7 Future focus - MMU has a lot to offer so says Cinderella Orah

Shaun Coltress -London Fire Brigades, ‘Man on a mission

Digital & Solutions Degree

finished my A levels durI ing what was quite a challenging time in my life. My mother was unwell, so when I started looking at my study options, I needed somewhere close to home.

I wasn’t allowed to consider an apprenticeship, as my mother was really against them. The typical African mentality is to go to university and I felt my family were quite uninformed about apprenticeships. Because she was ill, I didn’t push it and I ended up going to university after my mother's death. They didn’t have the course I wanted, so I ended up doing an undergraduate degree in electrical and electronics engineering, which was the closest thing to the route I wanted to do. It wasn’t really for me to be honest.

As my mother passed away just before I started university, I ended up becoming a carer for my siblings. It was too difficult for me to carry on with my degree and I had to take a break in learning.

CHOICE After a while I returned back to university while looking at other routes I could follow instead, that would fit in with my life at the time. I really needed to be earning money

Cinderella Orah - Fujitsu

by then.

I kept hearing more and more about apprenticeships and liked the idea of learning while earning. By this point, after a lot of searching, I’d set my heart on doing software engineering. I’d always been known as The Fixer in my family, as everyone would come to me to fix things when they broke, so it seemed like the perfect choice for me.

When I finally found out about degree apprenticeships, my actual thoughts were:

“Oh wow! Where have you been all my life?”

They were such a game changer.

The job I’m in now was the result of the first interview I had. I’m originally from London and I’d been invited to an interview for a software engineer degree apprenticeship at a Manchester branch of Fujitsu, and I was pleased as it offered the degree qualification, so I went forward with the role at Fujitsu and re-located.

The interview was great and was really interactive. Walking through the doors at the assessment day, I was the only female there. I wasn’t shocked by that to be honest. Fujitsu are always actively trying to recruit more women, but not a lot of women apply for the STEM jobs. I think there needs to be more awareness that women can get into STEM. One of my current mentors was one of the only women in her degree apprenticeship and she’s really made her way to the top, so it’s great to speak to her and learn from her.

OPPORTUNITY

I was really pleased when I got the role and I love my job. I get to work on really interesting projects. In terms of doing a degree apprenticeship at Manchester Metropolitan University, I do find it difficult to balance the work and the study, I’m not going to lie. You’ve got to balance work and studying really well as prioritising one ends up affecting the other. It takes a lot of diligence, but long term the results will definitely be worth it. It’s hard but I have been doing great balancing the two so far.

I’m encouraging my younger siblings to pursue a degree apprenticeship and they’re all looking forward to the opportunity.

For women thinking about getting into technology, I’d say engineering is for anybody. The tech industry has no boundaries, it sees no colour, no gender, it has no preference. Anybody can do it. And we need more women. It makes it more creative to have a mix of people. Companies say they want creative minds but if you just have one group of people you’re not making the most out of what you could get.

Degree apprenticeships available at Manchester Metropolitan University

HERE ARE THE DEGREE APPRENTICESHIPS WE OFFER: • Advanced Clinical Practitioner (Masters) • Architect (Masters) • Chartered Manager • Chartered Manager Fast-Track

Ex ecutive • Chartered Manager Health and

Social Care • Digital & Technology Solutions • Digital & Technology Solutions (Masters) • Digital Marketer • Digital UX Professional • Healthcare Science Practitioner • Laboratory Scientist • MBA Degree Apprenticeship • Retail Leadership • Social Worker

www.mmu.ac.uk/apprenticeships