next day. This is what we did indeed. 

What was your favourite place on campus?  

“AC-Wiese”, the green gras spot in front of “Campus Center”. I loved to sit there on sunny days, either studying on my own or having a chat with my friends.  

Why did you choose to study this particular subject? 

Since my childhood days, I’ve been fascinated by foreign cultures and languages, especially by the French language I had always identified myself with thanks to my surname. As I had the possibility to choose a second subject and “Business” was one of the subjects available, I thought this to be a great combination – which it definitely was! Now with my own business, I combine Intercultural Communication and Business-Knowledge on a daily basis and it was also useful when I was still working as an employee in companies in the international context.  

How did you make the transition into your career? 

When I applied for jobs after my studies, I kept the focus on the international context and looked for job offers that asked for foreign language skills - Business-Knowledge is usually asked for in nearly any job offer. This way, I found the offer for my first job as Marketing Assistant in Vienna, working for a company that organizes Corporate Film Festivals in France. Thanks to my fluent language skills, I got the job. I have had indeed at least 3 job interviews in which my language skills in French were tested live during the interviews by the companies. First in Marketing, then in Project Management and then in HR-Management. You might therefore say that my fluency in French was very important and decisive each time whether I got the job or not.  

How would you summarise your time at Saarland University in one sentence? 

Lots of free time to travel the world, meet lots of inspiring people from everywhere around the globe combined with self-organization and discipline to advance in my studies, especially during exam season.  

How would you summarise Saarland University itself in one sentence? 

A large, beautiful, green campus accompanied by a cafeteria that cooks for you on week days and libraries that provide you with space where you can concentrate, revise the content of your courses and prepare for exams.  

What did you particularly like about studying at Saarland University (UdS)? 

That there is one central campus where all your courses take place and where you always stumble into someone you know and can have a chat with. If you need a break from attending lectures or revising your courses at the library, you can easily head the forest that frames the campus from several sides or have a cup of coffee or tea in one of the nice cafés that you find on campus.  

What would you have liked to have known when you started your career? 

Back then, I would have liked to have some kind of instruction manual on how to start off my career. Looking back from where I stand now, I’d say it was just fine, I got to learn any thing I needed during my professional experience, step by step. Now, I am convinced that learning from my own, unique experience was a more sustainable way of finding my way into professional life compared to having read an instruction manual written by someone else who might have had a different experience.  

What surprised you during your studies? 

The large degree to which I was free to and also had to choose my course combination on my own each semester. It was no more like in school where most of the subjects had a certain prescribed order/sequence I which they were taught. Instead, it was up to me to decide which order makes sense to me. I know from international people who studies in Germany, that this liberty to choose your own courses is troubling them a lot. In many countries, like France for example, the curriculum is much more specified, and they are overwhelmed by this choice in Germany. 

What would you like to experience again at Saarland University? 

Have a come together with the former fellow students of my Bachelor’s degree at “Mensa” and have a chat about what we’ve been up to since we graduated 10 years ago. 

What other alumni offers would you like to see?  

Networking events for former students where they can connect with each other and build professional ties that further both in their professional doing.