Gavin Smith

What are the greatest personal and professional benefits you’ve experienced from the MBA so far?

I’ve received a number of benefits from having studied for the MBA. Even whilst I was studying for it, my employers were somewhat impressed with the speed with which I acquired the qualification. So, they started looking at me in a different light and giving me other opportunities.

Since then I’ve acquired a position that I don’t think I would have acquired if I had not taken the MBA and they are currently considering me for an even more senior position. So it’s been very beneficial.

How are you applying the skills that you learnt from the MBA to your role?

I’m applying the skills that I’ve learnt in my MBA in a number of ways. First and foremost, it’s actually given me the confidence to be assertive in terms of what I think I already knew, but I now actually know I know through the study. But, there are many instances where I find myself in situations where I am able to draw on the studies that I have done and just seem somewhat more convincing in the arguments that I put forward.

What advice would you give someone looking to study online with AIB whilst still maintaining a work-life balance?

I would advise anybody considering undertaking the MBA to give the study every opportunity. Do not judge it based on first impressions. The first units are inevitably tough and difficult, but what you find as you pass through the initial units is you develop your own rhythm and you develop your own style of study. There is no right or wrong way of studying; everybody has their own way of studying, and as long as you can keep going, you’ll develop the confidence to get to the end.

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