Sohaib Mustafa, University of Manchester

“I’m about to go into my third year of the ITMB degree. At Manchester, the ITMB students have really formed a community; we call ourselves the ‘ITMB Lot’. The ITMB degree has helped me to make new friends away from home, network with industry, and not only develop professional skills such as communication, IT, business and industry knowledge, but it has helped me socially in meeting some good friends who are intelligent and great people to be around. At the e-skills UK National ITMB Event last year (when Manchester won the debate competition) we were commended for having such a superb team spirit.

When I think about why I chose the ITMB Degree, I think back to my school days when I was working at BlueZone Study Centre at the Manchester City Football Ground. I helped young children learn how to use software, and learn about maths, science, history, english using computers. It made me realise that my skills were in IT, business and interacting with people of all backgrounds and ages. Subsequently at college, I studied subjects that gave me the skills to think ‘outside the box’; skills that someone doing IT and business needs to develop in order to have that innovative and competitive streak. All of the projects I worked on whilst at college involved industry which made me want to look for further opportunities to work with industry during my university studies, so I ‘googled’ everywhere, until I found the degree that seemed perfect for me – ITMB!

So, it was really a long time ago that I began to map out my choice of career and it remains my ambition despite the current climate. In fact, the ITMB degree helps you to develop the skills to survive in an economic downturn.”