MBAs are commonly used as a professional stepping stone, but how do they actually empower successful career progression? We’ve interviewed three of our graduates who have gone on to surpass their professional goals, to gather their thoughts on how graduating from a University of Limerick MBA helped achieve career progression.
Studying an MBA not only increases your skill set, it can encourage you to embrace new challenges too. This proves invaluable for progressing your career, whether it’s helping you gain new employment during a career change or advancing in your current company. UL graduate Mark Condon credits his MBA with helping him embrace the challenge of securing a new role as Finance Director at a different firm.
“In year two of studying the MBA, I was considering how best to maximise the return on my investment in the MBA. I had been with my previous employer for 18 years and I decided to make a career change. The result was that while working on my thesis during year two I was also interviewing for new roles. I changed roles shortly after completing the MBA, and I have no doubt that the MBA made the difference between success and failure in securing a new position.
I have continued to leverage my learnings from the MBA, particularly my learnings around leadership. I have been provided the opportunity to share specific learnings from my thesis with other employees in my current organisation. Being able to demonstrate what I learnt from the U.L. MBA in a new company has proved invaluable in an environment with new challenges and people to impress.”
Mark Condon, Finance Director, Teleflex Medical
MBA programmes strive to give you new perspectives during your studies. They encourage you to critically analyse your work, not just in academia but also in the work force. This constant evaluation leads to more innovative decision making, which ultimately helps you progress through the ranks quicker. UL MBA graduate, Enda Corneille, attributes his change of career to the new perspectives gained through studying the MBA.
“Having worked my way through the commercial organization of Aer Lingus over many years, studying an MBA at UL in 2010 was my first brush with formal education since I left school. However, the MBA provided an academic framework to much of what I had been doing, unearthing new disciplines and fascinating new perspectives.
Ultimately, it forced me to re-evaluate my career path in a single company and gave me the confidence and the tools to venture out of my comfort zone and trust and test my skills and experience in the wider industry.
As a result of undertaking the MBA, I was also effectively stung by the "academic bug". In 2012, I took up a new role as a global instructor at IATA in Geneva, completing teaching assignments with a number of airlines in Europe, the Middle East and China before I was appointed Country Manager Ireland for Emirates in 2014.”
Enda Corneille, Country Manager - Ireland, Emirates
MBA programmes don’t just improve your professional skillset, they also help you develop on personal level. This can power career progression by helping you stand out in competitive environments and giving you the confidence to put yourself forward for new opportunities. As UL MBA graduate Denise Mangan-Fahy declares, this personal growth can prove instrumental in progressing your career.
“My MBA has been instrumental in my promotion at work to a new role. I had a deep understanding of commercial aviation finance and leasing business gained through my experience however I developed personally & professionally through the MBA experience which enabled me to understand the importance of strategic focus and operational excellence in a competitive environment.
Completing my MBA signalled my career intentions upwards and positioned me to have the necessary qualifications and confidence to pursue my role once the opportunity presented.”
Denise Mangan-Fahy, SVP, of Portfolio Planning & Operations at GE Capital Aviation Service
We hope this post demonstrates how an MBA can progress your career. For more information on how enrolling in an MBA programme can help you reach your career goals, read our previous posts on or get in touch.
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