Lindley Jones isn’t your average MBA student. Living on a hobby farm in Nungerner, East Gippsland where she breeds miniature highland cows, Lindley is a mother of four and a paramedic with Ambulance Victoria.
Having been on the road as a paramedic for the past 20 years, Lindley wanted to expand her options and eventually shift from a clinical role into more of a managerial role, which is what motivated her to start an MBA.
Working full-time and living in regional Australia, Lindley needed to find a course that was flexible enough to slot in to her busy schedule. Choosing a fully online course was a logical option, as it means that she doesn’t have to spend hours commuting to her closest university campus.
“The convenience of online study is great, you can pinch a few hours here and there. It’s also very flexible. For example, I was able to take last summer off completely so I could spend time with my family and kids”, says Lindley.
Lindley has thoroughly enjoyed the MBA so far and believes it has already had a significant impact on her career.
“I have recently joined the Quality Committee at Ambulance Victoria after having served on the board of Bairnsdale Regional Health Service for the past four years. Doing my MBA certainly increased my chances of landing these roles and has improved my capacity to perform on a board.
"A year ago, before starting the MBA, if you had shown me the annual report of a major multinational company and asked me to analyse their financial figures, I would have run a mile. But now I can quite comfortably look through the financials of a company like Coca Cola Amatil and understand what the figures mean” says Lindley.
With so much on her plate, Lindley makes time to study in the evenings and on her days off, and can log in to read the learning materials and connect with her classmates at a time most convenient for her.
She would highly recommend studying an MBA through Swinburne Online to others, and has been impressed with the support offered.
“The teachers at Swinburne Online are understanding of our busy lives and have a great way of communicating online, especially in the collaborate sessions. This kind of support really makes you feel engaged” says Lindley