Freeing himself from imposter syndrome: a look back at the journey of Karim Al Sawah, 2020 alumni, Operations Administrator at Amazon and 2019 finalist in the CEO for one Month competition
“CEO for One Month” to return in 2021
Until March the 19th, MBS students are invited to join the “CEO for One Month” competition held by our major partner Adecco. After a selection process based on soft skills, the winner will have the opportunity to share the daily life of Alexandre Viros, President of The Adecco Group (France), and to participate in strategic projects during one month.
In 2019, Karim Al Sawah made it to the final. He is now a graduate and Operations Administrator at Amazon.
Registration is open until March the 19th.
In 2019, Karim seized the opportunity of the competition to remove psychological obstacles and refine his professional project
When Karim took part in the competition in 2019, he was still a co-op student at Spring, a consulting
firm in Haute Savoie. “It was my manager who told me about the competition and suggested I apply. At the very beginning, I didn’t think I would be able to succeed: in my opinion, you had to have a solid background of professional experience to have a chance of passing the first stages. “The young graduate explains. “I also had another obstacle: my professional project was still very vague at the time. In concrete terms, I wanted to test all the positions in the company. “
Encouraged by his professional entourage to take part in the competition, Karim went through the various stages of the competition, which consisted of personality tests and professional scenarios. “Until the final, I didn’t realise that I was passing the stages. I had psychological blocks based on assumptions, like the fact that the jury would not choose me because they had already chosen someone with a similar profile. That’s when I decided to get rid of this type of mental block, to stop looking for an external justification for my performance in the competition, and to give it my all until the final. “says Karim.
Karim, from Adecco to Amazon
Karim, who graduated in 2020, is one of the students whose career plans were affected by the Covid19 crisis. “Initially, I thought I would continue working for the company where I had done my
co-op student placement. The first lockdown made this impossible. At the same time, Amazon opened
its offices five minutes from my home. Maybe it was a sign. When I look at the Amazon page on LinkedIn, I realise that employees are not confined to a job description and that they move quickly. It is this agility that I am looking for today, because it suits those who appreciate versatility in their missions. “Karim, who is currently working as an Operations Administrator at Amazon, concludes.
