Charmaine Marshall

Charmaine completed her MBA so that she could hold her own in directors meetings, and prepare for a move into executive positions with her new qualification.

  • Location:
    Western Australia
  • Industry:
    Emergency Services
  • Job Function:
    Education
  • Programme:
    MBA
  • Motivation:
    Improve professional credibility Broader Business Knowledge
  • Challenges:
    Balance and Time Management
  • Year of Graduation:
    2018

Why did you decide to study an MBA?

Quite a few reasons I decided to do an MBA. Firstly for professional and personal growth. Next, the credibility it holds both in Australia and internationally, and also to hold my own at the Director’s Meeting so I can actually talk the talk and not feel like an imposter. Also, I felt like I was starring in the same soap opera continually. I wanted to use the MBA to set me up to my next role in the next chapter of my life.

How long did it take you to do the MBA?

Fourteen months. I started off on the 12-month program and then transitioned into when we do the seven-week between each topic, so all done in 14 months.

How are you applying the skills you learned from the MBA to your current role?

Quite subtly, daily. At first you don’t realise you’re doing it until you start talking ‘MBA talk’: you’re mentioning corporate social responsibility and critical thinking and quoting leadership coaching techniques to your peers. Being in the people and culture directorate too, I’m a big believer in applying your skills in the job and always encouraging people to make their learning stick by applying it on the job.

When you first start studying the MBA you’re so focused on getting your subjects finished and then, “What’s next?” that you do have to say, “I know how to do that now and I know how to imply that into a board room or apply that skill in writing a business case.” Before you know it, you’re just doing it quite casually.

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