[3]: 174 On leaving Strathallan, he took up an apprenticeship with a well-known firm of accountants in Edinburgh called Graham, Smart & Annan (GSA).
[3][4] Shaw completed his National Service with the Royal Air Force between 1954 and 1956 as a pilot officer in Fighter Control based in Germany.
[3]: 187 Working with the firm in London enabled Shaw to complete the practical experience component required to qualify as a member of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants whose exams he had passed prior to serving his National Service.
[3]: 190 He worked on several high-profile audits including the acquisition of Crawford's by McVitie & Price to become United Biscuits and an investigation for the White Fish Authority.
[3]: 210 Three years later the Bank had to cancel a deal with Pat Robertson, the evangelical preacher, owing to his controversial views.
[3]: 214 At various times he also held a number of additional positions: director of the Scottish American Investment Company;[5] director of Scottish Mortgage and Trust PLC from 1982 to 2001, a member of the Universities Funding Council of Great Britain and a member of the Higher Education Funding Council for England.
Shaw was a member of the Scottish Economic Council (1996 to 1998), of the University Court of the University of Edinburgh (1998–2003) and Receiver General of the Priory of Scotland Order of St John of Jerusalem (1992–2002)[2][4] Jack Shaw and his wife Shirley had retired to Dunkeld in Perthshire, but his health declined and the couple moved back to Edinburgh where he was in a care home in Cramond for the later part of his life.