A graduate was offered a job with a top insurance firm less than 12 hours after he stood outside a City Tube station with a sign advertising his skills.
Omar Bashir, 23, used patter he learned on his father’s Petticoat Lane market stall to sweet-talk potential employers.
Mr Bashir has a 2:1 degree in economics from City University, but could not progress from his entry-level marketing job despite sending nearly 100 applications.
So he took the advice of his father Mohammed, who told him: “You can sell anything.”
He said: “The graduate job market is extremely competitive and good grades are not good enough. I decided to do something that made me stand out. I used to work in Petticoat Lane market and Brick Lane at the weekends with my father and my uncle, selling women’s clothes and mobile phone accessories. I picked up a lot of my selling skills from there.”
Mr Bashir, from Newham, took his search to the Square Mile three times. On the first occasion he went to Bank at 7am with his sign and 40 copies of his CV, which were taken by executives including company directors.
He had several interviews but no firm offers, so he headed to Cannon Street station. On the morning of his second day there he met David Ross, chief executive of insurance advisers and brokers Arthur J.Gallagher.
Mr Bashir had an interview that day and “by 6.30pm I walked out with a job”. Mr Ross said: “Omar’s work ethic, inclusive nature, willingness to learn and humility means that he has fitted straight into the organisation.”
