Gulkiz Bayrak

Legal Counsel on the  Corporate Legal department

Never a dull moment clearly stands for De Lage Landen! I started at De Lage Landen in September 2006 after my graduation from the University of Tilburg. I have had the opportunity to see the De Lage Landen further grow and develop to an international company. My choice for De Lage Landen was very easy to make. I wanted to work in a truly international environment with international career opportunities.

What makes De Lage Landen for me a truly international company?
Already in my first year as a legal trainee I had the opportunity to work a couple of months in our offices in Madrid and Dusseldorf. I currently work as a legal counsel at the Corporate Legal Department in the Netherlands in a team of colleagues with 7 different nationalities. My daily activities consist of discussing and negotiating legal and business related matters with colleagues and potential partners all over the world. Often these discussions are by phone or by email, but sometimes also face to face, meaning that you also have the chance to travel abroad. These are just a few examples to prove that De Lage Landen is a truly international company.

To me it is also very important to work for a company that provides you the opportunity to come up with new initiatives and to implement these initiatives. This is how our Young Entrepreneurial Network (YEN) was established. YEN is a network for young professionals to interact, exchange knowledge and ideas and share common interests. In December 2006 we presented with a team of young entrepreneurs the idea of having such a network to our executive board. In June 2007 we had our first kick-off and since then we have organized numerous business and social events, such as presentations on various topics, company visits, lunches with executive board members, discussion panels, drinks in our Café 1969 etc.. Being involved in these activities provides you the opportunity to learn more about the business outside your own field of work, but also to meet other young professionals within De Lage Landen in a social setting.

Having all these opportunities makes my job very challenging, interesting and fun, every day again!