Welcome to Brazen Careerist!

About Me

my name is SADYA - pronounce it as 'SA' as in salsa, 'D' as in 'Thee' , and 'YA' as in yeah I get it

My Employment History:

JUNE 2011 TO DATE
Personal Branding Consultant

AUGUST 2003 TO MAY 2011
At a leading bank in Pakistan; it is one of the largest commercial banks & the second largest bank in the private sector of the country.

Positions Held:

April 2007 to May 2011
Assistant Vice President / Manager Marketing Branchless Banking, Internet Marketing & Outbound Sales
Ecommerce Department
Responsible for the Sales & Marketing of the E-Commerce and M-Commerce services of the Bank namely the Internet Banking & Mobile banking. Also responsible for deposit mobilization of the electronic-based deposit accounts for non-resident Pakistanis. As part of a strategic initiative of the Group, I ran a telesales unit for the deposit mobilization of the branch-based deposit accounts for residents.

August 2003 - April 2007
Manager Corporate Communications & Public Affairs,
Marketing & Corporate Communications Department
As a member of the core team that launched the new Corporate Identity of the bank after its privatization in 2002, I started the Corporate Communications function of the bank.
Corporate Communications responsibilities included looking after the corporate branding, event management, corporate endorsements and public affairs. Developing & maintaining high profile media contacts, arranging media coverage for product launches & corporate events through in-house resources. Wrote numerous press releases, website content and revived the in-house Corporate newsletter.

I later took on additional responsibilities of handing Marketing Services function of the department included managing branding, packaging & advertising activities of all consumer & commercial products; developing & implementing consumer promotion strategies to enhance the sales and image of the bank.

APRIL 2002 - AUGUST 2003
Client Service Executive at a mid-sized advertising agency
Major clients included a popular children's confectionery products manufacturer, a leading mutual fund companies and an international oil exploration company.

Responsibilities included management of key accounts, pitching for new clients and media buying.

OCTOBER 2001 - DECEMBER 2001
Intern, Human Resources Department at BP Pakistan Production & Exploration Inc., Karachi
BP p.l.c, the international oil exploration & production company, in Pakistan has a coveted Field Trainee program through which talented individuals are inducted from the Interior Sindh (outside Karachi) region where the company has its plant.

Responsibilities included working on the project of the induction of field trainees.
Screened & evaluated over 2000 applicants, organized the entrance test, checked the answer sheets and organized the interviews of the shortlisted candidates. The chosen field trainees underwent rigorous training abroad to become future managers.

JUNE 2001 - JULY 2001
Intern, Marketing Services Department at Lever Brothers Pakistan Limited, (now known as Unilever Pakistan Ltd)
Unilever, the international consumer goods giant, also has its presence in Pakistan where it is the largest consumer goods company.

Gained first-hand exposure to media planning, buying & research from the perspective of a company as Levers was one of the first companies in Pakistan to use a Media Buying house. Analyzed on-going airtime disputes for a better understanding of the media business.
Compiled the tariff rates for Designing & Creative productions of the advertising agencies of the company and created a standard tariff rate card.

JULY 1999
Intern, Marketing Department at the Cupola Group
The Cupola Group owns the KFC franchise and other food chains in the country along with the largest mall in Karachi.
Worked on the handling customers' queries & gift redemption of the summer festival.

HONORS & AWARDS:

Honor/Award #1:
Valedictorian of the Graduating Batch of 2001,
Institute of Business Management, Karachi

Honor/Award #2:
Core member award for contribution in the successful launch of the mobile banking service of the bank- June 2007

Honor/Award #3:
Awards for contribution in the success of The Business Multiplier programs - May 2004, November 2004, May 2005, August 2006 & February 2007

Honor/Award #4:
Core member award for contribution in the Service & Quality Workshop - January 2004 & 2005

Honor/Award #5:
Core member award for contribution in the launch of the Personal Loans product of the bank - May 2005

Honor/Award #6:
Core member award for contribution in the ATM branding Project - July 2005

Honor/Award #7:
Core member award for the Launch of Internet Banking -June 2004

Honor/Award #8:
Core member award for Agri-Field Staff Training Conference - March 2004

ACTIVITIES OF IMPORTANCE:

Activity #1:
Freelance Book Reviewer, Dawn newspaper
Wrote reviews on books assigned by the Books & Authors section of the leading newspaper of Pakistan

Activity #2:
Volunteer work, Grameen Foundation
Ghostwriter for a paper, being written by the CFO of a Pakistani Micro finance bank

EXTRACURRICULAR ACTIVITIES OF IMPORTANCE:

Activity #1:
Member of the Marketing Society - 2 years
Editor-in-Chief of the society's in-house magazine at the Institute of Business Management.

Activity #2:
Event Coordination, Annual Talent Show
Event Coordinator for the annual in-house talent show at Institute of Business Management.

Activity #3:
Scriptwriting for the Dramatics Society
Scriptwriter of the one of the skits presented in talent show at Institute of Business Management.

Activity #4:
Writing for the Pakistan Business Review
Reviewed "22 Immutable Laws of Marketing" by Al Ries for the research journal published by the Institute of Business Management.

Work History

• Writer

• http://tinyurl.com/Ballots-Bullets

  http://tinyurl.com/EscapeToEden

  http://bcweb1.brazencareerist.com/2010/07/07/do-you-regret-becoming-an-entrepreneur
  http://everydaybright.com/2010/06/22/much-ado-about-to-do-lists/

  http://blog.efrodol.com/blogpostdetail.aspx?bid=8#comments (wrote this under pseudonym Zoya Khan)

Education

• Institute of Business Managment, Karachi , Pakistan
• MBA, Marketing
• 2001 - 1999

• its actually an undergrad degree according to US/UK standards

• School of Oriental & African Sciences, University of London
• Distance learning/ short course, Political Economy of Public Policy
• 2010 -