Caryn Thomas

Why did you decide to study an MBA?

I decided to study an MBA as I’d been self-employed for quite some time and I was looking to return to a corporate position and decided to go and find myself some tertiary education and qualifications to support my return. I was looking at the type of courses I would undertake, and when I found the MBA, I decided that that was probably a good selection of subjects that would help me to move into the roles that I was looking for.

Where do you see this MBA taking you?

I definitely see the MBA taking me a lot further in my career than without it. It’s been quite an experience, because I now feel that I’ve had a lot more doors open to myself, and some of the conversations I’ve been able to have, feeling a lot more confident to be able to approach people in different roles and organizations, and just simply to reach out and have a conversation. I think that it’s definitely going to be a whole new world in front of me now.

How has the MBA helped your confidence?

I believe the MBA through AIB has definitely given me a lot of confidence. Going into the course, I had been self-employed for almost 20 years. And I think you become quite boxed in and you almost compartmentalise yourself from the world. You sort of lose a little bit of perspective around what’s actually happening outside in a corporate position.

Having the qualifications behind me and having gone through the journey, it’s definitely given me a lot more confidence to speak up; when I’m sitting at a boardroom table I actually have something of value to add to the conversation and I’m able to start conversations and not feel that maybe I’m going to get laughed at or I’m not going to come at it from the right perspective – I just honestly feel now I have something to contribute.

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