My motoring inspiration: Ayub Moosa

The head of The Manchester College’s automotive department explains his a career diversion, having swapped computing for helping talented youngsters succeed

What made you chose automotive as a career path?

If I’m being honest, when I left school, I wanted to do computing. It was all about the shift from something called a 486 PC to a Pentium. That was the big “wow” moment for the computer sector at the time.

I went to college and joined the computing class, but I turned up for day one of it and hated it, because they put me into computer programming.

I went to get some career advice and they directed me to automotive. To be fair, my father used to work in a car accessories shop and I would go and help out sometimes, so I knew the different parts. It certainly helped that I knew what a brake pad was or what an alternator was.

How did you progress from there?

The more I studied automotive, the more I wanted to do it, and eventually an opportunity came up to get a job working for a Volkswagen dealership. It was just upwards and onwards from that point on really.

How did your career develop after you finished studying?

I studied and worked at Blackburn College from 1995 until 2016. My apprenticeship morphed into getting a job as a technician at the college.

As a technician, I was looking after all the tools and equipment in the workshops, the ramps and the cars, working with the lecturers to ensure all the equipment was working.

From there, I became an assessor at the college, followed by roles as a teacher and a manager. The beauty of my career is that I’ve done every role; I know what it’s like to be a technician, an assessor and a teacher. I’ve held each of those roles.

How has all that experience helped you in your current role at The Manchester College?

I know what the challenges are, and I know the mindset of the team and the students.

My current role throws up challenges every single day, but my experience makes it easier. It means I know when I need to step in and interject, and most importantly, having done it for so long, I can almost foresee issues coming down the line.

What piece of advice would you give to the next generation of talent looking at automotive as a career?

I’d say some days are good, but some days are hard. The main thing is to concentrate on the positives and never stop learning and sharing what you’ve learned. That’s the bit people forget; they get the information, they learn it, but they don’t pass it on.

Ayub Mooosa is Director of Automotive and Logistics at The Manchester College

To feature in our next edition, email james.scoltock@thinkpublishing.co.uk. Who are your motoring inspirations? Let us know and you could be featured. email the MotorPro editor.

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