Alumni Spotlight: Samir Bhala
Samir Bhala is a highly analytical, financial professional who spent several years at Nokia before moving to United Airlines where he was a Financial Planning Analyst. Like thousands of other individuals, he was laid off during the economic downturn caused by the pandemic.
Shortly after his layoff, he reached out to CRC through a personal contact with the organization. In just under 12 weeks, with guidance and support from CRC, he was back to work in a great new position at ALDI where he oversees competitive pricing strategies and statistical analysis for a number of their staple commodity service lines.
Samir worked closely with one of CRCs expert advisors who helped him accelerate his efforts and achieve success. The first thing they did was to work on getting his resume ready. “We updated my resume to make it more competitive and cleaner…It had been 8 years since I’d significantly changed my resume, and that really made a difference. We went through it with a fine-tooth comb and analyzed every word, my mission statement and my SAR (situation, action, result) statements”.
His advisor also provided guidance on interview preparation which helped to boost Samir’s confidence so that once he got interviews, he was ready for any question. In addition, Samir met with one of CRC’s LinkedIn specialists to update his profile. That session “helped me bring a level of detail to effectively market myself on LinkedIn” said Samir.
It was that updated LinkedIn profile that ultimately was the key to Samir landing at Aldi. He applied for a position at Aldi (through a recruiter) that went to an internal hire. However, when a new position came up at Aldi, an HR rep saw his resume on LinkedIn, learned that he had been a candidate for another position at Aldi, and contacted him to test his interest in the new role. By then, Samir had already researched the organization and “knew all about its operating model and saw that the company was a great fit” for him. That preparation helped him nail his interviews.
What advice does Samir have to share with current job seekers? “First off, don’t give up! There is no shame in looking for a better job…and don’t be ashamed to ask for help – a place like CRC helps you refresh and gives you something new to offer potential employers”.
- Interview and story by John Strauss, CRC Board Member
