Khawar Junjoi is a Project Manager at Souqmobi.com, a price comparison site that allows users to find the best price for any electronic product in the UAE, KSA and Egypt. Khawar wears multiple hats on any given day; he is responsible for site development, maintenance, making use of big data, and search engine optimization. Typically, Khawar works from 7 AM to 7 PM, though sometimes it goes beyond that, depending on the workload.
7:00 AM - 8:00 AM In the morning, I usually have a light breakfast and read my emails to see if there is anything urgent in regards to Souqmobi.com. I then assign tasks to relevant team members. I take our website’s SEO very seriously, so every morning I perform some of the most common searches related to the website such as “iPhone prices in Dubai” and “Samsung prices in UAE” to see where we rank on Google. 8:00 AM -10:00 AM I attend the daily huddle with the management team and provide my input regarding my team’s daily tasks. I then conduct another huddle with my team members to discuss the various tasks assigned for the day. Every day we discuss issues related to our users, and how we can provide them with the best price comparison experience. 10:00 AM - 1:00 PM This is the time of day when I am most productive. I work on various data scrapping tasks, as well as security-related tasks to ensure that we remain the most updated and user-friendly site for anyone looking to find electronic products in the UAE, KSA and Egypt. 1:00 PM - 2:00 PM I take a lunch break. 2:00 PM - 5:00 PM I continue working on the remaining tasks for the day. These usually include data scrapping, SEO, security updates, article writing and social media. 5:00 PM - 7:00PM This is the time of day when I totally dedicate myself and act as a user of the site. I try to conduct various searches such as iPhone 6 prices in Dubai, Samsung S6 prices in Abu Dhabi, Apple Watch prices in UAE, and other similar queries to see where Souqmobi.com ranks on Google. I then examine the quality of the search results and their accuracy. 7:00 PM - 11:00 PM I go back home and spend quality time with friends and family.
What problems do you typically face at work? Since we are a price comparison site, the most challenging part of my job is remaining up to date on market prices, which can change on a daily or weekly basis, and ensuring that our website is updated to reflect the price changes in real time. What is the most rewarding part of your job? The biggest reward is when we receive feedback from our users telling us how we changed their shopping experience and how, with the help of our site, they were able to find a better deal or better store in their country. We also work with retailers who sell quality products at affordable prices. They get leads directly from our website, and hearing their feedback on how we help them generate more sales is also always great. What advice do you give young professionals who want to succeed in your field? Keep learning. We see ourselves as experts in SEO and big data but we’re not truly experts until we continue to learn and find new techniques. If you want to excel in your field, then make learning a habit. Do you read? When? Yes, primarily early in the morning, but also at night, before going to bed How do you balance work and life? By following rules I set for myself. When I am with family and friends, I give them all my focused and undivided attention, and vice versa when it comes to work.