This Week's Spotlight - Souzan Asfour
- Rana Kordahi
- May 6
- 5 min read
This week we shine the spotlight on Souzan Asfour, Sureway’s National Business Development Manager. Souzan began her career in Employment Services more than 21 years ago, so it’s safe to say she brings a wealth of experience, knowledge, and insight to our sector.
Her journey, leadership style, and the lessons she’s gathered over two decades make her someone well worth learning from.
Check out her responses below and enjoy the wisdom she brings. 1. How did you get your start in Employment Services?
While working in retail, my life took a new direction when my second child, Nabil, was diagnosed with autism. My focus naturally shifted toward understanding how best to support him, especially as he grew closer to entering the workforce. With little initial knowledge of the disability, I was motivated to learn and grow alongside him.
This journey led me to the employment services industry, where I could build the skills to support not only my son, but people from all backgrounds facing barriers to employment. I have always been passionate about helping others recognise their self-worth and building their confidence, and this field has allowed me to turn that passion into meaningful work.
2. What advice would you give to leaders who carry a lot on their shoulders, managing people, processes, and systems all at once?
The advice I would give comes from my own life experience. When I left the retail industry, something I truly loved, to step into a completely new field, I felt overwhelmed. I had to learn new systems and processes, manage staff, and support people with disabilities into employment, all while trying to better understand autism and my own son’s needs.
What helped me through that time was returning to simplicity and focusing on the essence of my role. At its core, my job was about understanding people, building genuine connections, and recognising their strengths so they could achieve their goals.
My advice is to keep it simple. Focus on the purpose behind your role and ensure that everything you do contributes to that purpose, enriching the lives of the people you support. The processes and systems will come with time. But if you lose sight of the core focus, it becomes much harder to understand how everything else fits together.
"I can’t see myself working in any industry other than employment services. It warms my heart, lifts my spirits, and rewards me in ways no other field can."
3. Employment Services is incredibly rewarding, but the first year can take real resilience. What advice would you give to a new employment consultant starting out?
The employment services industry can be challenging if you don’t have a clear understanding of what it involves. I’ve seen many staff come and go within their first three months because they weren’t prepared for the realities of the role.
To succeed in this field, you need genuine passion and a high level of empathy, these are, in my view, essential values. It’s important to take the time to research the industry, ask questions, and think about how your own skills can contribute to making the role both effective and rewarding.
If you have the right values but lack experience with processes or administrative tasks, that can be learned. Passion will give you the patience and motivation to develop those skills over time. However, without those core values, it’s very difficult to maintain the interest and drive needed to succeed in this industry.
4. Can you share a memorable moment when something you did, a conversation, piece of advice, or action, made a positive difference to a staff member, peer, or job seeker?
I’ll always remember the jobseeker who had been registered with an employment service provider for over 23 years and had never had a job, or even an interview. It was my first year working in the employment services industry, and that moment shaped how I’ve approached my work ever since.
The first time I met him, he held a newspaper up in front of his face, pretending to read while I tried to introduce myself and get to know him. I gently lowered the paper and said, “I’d really like to have a conversation with you, to understand how I can support you into employment. What are your interests? What do you want to do?”
I still remember his response. He said, “No one has ever asked me that. No one has ever cared what I wanted or taken the time to ask those questions. I usually just come in, sit down, read the paper, the staff tick their boxes to say I attended, and then I go home. That’s just the way it’s been for a long time.” I was taken aback. Then I said, “Well, I care. I want to hear your answers, and I will do everything I can to help you find a job you’re genuinely happy to do.”
That experience stayed with me. It taught me that real impact doesn’t start with systems or processes, it starts with CARE. When you truly listen, seek to understand, and follow through, you can begin to change someone’s story.
5. What surprised you most about working in Employment Services once you were actually in the role?
What surprised me most about working in the employment services industry is that it has very little to do with sales, and everything to do with human connection. It’s about building genuine relationships: connecting with jobseekers, understanding their stories; partnering with employers; and forming strong, supportive bonds with your team, employment consultants and leaders alike.
I quickly learned that real outcomes are never achieved alone. It takes a committed team working together to support someone vulnerable into employment, and just as importantly, to help them stay there.
6. What keeps you motivated in this industry, even on the hard days?
I can’t see myself working in any industry other than employment services. It warms my heart, lifts my spirits, and rewards me in ways no other field can.
I used to enjoy sales, especially when I could match the right product to the right person. There was a real sense of satisfaction in seeing a customer walk away happy, knowing I’d met their needs. But in employment services, the impact goes far beyond a single transaction.
Here, you have the opportunity to create lasting change. You work with people who may not believe in themselves, who struggle with low confidence or feel they have little to offer, and you help them rediscover their value. You support them, uplift them, and walk alongside them as they rebuild their confidence and sense of purpose. And long after, they remember you, not just for what you did, but for the difference you made in their life.
That kind of impact stays with you. It’s what keeps me motivated and genuinely excited wondering whose life I might help change next.
Connect with Souzan Asfour on LinkedIn
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