Villads Riber Mink
MSc in Digital Innovation & Management. Consultant at Devoteam.
WHO?
I was born and raised in Funen. I moved to Copenhagen to study at ITU, and now I live in Charlottenlund with my girlfriend. My interest in IT goes way back. In the 9th grade, I started a support company with a friend. We helped people with small things like installing printers, drivers, and so on. We made good money. In high school, I started windsurfing, and this has been my passion ever since.
WHERE?
I'm a consultant in Devoteam’s Digitization & Business Services team. We are an IT consulting company working with business development, always with an element of IT. I was a junior consultant for a year before I became a full-time employee. I think it's great to have an unpredictable work life, and really enjoy meeting people and seeing different places. The consulting industry is the right place to work if you love change.
WHAT?
My workdays vary a lot depending on the project I'm working on. At the moment, I spend almost all my time with a client. I work with strategy, business development and innovation. It’s all about using IT to create a more profitable business. The solution isn’t necessarily written in stone - it's about people. In my job, I can see that clients benefit from the work we do, and that’s the main motivation for me. Typically, I’m working on 3-4 projects at a time, so it’s important to prioritize my time. You have to be structured, but the flexibility works really well with my surfing hobby.
WHY?
I took my whole education at ITU. I started out studying Global Business Informatics, and DIM seemed like a good extension. My brother studied software, but that was too technical for me. I wanted to understand business, and I'm more outgoing. So I wanted a combination of IT and people. I liked both the academic and social side of ITU. Since it’s a small university, there are good opportunities connect with your fellow students. That has been valuable for me. The informal approach means that you can talk to the professors, and the subjects were interesting to me.
BEST ADVICE
I would recommend getting a student job from the very beginning. It has helped me a lot to see abstract ideas carried out on a very practical level. Don’t be afraid that you don’t have the skills from day one. Companies are interested training you.