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| First match at FC Twente in 2023. Watching the match in the dugout. |
Some of us are lucky to start our careers by knowing what really makes us happy, what we wish to do, which line of work attracts us. Some of us find vocations like teachers, doctors or armed forces. And then there is the vast majority that don't really know which career suits them. And very often, when we choose something and are happily on our way to a career, the delicate balance that the global economy stands on creates turmoil. It gets harder for people midway in their careers to decide whether to pursue the current job that they are in or actually change their trajectory drastically. Unfortunately for so many among us, our careers are forced to involve several different kinds of jobs. This is not what most of us want as any change means expending energy to adapt and start over. But change can also be exciting and challenge us to do things that get us out of our comfort zones.
This kind of story is becoming one of my new series. I am looking at people who did exactly that. Changed their lives somewhere mid or end of their careers. A few weeks ago, I wrote about Neil D'Silva, Horror-story writer and runner.
Neil D'Silva - Author of 17 published Horror novels, mentor, runner and 'aspiring Ultramarathoner'
Today I feature an ex-client, Lale Demir Güngör with whom I worked for nearly a decade.
Lale grew up in a small town of 10000 people in the Netherlands called 'Eerbeek'. She belongs to the third generation of the Turkish diaspora who came to the Netherlands to work as labourers in paper and carton factories of the region. She was born in the Netherlands and thus was born with the privilege of being able to have her whole education in the Dutch language. And study she did. She got a Diploma in International Business languages in Arnhem where she learnt French, English, German and Economics. She was already fluent in Turkish at home. Lale didn't want to join the Tourism industry which was the most popular choice those days for people who spoke so many languages.
She looked for an office job and joined a company importing linen as a logistics officer for a year. She then worked as a trainer for production workers in another organisation for the sales department. This lasted for 7 years. She then moved to a Pharma company as an Artwork Packaging Development officer where she worked for a year. During this period she sent an open application to the company Mead Johnson Nutrition where we would meet in a few years. She was in fact contacted by MJN when she was 4 months into another job where she wasn't very happy due to lack of freedom and autonomy.
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| Enjoying her new experience and role at AZ Alkmaar |
At Mead Johnson she was finally happy and felt settled working with great colleagues. She worked there for a long stint of 10 years. At the end of this long part of her career, she was wondering what type of job she would do? Did she want to do the same kind of job for the rest of her life? While she was discussing this with her friends and family, one of her friends suggested that she take a course to become a Court Interpreter (involving Criminal law) and specialize in the Turkish language. Lale was surprised by the support this idea got from anyone she spoke to in her entourage. She wondered if at 40 she wasn't too old to learn something new. She even asked the course management this question. "Of course not", was the answer and within 2 weeks she was enrolled. Eight months and five exams later, she graduated during the Covid pandemic in June 2020. She unfortunately received her diploma by mail and couldn't enjoy a grand graduation ceremony.
While studying the eight months of the course, Lale had found another job as a Product Manager for Pet food. But due to Covid, she didn't get to see her colleagues and felt more and more isolated. She found herself a new graduate but hesitant to leave a stable job that provided her a fixed income. But her family got more and more aware that she was unhappy doing her job and encouraged her to take steps to move ahead. One day her aunt called her and remarked that she looked really unhappy and bad on screen while on a Whatsapp call. She called her old teacher from the interpreting faculty to ask for advice whether to quit her job or not and he told her that if getting that salary wasn't making her happier than if she was working a job at a fast food chain, then why do it?
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| Interpreting in the operation room of a hospital when a 3 yr old was about to have surgery |
Like most people Lale has expenses, mortgage and bills to pay. But, she finally decided she would take the plunge and on her mother's birthday on 5th October 2020, she quit her job.
She says it was the best decision of her life. She registered herself as a freelancer and started looking for clients. She finds herself listening to the court's proceedings and simultaneously translating to her clients. She never has a dull day and her job never feels the same from one hearing to the next. She soon realised that she could apply to be a Court Interpreter in English and German too. So, she has now registered for those languages too. She finds herself doing all sorts of interesting jobs and travelling to several new places in the region. According to Lale, she now has an enriching and thankful job. People who she helps are happy to have her with them. In the last one and a half years, she has even been asked to teach at the institute where she got her own diploma. Since 2023, she has also extended her services to interpreting at Immigration offices, Police stations and Hospitals. She now works also as a teacher for new as well as current interpreters and certified to examine and assess aspiring interpreters for both Turkish as well as English. She has extended her work to teaching at notary offices for “ practical legal English at the notary”. This new angle started because she got a compliment from a customer who felt that Lale’s English was so good that he wanted to learn English from her. And that’s how ‘Taalented Trainingen’, her newest venture was born.
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| Teaching |
The biggest twist in her new career came when her son asked her why she didn't try and do the same job for the Turkish football teams that visit the Netherlands on different occasions for matches and tournaments. What started like a fun thing to acquire is now a reality. She reached out to different organisations like the UEFA and the FIFA and now finds herself on the television screens during matches thanks to a small interpreting agency specialized in football interpreting called Voetbaltolk in Nijmegen . She learnt to quickly use her translation skills 'live' during games for a sport that she didn't know anything about! Life was about to get real exciting for our 40 something year old who dared move out of her comfort zone. She finds herself sitting amongst famous people and celebrities. She has already worked on 10 official games. She was invited to Istanbul in Feb 2025 by the Galatasaray club and travelled to Wales in September 2024 where she worked 'live' on translation with the Welsh English accent. On 21st of May 2025 she was featured in the famous 'De Rijdende Rechter' TV show that has been aired for 30 years on Dutch TV. Talk about going places.
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| The TV show on which she was featured |
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| featured in a Dutch Newspaper in Feb 2025. They interviewed her in Istanbul about her work as a football interpreter |
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| Lale interpreted for Nuri Bilge Ceylan in Jan 2025. He is a famous movie director who has won awards at Cannes |
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| Translating flash interviews for the trainer of AZ Almaar Maarten Martens after Fenerbahçe match |
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| Galatasaray Stadium, Istanbul |
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| ready for the spotlights |
All in all, what I want to reiterate is that Change can be challenging, taxing and draining when we’re going through it, but we can also reap the benefits of the hard work that we’re forced to put it at the time and once that starts, it always feels like the Best Change in our Lives. We discover that we’re not what we once were, but are better and so much more. So, if you find yourself in a slump in your career right now, use this to believe in a better tomorrow.
Important and funny moment when the Turkish Head coach of Galatasaray complimented Lale on her speed of translation. The coach is speaking in Turkish but Lale got her minute of fame too in the bargain :)
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You can contact Lale on www.taalentedtranslations.nl
#startingover #itisnevertoolate #connecttoyourpeople #changingcareerpaths #beinghappyinmyjob
Like this story? You may like this motivating one too. Kaushik also changed his career path to do what he loves more.
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