Interviewer: Mariham Magdy

ABOUT THE INTERVIEWEE

Khalifa graduated in 2008. After six months of working at the World Bank, he quit to fulfill his dream of owning his own media and magazine publishing company, Omedia, and set out to get local franchises of international magazines. Still wanting to create a link between companies and job seekers, Khalifa initially started Shaghalni as a publication, but it didn’t pick up. He pitched it as a website to different venture capitalists at the time, but was rejected all three times. 2011 brought the market to a halt and Khalifa found himself in deep debt. It took three years for Omedia to pick up again, pay off all the debts and restart Shaghalni. By 2014, Khalifa had emerged on top again.

THE INTERVIEW

1- HR Revolution Middle East: “Omar, can you share with us at what point of professional growth did you decide to found Shaghalni? To what extent do you believe that Shaghalni succeeds to reach blue & grey collars job seekers throughout Egypt not only greater Cairo?

Omar Khalifa: During my years at AUC I always had this idea in mind to create jobs for the unprivileged majority. Many websites were focusing on the white collar job seekers because it was easier for them to access the internet and apply for jobs online. However after the Jan 25 revolution, there was a sudden surge in the use of internet across all Egyptians from different segments. I felt that yes it is possible to find blue and grey collar job seekers register on our website even if it going to be a slow start but it will only improve by time.

2- HR Revolution Middle East: “With only seven minutes to pitch his idea, 32-year-old Omar Khalifa stood before billionaire tycoon Naguib Sawiris hoping to win him over and convince him that his recruitment project, Shaghalni, was the one to invest in.” What pitching advises would you share with junior entrepreneurs from your valuable experience?

Omar Khalifa: I often meet many founders who struggle to explain their idea/startup in a very short and simple way. My advice is to be sharp and to the point, practice a 1 minute pitch, learn what are the main key words investors want to hear, explain the problem you are solving and never forget that investors don’t invest in ideas, they invest in YOU.

3- HR Revolution Middle East: Omar I was so much interested when I attended your recent speech in the AmCham, especially when you highlighted Shaghalni endeavours to support job seekers of special needs to get connected to suitable job opportunities. Would you please share with us more about this point?

Omar Khalifa: We see the problem and we don’t want to be part of it. We have a big cultural issue believing that differently-abled people are not capable enough to work or to hold high positions, which is a complete lie. We want Shaghalni to be an umbrella for all job seekers, any job seeker can choose whether or not he/she has a disability and can indicate what type of disability ‘Physical / Mental… etc’. We welcome companies to access this data and contact them for job opportunities. With the recent law concerning differently abled job seekers, we are confident that thousands of companies will now hire and eventually I think it will trigger a change in our culture to the better. The problem is that they never got an opportunity, and I have no doubt that plenty of differently abled job seekers will be real assets in their organizations and can also outperform their colleagues.

4- HR Revolution Middle East: What are your dreams for the future of Shaghalni?

Omar Khalifa: I want Shaghalni to be the #1 platform for blue and grey collar job seekers in the region.

5- HR Revolution Middle East: I believe Omar Khalifa still have lots of dreams to fulfil, what else are you aiming to offer to the entrepreneurial ecosystem in the coming period?

Omar Khalifa: I’m very far away from what I want to achieve, I don’t consider myself successful yet. I want to see Shaghalni grow and keep creating thousands of job opportunities, I also have other business ideas that I will invest in.

6- HR Revolution Middle East: Finally I would like you to share with us, how is it valuable to provide a job opportunity to a job seeker? I know that my question might appear somehow trivial but from my HR background I am sure that you must have witnessed a number of very inspiring stories in this regard that really deserve sharing. So please share one with us.

Omar Khalifa: Good question. You know most people on our platform get hired and we don’t even know about, it is all virtual. However, the best feeling is when we do our annual employment fair with walk-in interviews and see job seekers leaving the fair with jobs. Some of them spent years looking for jobs and we were able to get them hired. Recently in a meeting someone just popped up and told me that there’s a man that prays for Shaghalni and is very thankful, when I asked why, she replied that he was jobless for years and when he came to the fair two years ago, he got a job and is now making close to LE 10,000 per month, getting married and paying for an apartment. Stories like these keep us going strong.

THANK YOU