Welcome to our next interview in our exciting new series, Activate Allstars, celebrating the amazing people that work for Activate Group and their achievements.
We spoke to Shazad Din who is currently an Apprentice Engineer at sopp+sopp. Shazad has had an interesting career with us so far, working in multiple different departments across sopp+sopp to get to where he is now.
Read on to learn more about Shazad’s role, how he went from the First Response Team to Engineering, and what he’s working towards for his future…
When did you start at Activate Group and what role were you in?
I’ve been at Activate Group for 7 years and originally began working in the First Response Team at sopp+sopp.
What first attracted you to your initial role within Activate Group?
Unfortunately I was made redundant from my previous job, and I needed to find somewhere to work to support my family. I imagined this role as a pit-stop, but little did I know that I’d be able to progress into a career that I love at this company.
Why did you want to progress within the business?
My manager at the beginning was Gavin Cassels, and he supported me a lot with changing my shift pattern to suit my home life and offering me lots of overtime when needed on FRT.
I did however want to progress from the call centre role, so when sopp+sopp won the Centrica contract and needed a bespoke team, I was happy to try something new as a Customer Handler when I was nominated to make the move.
I spent 4 and a half years on the Centrica team, but I still felt like I had more to offer and wanted a different career still within the industry.
What steps did you take to move forward into the role you wanted?
When I worked on the Centrica team, I became closer with our dedicated engineer as I was fascinated by how he did his job. I’ve always been interested in cars, helped my brother who owns his own bodyshop with repairs, and I love to tinker with my own car too.
I started to research more about the engineering side of repairs, which then led to me planning to fund my own engineering apprenticeship. I was letting people know that I was going to do this, when Stephen Durrant told me that I should undertake the apprenticeship as part of the scheme at Activate Group. We then found the right one for me, enrolled, and I’m now well into the apprenticeship with the end in sight!
What support was offered to you in order to help you progress?
I expressed that I wanted to progress in the company without going into senior management, as this was just something that I didn’t see for myself. Taking on the engineering apprenticeship with Stephen’s support offered me the opportunity to make working at Activate Group into a real career for me.
What does your role now entail?
Doing the apprenticeship means that I spend a lot of my time learning new knowledge and skills – I’ve been supported by the well-established engineers at sopp+sopp, so throughout my apprenticeship I’ve been sitting alongside them and learning extra tips and advice along the way. Everyone works differently, so being able to learn from multiple engineers and their wealth of various expertise has been very useful for me.
I’ve worked on total losses, authorising third-party claims, and most recently – engineering for Centrica! Working with my old team, using the previous knowledge I have of this customer and utilising the relationships I have built has felt like a full circle moment for me.
What advice would you give to someone who wants to progress into a different role within Activate Group?
If you can do something you love, take it with both hands and give it 110%. Speak up about what you want to do – I was offered this engineering apprenticeship after expressing that I was going to fund one myself.
I believe there’s a lot of hidden talent at Activate Group, and if you’ve been here for a while and want to progress it’s definitely worth making use of the support the company can provide you with in order to succeed.
What is your proudest moment as part of the business?
The fact that I can now authorise jobs myself after gaining the skills I need! Receiving praise from my manager for correctly applying my knowledge just gives me so much motivation and the confidence to keep going.
What is the greatest challenge you’ve faced within your journey so far?
There are many courses to take regarding different vehicles, and the level 3 EV course that I completed was definitely a challenge for me.
Unfortunately, my apprenticeship mentor has also recently left, so I am currently going through the challenge of the provider finding a new one so I can finish my course later this year.
In the meantime, working as an engineer for the Centrica team and learning from the experienced engineers at sopp+sopp is helping me continue to move forwards.
What do you see for your future at Activate Group?
I just want to keep learning more and improving my skills to become an expert engineer. There’s always more qualifications and training to undertake as an engineer – the industry is constantly growing and changing, so in my career I will need to adapt to this.
In the near future I want to complete an ADAS course, and after that I’m happy to just continue on this journey and forge my career in engineering here.
To learn more about Activate Group’s career & apprenticeship opportunities, across all our businesses and brands:
