My name is Öner Çetin, I am 36 years old and can claim to have spent one third of my life at Teklas. After finishing my master studies at the Faculty of Management Engineering in Istanbul Technical University, I had an opportunity to employee at Teklas Turkey. It could not be refusable offer for unexperienced and new graduated student. I remember my first working day as yesterday, but it was on 15.12.2011.
My career path within Teklas was very dynamic since the beginning. I began Teklas as a Product Development Engineer and had chance to see whole Teklas product range and production processes. It was extremely hard to imagine the effect of this orientation to my career path at these years but now it is clear that this is the key to my journey.
The next step in my Teklas journey was the position of Project Engineer. At the beginning I had some doubts but later I see that this was one of the departments that give the chance to use my skills. This is the first time I understand that the dynamism of the automotive industry was attracted and motivated me.
After 17 months of working as project engineer, I was promoted to the position of Project Team Leader. It was the first opportunity to see and prove my leadership skills. I worked as a Project Team Leader for 8 months and the continue as an assistant project manager. Working with a group of employees; organization of prototype production; develop, lead and take responsibility for the projects were just some of the challenges that awaited me. The next step in my development path was the position of Project Manager. After three years of working at Project department I got new responsibilities that brought with them new challenges. New tasks increase the communication with other departments that allowed me to find my way in the new role easier and faster
After almost 2 years work as a Project Manager in Turkey, Teklas given the opportunity to work abroad plant that is located at Bulgaria. New challenge was started and I take the responsibility of both Turkey&Bulgaria Project teams. I learned that I could develop myself further if I keep leaving my comfort zone and taking on new challenges.
The next step in my development path was the position of Plant Manager. After three years of working as a Project Manager, I got new responsibilities that brought with them new challenges. 2 years of working in the position of Plant Manager meant gathering a lot of experience on work organization, decision making, cooperation with employees and much more.
Since August 2020, I have been promoted to the position of Regional Director (Europe) and then Bulgaria Plant Director, which again carries some new key tasks. Although my career path may seem long, today when I look back on the past 11 years, I see that it was the right and correct path to my current goal. This is not easy challenge but when you have the right people around you and a good team, all tasks, challenges, and difficulties are easier to overcome.
My current position requires much more responsibility, determination, and commitment, but it is certainly a privilege to work and improve in a company like Teklas. I have changed 9 positions in 11 years. It is great to be part of this family. In this journey I met my wife and married with her 7 years ago. Now we have two miracles that names are Naz Lena and Uraz.
Now I have two valuable family that motivate me to work hard and achieve the goals.
