Success Stories

Not long after Chuck Armstrong (Executive MBA '95) retired from the United States Marine Corps in 1991, he began to look at Executive MBA (EMBA) programs as a means of refreshing his management skills, expanding his civilian network, and exploring different industry career paths. Following a distinguished military career in which he rose from the rank of private to Lieutenant Colonel and earned 35 decorations, medals, and citations – including the Purple Heart and two awards for extraordinary courage under fire – Armstrong investigated 16 EMBA programs around the country. He selected the Cox School's EMBA Program because of its emphasis on leadership and unique entrepreneurial flavor.

"Although I already had an MS in general management," Armstrong noted, "the Cox experience gave me most of my real business education. The combination of exceptional faculty and study-group interaction provided a unique learning opportunity. I have found a business application for every subject I studied in the EMBA Program."

While he was in the EMBA Program, Armstrong began developing a set of career management techniques that reflected his personal career management style. "The ideas and insights I incorporated into my career management techniques are pretty much common sense," Armstrong stated. "My techniques are based on the assumptions that no job is forever, that each job should be a stepping stone, and that each individual is responsible for managing his or her own career."

At that time, the Cox School had no formal program for helping EMBA graduates change jobs or career paths. The techniques Armstrong developed were so well received by his EMBA classmates that the Cox MBA Career Management Center (CMC) asked him to help teach one of its required courses. In the CMC's Management 6101 class for Professional MBA students, Armstrong imparts a number of job-searching tips.

Focus on the job(s) you really want. Don't get sidetracked looking at jobs you don't want.

If the wolf's at the door, get a job that will help subsidize your real job search, but do that job well because you'll need the reference eventually.

Know your value in every marketplace you prowl, and don't sell yourself short.

Concentrate your search on jobs that will allow you to exploit your real interests, talents, skills, and education.

Get what you want, not what you will settle for, even if the search takes a little longer.

Don't be discouraged by the current – or any other – job changing environment. There is always plenty of opportunity for quality leaders. Some years it just takes a little longer to spot a fit.

Since earning his EMBA, Armstrong has applied his Cox education and career management techniques while serving in a number of leadership positions in the manufacturing, consulting, and technical services industries. He also has published more than 40 articles on leadership and management and has taught leadership seminars at universities, corporations, and the FBI Academy. Today, Armstrong is a service delivery executive for IBM's Global Services division.