Career, Hearing & Application Coaching for International Executives in Vienna
Confidential career advisory for senior leaders shaping their next move in Vienna and the DACH region
Whether you have just relocated to Vienna for an executive role, are planning your next move within the DACH region, or want to position yourself for a new opportunity at home or abroad — career decisions at this level deserve a sounding board who understands both your context and the market you are operating in.
Dr Judith Girschik works with senior executives, managing directors, and board members across Vienna’s international business community — many of them expats. Drawing on more than 15 years in C-level management at international companies and over a decade of executive coaching practice, she brings both the operational reality you face and the discretion that senior conversations require.
Sessions are conducted in English, in person in central Vienna or via secure video. The first 30 minutes are complimentary so you can decide whether the chemistry and approach are right for you.
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Where Career Coaching Adds Most Value for International Executives
International executives in Vienna often face career questions that local mentors cannot fully address. How do you read the unwritten rules of an Austrian or German corporate environment? When is the right moment to negotiate a return move, an internal transfer, or a step into a supervisory board role?
Career coaching gives you a confidential, structured space to think these questions through — with a coach who has navigated them at executive level herself, and who works regularly with international leaders across Vienna’s finance, insurance, health and academic sectors.
What Happens in Career Counseling?
Empirically Validated Personality Assessment
We start with the Master Person Analysis (MPA), an empirically validated personality assessment widely used in European executive selection.
The results are debriefed in a 90-minute session, giving you an objective baseline of leadership style, decision patterns, and development areas — before we shape any strategic options.
Defining Your Career Goals
Career goals at executive level are rarely about the next promotion alone. They concern positioning, narrative, optionality, and timing. We work with you to define a clear three- to five-year direction — and the concrete decisions that need to be made in the next twelve months to keep that direction open.
Support During Career Transitions
Whether you are stepping into a new mandate, exiting one, or considering a sideways move that opens future options, transitions are where missteps are most expensive. Practical support includes:
- Reviewing and sharpening your CV and LinkedIn profile for an international executive audience
- Evaluating offers, term sheets, and compensation packages (including Austrian-specific elements)
- Preparing for board hearings, executive panels, and structured assessment centres
- Stress-testing your exit strategy and post-transition narrative
- Coordinating the return move or family relocation alongside the career decision
- Confidential sounding board throughout the entire transition
Career Strategy Development
Strategy is the bridge between assessment and action. Together we translate your profile and objectives into a concrete plan: which conversations to seek, which roles to pursue, which to decline, how to position yourself in industry circles, and where to invest your visibility.
Hearing Preparation for Senior Executives
Hearings for senior executive positions in Austria — university chair appointments, executive panel sessions in the public sector, supervisory board hearings and structured C-level selection processes — follow a logic of their own. Preparation includes strategic positioning, hearing concept and vision for the role, anticipating critical questions from a multi-stakeholder commission, presentation rehearsal and a full hearing simulation. Typically three to six sessions over two to six weeks.
More detail under Hearing Preparation.
Interview Preparation
We rehearse the conversations that matter most — board interviews, supervisory board hearings, executive panel sessions, and structured assessment centres common in Austrian and German corporate selection. After each meeting we debrief and refine your approach for the next round, including salary and contract negotiations.
Hearing Preparation in Vienna — Professional Coaching for Senior Executive Selection
Hearings decide in a few hours over careers built over many years. Whether the hearing is for a managing director role, a university chair, a supervisory board mandate, a position in the public sector or in a major Austrian or international organisation — preparing for a hearing follows a logic that is distinctly different from a classic job interview.
In Vienna, Dr. Judith Girschik (ICF PCC, Vice President of ICF Austria) has been delivering professional hearing preparation for senior executives for more than 15 years. The differentiator: a combination of her own long C-level management experience in international companies, her academic background (lecturing at universities and universities of applied sciences in Vienna), and systemic coaching at PCC level. Over 140 five-star Google reviews confirm the quality of this hearing preparation.
What hearing preparation includes
- Strategic positioning — which two or three core messages should the commission take away from your hearing?
- Content preparation — your hearing concept, your vision for the role, and answers to the difficult questions a hearing typically raises.
- Presentation coaching — structure, dramaturgy, visualisation. Clarity in argument, composure in self-presentation.
- Hearing simulation — realistic rehearsal sessions with critical questions from the perspective of the commission. You experience your hearing once before it happens for real.
- Voice, presence, body language — on request, complemented by voice and presence coaching, especially for executives where physical presence and impact matter.
