Goodbye Istanbul, hello Brussels

Before joining the Robert Walters team in Belgium, I worked in recruitment in my home country, Turkey. In September 2019, I moved to Brussels to develop the engineering & supply chain and healthcare & life sciences divisions.

From day one, I was warmly welcomed and made to feel like a part of the team — it felt like the start of an exciting new adventure. Everyone helped me settle in and get up to speed with Belgian culture — not only the people in my own team, but also those in other teams and even people from other offices!

I remember a few months after I started here, we had a St Nicholas party in the office, and some of our colleagues brought their children along for the fun. One of our senior managers dressed up as St Nicholas, handing out toys and sweets to the kids — I had never seen anything like it, even though St Nicholas is originally from Turkey! I was invited up onto the stage with some of the kids and asked about my wishes for the year. It made me feel really special. The party was a great opportunity to get to know colleagues and their families better. Some colleagues even invited me to their homes to further immerse myself in Belgian culture and to see other cities in Belgium.

It’s always been my passion to learn and discover new things, so moving here and getting the opportunity to further build my own team and a new division is something I strongly appreciate.

My team is very diverse and we all come from different backgrounds. Seeing a mix of Belgian, Turkish, Bulgarian and Italian people all working together towards the same goal is very inspiring and motivating. Besides working together, we get to know each others' cultures by cooking dishes from our home countries and teaching one another local expressions and words in our own languages. Despite the fact that we come from different backgrounds, and have lived in multiple countries, we've discovered how much we have in common, as well.

Not being together in the office every day because of Covid-19 restrictions makes me feel homesick sometimes, but I know I can always call my managing director, who is also Turkish, for a little chat. Having someone here to talk to in my mother tongue is a nice plus! I can’t wait to see everyone together again at one of our teambuilding events!

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