Secrets to success: from trainee to manager

We caught up with Tahmid who has developed over the years from a trainee to an expert within the contracts market in Singapore and now managing multiple contracts teams for SThree. He shared with us the opportunities he was given within SThree and how that helped him to grow his career into one that is in line with his aspirations.

Tahmid’s background

Tahmid Bin Zafar, was fresh out of university for less than a year, had a short stint within corporate sales before he decided to join SThree as a recruiter. He was determined to master his expertise in sales and business development after his prior experience. Possessing an avid interest within the STEM industry, he believed that his passion could help him to create a positive impact, whether it’s business development or recruitment.

From that promising beginning, he is now a Contracts Team Manager, managing multiple successful contracts team in SThree, covering both Singapore and Hong Kong markets.

Career progression that is in line with personal aspirations

Tahmid shared, “SThree has given me multiple opportunities that are in line with my aspirations – whether the learning curve or career progression. Although transitions are usually hard at the start, with a clear goal and a supportive management team it can be a very seamless experience. For instance, I’ve moved from the permanent team to contracts within the first year in SThree but it seemed very natural for me because I actually enjoyed the role much more.”

Tahmid was also most recently asked to take on the management of another contracts team within the banking and technology market, in addition to his life sciences team. But his approach in connecting with key stakeholders, learning from individuals who have experience in the field both short of long term alike and being extremely adaptable has helped both him and the new team tremendously. He was able to assimilate into the team very quickly whilst the team was able to learn from his expertise as a contracts manager.

In his words, “I’ve always been an ambitious individual so having an opportunity to dominate multiple specialism markets in a new industry was a very interesting challenge. And this came just as I have successfully established myself within the various vertical markets within the life sciences sector. All of these have taught me to be an adaptable, versatile as well as dynamic individual.”

Not only has Tahmid grew into his role, he has embedded great teamwork within his team and have great camaraderie with his colleagues. More importantly, he has transformed into one who always had his customers’ interests at heart. As a charismatic leader, he also champions Customer Experience in our Singapore office and has successfully driven this across his team and the wider group.

Championing Customer Experience

Driving customer experience in Singapore, Tahmid is a role model in providing bespoke and tailored experiences to his customers. He actively seeks to understand the concerns his customers face and is proactive in catering to their needs.

His customers often praised him for his dedication and initiative in providing end-to-end services, and is always tip-top in making the effort to check in on them. He shared with us, “I am very passionate about understanding our clients and candidates’ feedback so that we can improve on our services where needed, take on-board any suggestions and find an innovative solution to any challenges. This will allows us to prove a holistic, bespoke solution that truly benefits our clients in their organisations. It will also allow us to maintain our standards of service and these are the hallmark of great contract recruitment where we partner with our clients for a long time. We add value to them by giving them recruitment advice, strategic and reliable support and most importantly, a great customer experience.”

Achieving multiple milestones with SThree

Success comes with determination, drive, and consistency. This has been proven by Tahmid’s outstanding track records. Apart from being one of the top billers in the office, he has also hit various other milestones such as being the Most Improved Consultant in SThree Singapore within his first two years of the company.

He shared, “It is fulfilling to be in a company that recognises your achievements and I count myself extremely lucky to have had the chance to visit places from Mumbai, to New Zealand, Vietnam, Bali and Phuket as a qualifier for our local and regional incentive Super Trips.”

He further added, “I was given great exposure to speak at our regional conference as well, and I am also humbled to have won the Customer Experience Champion for APAC MENA. Driving great customer experience is a key value that I truly believe in and it is heartening to see my customers being appreciative of the service that we provide as a company through the positive feedback that we receive.”

Making a big impact to the business and being a key player in the team, it makes me extremely proud to see how the people you develop have come through in the organisation and have grown so much in the last five to six years in their career. And this is what I truly enjoy in my job – the ability to not only help our clients and candidates but also to develop our people, unleash their potential and grow their career.

But of course, it was also Tahmid’s perseverance and pursuit of excellence that propelled him to his role today. Apart from his passion, he brings a positive attitude that has given him resilience to work through challenges and the ability to use those as a springboard for success.