- Post-hearing reflection — debrief, lessons learned, preparation of next steps (compensation negotiation, onboarding, first 100 days strategy).
Who hearing preparation is for
Hearing preparation is designed for senior executives and high-potentials preparing for a concrete hearing — typically:
- Managing director and board candidates in private companies
- Candidates for senior positions in the public sector, in universities and academic institutions, in hospitals and health organisations
- Candidates for supervisory board mandates
- Senior executives facing structured selection processes in banks, insurance companies and international corporates
An intensive hearing preparation typically spans three to six sessions over two to six weeks. Compact one-day preparation is also possible if your hearing date is approaching. Sessions take place at the office in central Vienna or online (Zoom, MS Teams) — in English or German, as you prefer.
Application Coaching — CV, Cover Letter, Interview, Assessment Centre
Are you preparing for a specific application — or returning from an unsuccessful selection process? Application coaching focuses on the parts of the process where you stand right now: from CV and cover letter, through preparation for interviews (in person, by phone, or via Zoom, MS Teams or Webex), to preparation for hearings and assessment centres. On request, we also review your LinkedIn and other professional profiles.
Typical scope: two to four hours of one-on-one coaching, depending on the complexity of your application process. Particularly suited for senior executives who have not been in an active application process for many years and want a focused refresh on what counts today.
Career Coaching for International Executives and Expats in Vienna
Moving to Vienna, or navigating your career here as an international professional, involves questions that a purely German-speaking coaching conversation rarely covers: the unwritten rules of the Austrian market, how your international track record is perceived locally, and how to make the most of the opportunities that brought you here in the first place.
Career coaching at the Leadership Institute Wien is delivered in fluent English, grounded in two decades of leadership experience inside international organisations, and tailored to the reality of building a career across cultures.
For Senior Executives Relocating to or Based in Vienna
You have been appointed to a senior role in Vienna — as Managing Director, Regional Head, C-Level executive, or member of a Vorstand. Your mandate is clear; the context is not yet. How do Austrian boards, works councils, and stakeholders expect you to operate? Which leadership behaviours that worked in London, Zurich, or Singapore will need adjustment here? Where should you invest your first 100 days?
Our work together creates clarity in exactly these questions. Confidential, one-to-one, and on your schedule — in person in Vienna or online when travel or timing require it.
Typical starting points:
- Arriving in a new senior role and wanting a sounding board from day one
- Stepping up from a country role to a regional EMEA mandate based in Vienna
- Rebalancing a complex stakeholder landscape across HQ, local board, and regulators
- Considering a move into a non-executive or supervisory board role in Austria
For Mid-Career Expats Navigating a Career Change in Austria
You have built a strong professional profile internationally — and now you are in Austria, whether because your partner relocated, because an opportunity brought you here, or because you decided to stay. The next step feels less obvious than it used to.
Career coaching gives you a structured way to take stock, sharpen your profile for the Austrian market, and make your next move a deliberate one rather than a reactive one. If the change follows a separation from your employer, our executive outplacement in Vienna supports you from the first assessment through to the new role. We work with your real constraints — language, network, visa, timing — and translate your international experience into a credible, concrete proposition for employers here.
Typical starting points:
- Positioning your CV and LinkedIn profile for the Austrian market
- Deciding between staying in your field, pivoting sectors, or building something independent
- Preparing for interviews conducted in English within Austrian cultural norms
- Making a confident career decision before your current contract or assignment ends
Book a confidential 30-minute initial consultation — in English, free of charge, with no obligation.
Testimonials: Positive Effects of Career Coaching
Ready to discuss your next career move — in confidence?
A 30-minute initial conversation is complimentary and entirely confidential. You will leave with a clearer view of where coaching can add value for you — with no obligation to continue.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who provides professional hearing preparation in Vienna?
In Vienna, Dr. Judith Girschik (ICF Professional Certified Coach, Vice President of ICF Austria) at the Leadership Institute provides professional hearing preparation for senior executives. Over 140 five-star Google reviews, 15 years of own management experience in international companies, and lecturing positions at Vienna universities and universities of applied sciences form the basis. Sessions take place at the office in central Vienna or online — in English or German.
How do I prepare for a hearing for a senior executive position?
A professional hearing preparation has five components: (1) strategic positioning — the two or three core messages your commission should take away; (2) hearing concept and vision for the role; (3) answers to the difficult questions a hearing typically raises; (4) presentation coaching with structure and dramaturgy; (5) realistic hearing simulation. Typical scope: three to six sessions over two to six weeks.
