Caroline Patrick

Why did you decide to study an MBA?

I decided to study an MBA because I felt that with nearly 20 years in marketing roles, I really needed to take the next stage in my career and not be pigeonholed as a marketer and I needed to be able to see a broader view of the business landscape to enable me to take that next step.

Would you attribute any of your career success to having done the MBA?

I absolutely would attribute my career success to my MBA because I finished my MBA earlier on this year and almost immediately was headhunted for the role that I’m currently in. I think it contributed to my appointment to this role because of the situation that we’re in where we’re trying to expand and grow the business. I think if I hadn’t done the MBA, I probably wouldn’t have been such an attractive proposition.

What were the best aspects of being able to study online?

All the best aspects of the AIB and the agile MBA were absolutely that I could do it flexibly and I could do it from home. In the role that I was doing at the time while I was doing my MBA, I was travelling a lot and I was launching a new health insurance fund so it was a very busy time for me, and I also have two children and so my family’s very important. I was able to study when I wanted to and it didn’t matter where I was located at the time.

What advice would you give someone looking to study online with AIB?

The advice that I’d give to someone to get started is just to get started because it’s never the right time to do an MBA. There’s a big commitment involved and it’s certainly very challenging but it’s also extremely rewarding, so I’d say just get started.

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