bu blogun amaci neydi, soz ucar ama yazi kalirdi... bu dusunceyle bundan tam 5 yil once yazmaya baslamistim, 800`den fazla ani yazmisim, iyi ki de yazmisim. cunku pek cogunu da ancak okuyunca hatirlayabiliyorum...
Bu anilar arasinda olmasi gereken en onemlilerden biri de suphesiz, Turkiye`den Hong Kong`a tasinma hikayemiz.... ve burada yine ise girebilmis olmam... sirketim benden global bultende yayinlamak uzere hikayemi yazmami istedi, bende kaleme aldim... ve yazarken ne mucize birsey yasamis olduguma bir kez daha inanamadim... Global bulteni ne yazik ki buraya ekleyemiyorum, ama yazimi unutulmasin diye buraya aynen koymak istiyorum...
My journey from Turkey to Hong Kong
I started as a tax
intern at EY Turkey 12 years ago. On my first day, my biggest problem was the
photocopy machine, which broke down because I caused a paper jam. As a student,
I had assessed my Microsoft Office knowledge as ‘advanced’ in my resume, and I
was in total shock upon seeing the formulas used by EY professionals at work. It
took me months to utter tax phrases without any mistake while presenting to
clients.
Beginning my story
with “Each day is better than the last” would be truly way too romantic! That’s
because I also sometimes had meetings that lasted for hours and seemed to never
end, plans with friends that got cancelled because of urgent client requests,
and a home I was away from for days due to long business trips. However, I
motivated myself as I confidently took my career steps forward one by one and
saw how my work helped me to grow.
Of course, I also had
a life outside of work. As time went by, I’ve been a good daughter, a good wife
and a mother of two little kids.
One day, my husband
got an amazing job offer from Hong Kong. This not only meant that he would take
several steps forward at once in his career, but our kids would also have the
chance to study at private international schools. Everything seemed just
perfect. The only problem was that I thought I would probably have to abandon
my career.
During our
decision-making process, I met so many people who had moved to another country
due to their spouse’s job and had to end their career or who had to work at
much more ordinary jobs despite their qualifications only because they were
foreigners in that country. Everyone around me kept talking about the
difficulties of finding a job outside of your home country. Almost all of these
people were very well-trained, had worked at large local or global companies
and had assumed management roles in their former countries. Even the thought of
it was scary, but it looked like I was going to be one of them!
When you are inside
the ocean, you cannot see how big the ocean is. Today, I really cannot believe
EY’s greatness and how much my network, which I am proud to be a part of, has
done for me.
Everything started
with an email in June. Although I was in a completely different region and did
different roles at EY Turkey for 12 years, my CV was sent to EY Asia with my
references. I presented myself to the executives in Asia, and they explained
what they would like to do for me. They believed my diverse background could
bring a different perspective to the Asia Pacific Tax Center (APTC) Indirect
Tax team.
While it has been
only three months since I moved to another country thousands of miles away from
my home country, I am now writing to you from my new desk at EY Hong Kong
office. Besides that, I have the flexibility of working only three days a week
given that I am a mother and considering the potential difficulties I may
encounter while settling in another country with two little kids. I have joined
the APTC Indirect Tax team, as a Senior Manager, and while contributing to this
team by utilizing my diverse background, I`m sure I will also gain a unique
experience.
It’s not a dream, it
is the reality...
The movie `Hong Kong
Adventures of a Turk` has begun with all its excitement. I hope my journey
inspires all my colleagues who think they have a low chance for mobility as tax
is a local issue or who feel they will need to give up their career after
having children.
EY is a unique
company which truly appreciates you wherever you are, which always finds a way
to make use of your whole knowledge at your location and which can enable you
to establish your work-life balance by considering the priorities of your life
outside of work, where you also play the leading role.
