How To Fast Track Your Job Search – An Interview With Shaz Shafiq

The rate at which job seekers complain about failing job interviews and their resume being snubbed has  been really appalling.

It seems the recruiters and hiring managers are deriving pleasure in hurting the job seekers. Who knows? You can’t treat job seekers like a piece of trash simply because they are looking for jobs. Considering the fact that we are all job seekers.

However, I could rant from now till the end of the world, it won’t change anything. Rather, it will continue to go on until we find a lasting solution to this problem. That has motivated me to search for help from experts like Shaz Shafiq.

Shaz Shafiq is a job search consultant that offers a worldwide service for job seekers and those looking to transition into another career.

Can you please share your journey on how you started and grow to become a job search consultant?

I started my career as a university graduate with a 2:2 degree in economics. Economics taught me the concept of money, but it didn’t teach me how to make money. Straight out of university, I ended up in 3 jobs, a day job, a night job and a weekend job. Working in excess of 90 hours a week to make ends meet. After speaking to my dad, I realized I am working hard but not working smart. So I quit the day job and the weekend job. I decided to apply and get into contracting based work for banking. Within 2 years I managed to secure a six figure contract.

Once I learnt and understood how to work my way to the top of the ladder with limited experience. I started helping all my family and friends who are all now earning in excess of £60k+. This is when Transform Learning Academy was born, to help and show professionals how they can fast track their career.

I do come across your posts most times on LinkedIn, and I must admit that they are really golden nuggets. Can you talk more about your advocacy for job seekers and career transitioning?

The greatest advice I could give is, it is all about positioning and strategy. Think of it like buying a watch, you have a casio watch and a rolex. Both tell the exact same time. But which would you pay more for and why?

You would naturally pay more for the rolex because the way they brand and sell themselves. In the same way we need to brand and position ourselves in a similar format so we can attract more higher paid roles. This can be done by the power of using linkedin and producing valuable content.

Looking at the complaints from job seekers about not getting jobs or scaling through the interview, what do you think is wrong?

A lot of people don’t rehearse or prepare enough for an interview. Using the popular STAR approach is key when starting off an interview. But the further you go into an interview the more you go towards the DOCTOR approach. The DOCTOR approach diagnoses the client to find out what their business problem is, and provides them with the relevant solution to position yourself as a specialist.

You have worked with many job seekers and recorded outstanding successes with lots of testimonials to back them, what can you say about the problem confronting them (job seekers) at the initial stage?

The initial stage is taking the relevant action, most people want a quick fix and don’t want to put the time and effort in to securing a higher paying job or contract. The other is a lot of people don’t set 5 year goals. If you’re not tracking, recording or measuring where you’re at. How do you know if what you’re doing is right?

You write more about CVS, what makes a CV good or bad?

Writing tangible results. Most people write a CV with the view of writing about themselves and not writing about what they could do for the business they are applying to. Your CV is like an investment brochure which has tangible results on how much time and money you have made or saved the company. This is what distinguishes good CV’s from the bad CV’s.

How can someone who wants to work in a foreign country write his/her CV to suit a foreign company?

The best strategy is to outline your tangible results and show how you can help fix the companies problems. Also give them the option to outsource their work, where you can work remotely and save the company so much time and money by doing so. 

Do you think LinkedIn can play a good role for job seekers in landing jobs?

Absolutely, Linkedin is the most used platform in the world by recruiters looking to headhunt candidates. The more job seekers use linkedin, the greater the chance they have of being headhunted by recruiters and employers.

If you would advise a job seeker and an employee looking to transition into another role, what would your advice be?

We are running free training on exactly how professionals could transition into a new role without having the direct experience. 

There are 3 steps to be able to transition into a new career successfully:

1. Gain the relevant qualification
2. Tailor your CV where you are using your current experiences and transferring them across to the new position
3. Gain OMNI presence using linkedin with a clear strategy.

We have helped many students to get through this hurdle – learn more. 

What will you tell undergraduates about job hunting in the labour market?

That they need 3 key things to set the foundation of their career so they can scale their career faster. They need
An Offline Network, An Online network using Linkedin and the ability to track their results as to how much time and money they have made or saved a company.

Thank you, Shaz Shafiq, for your time. I wish you great success in your career.

You are always welcome, Chinedu. I’m honored to be on your show.