Haider Malik, was seeking for a job two years back, when the pandemic struck. With all his career plans going awry, he didn’t know what to do, until 2nd November, when he finally gathered courage and bought a board from a stationery shop in Romford, stuck QR codes and linked it with his CV and LinkedIn profile and stood at Canary Wharf tube Station.
The first-class degree holder in Banking & Finance from Middlesex University had been had become a tad bit tired attending endless Zoom call interviews but felt that he couldn’t showcase his personality in an optimum manner. And just like his father Mehmood Malik, a retired cab driver who took a chance and came to UK, he too took a chance and landed a job with the Canary Group as a treasury analyst.
On November 2, he arrived, a bundle of nerves at 6:45 a.m. and watched as the crowds passed by. Initially, he didn’t know what to make of it. But as time passed, he began smiling and interacting with people on way to their offices. And soon, people began reciprocating. He handed his CVs to various passers-by and conversed with them. A lot of them gave him business cards and phone numbers.
Haider recalls, “There was one person called Emmanuel who actually posted a picture of me online. He actually came up to me, he put his hand out and said ‘I wish you well”.
Within an hour of arriving at the station, Haider had exhausted all of his CVs. By 9.30am, he received a message asking him to come to an interview for a role as a Treasury Analyst at the Canary Wharf Group.
After the interview, when Haider went back to his car to head home, he found that his story had gone viral on social media. On Tuesday, he attended his first interview and by Friday evening, he had the job in hand.
Haider’s strategy paid off well and he is now working with Canary Wharf Group in the field of his choice. We could only wish the best for someone with such determination!