What is the difference between a hearing and a classic job interview?
A hearing is typically conducted by a commission of three to ten people, often representing different stakeholder perspectives (supervisory board, HR, employee representation, owners). It almost always includes a presentation component (vision, strategy, first 100 days), in-depth subject-matter questions, and deliberately critical questions. A classic interview involves one to three people in a more conversational, less formal format. Hearing preparation is therefore correspondingly more demanding.
Do you offer application coaching (CV, cover letter, interview)?
Yes. Application coaching is part of our career coaching portfolio. We give feedback on CV and cover letter, optimise documents together, prepare you for interviews (in person or digital), hearings and assessment centres, and review your LinkedIn and other professional profiles.
Do you offer career coaching in English for expats in Vienna?
Yes. Sessions for senior executives are conducted in fluent international business English, in person in central Vienna or via secure video. Approximately one in five clients is an international executive working in Austria or the wider DACH region.
How is career coaching different from working with an executive search firm?
A search consultant is paid by the hiring company and incentivised to place you in their open mandate. A career coach works for you. Sessions are confidential, aligned to your long-term direction, and not tied to any specific opportunity.
What does executive career coaching cost?
Fees are at the standard C-level rate of EUR 480 per hour, plus VAT. The first 30-minute consultation is complimentary and entirely confidential. Most engagements run between four and eight sessions, depending on scope.
Can you prepare me for an Austrian board interview or supervisory board hearing?
Yes. Board hearings, structured assessment centres, and executive panel interviews common in Austrian and German corporate selection are a core focus. Preparation includes the cultural codes that international executives often find unfamiliar.
Is everything we discuss confidential?
Yes. Confidentiality is governed by the ICF Code of Ethics. Nothing is shared with third parties. Many clients hold board, supervisory or C-level mandates and need a sounding board outside their organisation.
Do I need to speak German to benefit from career coaching in Vienna?
No. Many of our clients live and work in Vienna without speaking German, or with only basic German skills. Career coaching focuses on clarifying your direction, sharpening your positioning, and preparing for conversations with employers — including how to navigate the specific cultural context of the Austrian market. Where German would genuinely accelerate your progress, we discuss that openly; where it would not, we will not make it a gating factor.
What makes career coaching for expats in Vienna different from generic career coaching?
Three things. First, understanding of the Austrian market — how decisions are made, how CVs and interviews are read locally, and how your international experience translates. Second, practical experience of working across cultures at senior levels, not just theoretical knowledge. Third, a focus on your real constraints as an international professional: visa timing, partner’s situation, network-building from zero, and the reality of operating as a minority in a local context.
Can sessions take place online if I am still abroad or travelling frequently?
Yes. While many clients prefer in-person sessions at our office in central Vienna, we deliver coaching online via secure video when travel, timing, or geography require it. A typical engagement blends both formats — for example, an in-person first session once you have arrived, followed by a mix of in-person and online sessions as your calendar allows.
How many sessions does a typical career coaching engagement involve?
Most career coaching engagements span six to nine months and involve approximately ten sessions of 90 minutes each. The exact scope depends on what you want to achieve — some clients reach clarity within three to four sessions, others use the full arc to implement and embed a significant change. The free 30-minute initial consultation is designed to give us both a realistic sense of the scope before any commitment.
How do I know whether career coaching is the right fit for my situation?
Career coaching works well when you have a real decision or transition in front of you — a change of role, sector, or country, a stuck feeling you want to resolve, or a new mandate you want to start well. It works less well when the primary issue is clinical, financial, or legal; in those cases, we refer to appropriate specialists. The free initial consultation is designed precisely to test fit before any engagement begins.
Can my employer sponsor the coaching?
Yes, and frequently does. For senior executives, career coaching is often funded as part of a leadership development budget, a relocation package, or a transition agreement. We provide clear proposals and invoicing that make internal approval straightforward. If you are unsure whether this applies to your situation, we can walk through it in the initial consultation.
Ready to discuss your next career move — in confidence?
A 30-minute initial conversation is complimentary and entirely confidential. You will leave with a clearer view of where coaching can add value for you — with no obligation to continue.
A 30-minute initial conversation is complimentary and entirely confidential. You will leave with a clearer view of where coaching can add value for you — with no obligation to continue.
Need More Information?
For organisations: career development for a whole team
When a whole team rather than one individual is to work on professional growth, our Professional Development Retreat for Teams is the right format: one day with an anonymous personality profile, shared team rules and a personal 30-day plan for everyone.